The First Believer

Somebody has to buy the first unit in a new development before there is a building to look at, and that buyer is trusting paper more than bricks.

Say a developer is selling sectional title units off-plan on the edge of Polokwane. The first buyer sees a site plan, a set of drawings, a schedule of finishes and a price. There is no show unit yet, no neighbours and no body corporate with a track record. What that buyer can check is the paperwork standing in for the building: whether the deposit will sit in an attorney's trust account until transfer rather than in the developer's own account, whether the municipality has approved the building plans, and what the contract says will happen if the project runs late or stops.

Belief comes first in every new scheme, and it is fair that the earliest buyers often get a better price than those who arrive once the walls are up. But the belief that holds up is the kind that has read the contract. The buyer who asked where the deposit would be kept is still a believer, just one with a far better chance of seeing the keys.