Fees land early
On an off-plan booking, the 4% DLD fee is typically payable at the point of purchase, alongside your first instalment and any agency fee. So the fee-heavy part of the transaction happens at the start, not at handover.
The upside: every instalment after that is pure purchase price. If you are funding from income or a staged liquidity event, that predictability is worth a great deal.
Resale spreads it differently
A resale concentrates fees into a four-to-eight week window around Form F and transfer day. You need the full amount available almost immediately, but you own a finished, rentable asset at the end of it.
Neither route is cheaper. Choose based on when your cash actually exists.
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