Communicating to progress your off-plan property investment

When you use the Sales Progression Team to buy an off-plan property as a buy-to-let investment, you’ll find that the buying process has one constant thread that holds the entire process together: communication.

Without effective communication strategies and methods, the right hand won’t know what the left hand is doing, as they say. There’s plenty of people who need to be kept in the loop, and even more events that people need to be informed about. And there’s a variety of ways in which communication must be made.

You need to know who needs to be told what, when they need to be told, and how information needs to be communicated. Get one piece of this jigsaw wrong, and you risk the deal falling apart as it snags on the perils of slipping up when you’re investing in off-plan property.

The aim of this chapter is to lay out the communication procedures during the off-plan and new build buying process. We’ll also introduce you to the first call you’ll receive from the Progression Team after you have paid your reservation fee.

A forest of paperwork journeying back and forth

Throughout the process of purchasing your off-plan property, you’ll discover that there is a forest of paperwork that needs to be attended to and submitted. You’ll need to fill every form in diligently before signing. One mistake and you could find yourself with the wrong mortgage, or out of time to complete.

The first few days sees all parties getting prepared for what is coming. Your Progression Team, for example, will:

• Pass your details to a recommended solicitor
• Pass your details to the developer
• Prepare all the parties in the chain for the exchange

The first forms you’ll need to complete include:

• Reservation forms
• Solicitor questionnaire
• Instructions to appoint the solicitor (who will have sent you a client care letter beforehand)
• Anti-money laundering and ID documentation

Having been instructed to act for you, your solicitor will request all the necessary legal documents from the developer’s solicitors.

Keeping in constant touch – with everyone

Throughout the next few months and then in the lead up to completion, there will be phone calls to make, letters to write, and emails to send. Contracts need to be signed and returned to solicitors.

We’ll be in constant contact with the developer, by phone and email, to ensure that the development is progressing as planned. And you’ll hear from us at regular intervals about that progress. If you’ve got any queries at any time, all you have to do is call us or email us, and we’ll liaise with the developer on your behalf.

As you progress towards completion, you’ll need to meet with your mortgage broker (which can also be done over the phone) and complete a fact find. This will have to be signed and returned, which can be done by fax (just to add in another communication channel). And then, of course, there will be mortgage application forms to complete.

Around three or four months before completion is due, a representative from Ezytrac will get in touch with you to discuss services and benefits of professional property management.

We’ll start bullying the other parties (don’t tell them we said that!) to pull their socks up and speed the process along. We’ll help coordinate all the important paperwork that now flows in a torrent – mortgage forms, legal contracts, exchange contracts, searches, and so on.

We’ll check on the progress of mortgage applications and searches, and make sure that all legal queries are resolved.

When your solicitor has received the final signed contracts from you and the funds to complete, they will be ready to complete on your behalf. And you’ll be ready to take the next step and let your property out.

Racing into action after reservation

As you can appreciate, the sooner we get on top of the process, the smoother it will flow. That’s why you’ll receive a call from a member of the Progression Team within 24 hours of receipt of the reservation fee. This call is our chance to put your mind at rest and introduce the whole sequence of events.

By now, you will have a good idea of how the whole thing meshes together. There’s no substitute for the opportunity to put your questions and queries, though, and that is partly the reason for this call. We believe in treating you like a human being and not a number, like so many other organisations today.

On this introductory call:

• We’ll confirm your email address to send the invoice and reservation fee, and talk you through how to pay and confirm your property reservation.
• We’ll explain the impact of delays, confirm contracted names, and also take an emergency number for you.
• We’ll let you know the contact details for your solicitor.
• We’ll also provide details of our recommended mortgage broker.
• We’ll talk you through deadlines and important dates, and discuss anything that might hold these up (for example, if you have a forthcoming holiday).
• Finally, we’ll provide a timetable of when you can expect to hear from us with progress reports – and that will be on a weekly basis.

Coordinating this communication to ensure that your investment proceeds without a hitch is a major part of the work your Progression Team undertakes for you.

By now, you should have a good idea of just how hard the Sales Progression Team works on your behalf to make your investment happen with minimum effort and disruption to your life. But what happens to make your investment really successful?

If you have question or want to learn more about this why not chat with the team 01522503717 or email me.