An off-plan buyer is being asked to commit to a home that is currently a floor slab and a computer rendering. Everything they want to know is about certainty: when, exactly what, and what happens if it slips.
Sales material tends to answer none of those and instead describes lifestyle.
What buyers ask
Buyers usually ask when the plot is expected to complete, how firm that date is, what the specification includes as standard, what upgrades are available and what they cost, whether appliances and flooring are included, what the service charge or ground rent will be, what warranty applies, what happens if completion is delayed, how the reservation fee works and whether it is refundable, and what incentives are available.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a developer might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Buyer: When would plot 14 be ready? Assistant: The development page shows the estimated completion window for that phase, and explains that dates are updated as construction progresses, with buyers notified of any change. The sales team can give you the current expectation for that plot specifically.
Buyer: What is included in the kitchen? Assistant: The specification page lists what is included as standard for that house type, including appliances, along with the upgrade options and their prices.
Buyer: What happens if it is delayed? Assistant: The buying process page explains how delays are handled, including how buyers are notified and what the contract provides for. Your solicitor will also go through this before exchange.
Specification questions are constant
Buyers ask the same specification questions repeatedly through the build, often the same buyer several times. Publishing a full specification per house type answers most of them, as described in new build sales teams and repetitive spec questions.
Delays need honesty
Construction slips. Buyers with a chain, a tenancy ending or a mortgage offer expiring need to know early. Explaining how updates are communicated, and doing it, prevents most complaints.
During the build
Reserved buyers keep asking questions for months: progress, choices deadlines, snagging, demonstrations and moving-in arrangements. Answering them at any hour keeps the sales team focused on new reservations, which is the point of developers selling off plan need round-the-clock answers.
Help to buy, incentives and part exchange
Developers frequently offer incentives such as paid deposits, flooring packages, part exchange or assisted move schemes. Buyers want to know what is currently available on a specific development and whether it applies to their plot. Publishing what is on offer, with its conditions, saves the sales team explaining it repeatedly and stops buyers assuming an incentive they saw elsewhere applies here.
Aftercare and warranty
What happens after completion matters to buyers more than developers often realise: snagging processes, warranty cover and who to contact. The same aftercare reassurance decides vehicle purchases, as covered in warranty and aftercare questions from car buyers.
Choosing finishes and deadlines
Buyers reserving early often get choices over kitchens, tiling and flooring, and those choices have deadlines tied to the construction programme. Explaining when each choice must be made, and what happens if a deadline passes, prevents disappointment and keeps the build on schedule.
The final questions before committing
Every large purchase ends with a short list of practical questions, as described in questions right before buying.
Getting started
Publish specifications, timescales, warranty and the buying process per development, then answer at any hour. SpideyChat for property businesses answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.