OFF PLAN OR RESALE- WHICH VILLA IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
The honest pros and cons before you fall in love
This new series is for anyone weighing up a villa in Koh Samui who is not yet sure whether an off plan build or a ready resale home suits them better. It will help most if you are leaning toward off plan, the path with the most moving parts.
OFF PLAN VILLA
✓ You shape it. Floor plan, materials, finishes, all to your taste, decided before the first wall goes up, as far as the structure and retaining walls allow.
✓ A fresh lease. The land lease is registered new, so you start near the full 30 years, usually around 29 to 30.
✓ Brand new and modern, with a fresh warranty behind it.
✓Stronger ROI ( return on investment) compared to similar resale property
✗ You cannot stand in it yet, so you are trusting the drawings and the developer’s track record.
✗ You cannot easily picture it. Often there is just a building site, so you read 3D renders and imagine the finished home. Not everyone finds that easy.
✗ Delays happen, and you carry the project all the way to the finish.
RESALE VILLA
✓ What you see is what you get. You walk into a finished villa, tidy and complete, exactly as it will be.
✓ Faster. You can often move in, or start renting it out, almost straight away.
✓ The garden is grown, the neighbours are known, and any quirks are already on show (most of times).
✗ The lease clock is already running. You often step into fewer than 30 years left, unless a brand new lease is registered at the sale, and fewer years usually means less value and a harder resale later.
✗ Someone else chose the layout, the style, and the materials.
✗ Older building, possible wear, and little or no warranty left.
The money side is where the two really part ways. With off plan you buy below the finished value, so there is equity in the villa from the day it is done, often around 25 to 30% below completed price at the earliest stage, narrowing to single digits near handover. You also pay in stages across the 10 to 18 months of the build rather than all at once, so your cash stays free to work elsewhere, and some investors even spread a single budget across more than one project, though more projects also mean more building risk to manage.
A new villa tends to rent better and hold stronger nightly rates too, which lifts the return for an investor or a part time owner who rents it out most of the year. A resale villa, bought at full finished price, usually gives a softer return, so it tends to suit someone who mainly wants to live in it rather than chase top yield from day one.
In Part Two and the posts that follow, we will go through exactly what to look for in the agreements before you commit to an off plan project, so you can avoid the common pitfalls.
I am not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice. Whichever road you pick, do your due diligence first.
𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕. 𝑶𝒇𝒇 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕.
If you’re curious about what types of villas currently offer the strongest investment potential on the island, you can browse Jane’s latest Koh Samui property listings here.
