New development in Waterloo offers try before you buy scheme
We try out shoes or a car before we buy, so why not a home? A rare opportunity will allow people to ‘test drive’ their new house before they buy. Would you give it a go?
Whether it’s shoes or cars, today’s consumers like to try before they buy. However, when it comes to real estate, one Sydney developer is asking why buyers can’t “test drive” a property before opening their wallets.
Crown Group, the developer behind landmark Sydney buildings such as Infinity, the circular complex at Green Square, and Arc, the double-domed structure in the CBD, is offering up an apartment stay for potential buyers.
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Prisca Edwards, Crown Group’s sales director, said the timing was right to offer buyers a new experience. “Before the year that we’ve just had, we didn’t consider doing something like this because most of our stock was selling out on launch days. But more recently we know the market has been slower so there is a lot of stock out there,” she said.
“In this day and age everybody buys online and has the chance to try a dress or shoes and if they’re not happy, they can return it. Why would you test drive a Tesla, or a Mercedes Benz? Because you want to see what it’s like. Purchasing property is one of the biggest decisions anyone can make and people usually don’t even have that choice,” she added.
Ms Edwards said it was also clear that developers needed to address trust issues buyers might have when considering newly built apartments. “Some people have lost confidence because of the quality issues they perceive, especially after the Opal Tower situation. I don’t think everyone can do this, but we’re quite confident in our product and feel that if a buyer stays even one night, they will buy it,” she said.
According to Ms Edwards, a large sector of Crown Group’s buyer pool is the “right sizer” or people who are relocating from a house to a unit so a trial just made sense.
“Most of the feedback is they’re not sure whether the size is going to be right for them, or they don’t know whether they can get used to apartment living. Sometimes they aren’t sure whether they’ll like the area … no one can really answer those questions for someone, so now we’re saying ‘Why don’t you try it?’
“It’s not just a five-minute walk around a display unit, by actually staying there buyers can get to know the quality, the noise, the airflow, the lighting, the water pressure – all those small things people take for granted, but never really think about,” Ms Edwards said.
The experience is open to qualified buyers who pay a refundable $10,000 deposit. Those who don’t buy will be charged a nightly rate. They can stay one or two nights in a furnished two-bedroom unit with a study in Waterfall, a 331-apartment development in Waterloo. During their visit, prospective purchasers can use the gym, 25m lap pool and jacuzzi. The complex is home to Australia’s largest man-made waterfall at 22m.
Prices at Waterfall range between $690,000 for a studio apartment and $3.75 million for the remaining penthouse.
Originally published as New development in Waterloo offers try before you buy scheme