Buying Off-Plan Abroad: Which Clauses to Demand in the Presale Contract and How to Protect Your Money

Presale, or buying off-plan, is the common way to buy a new apartment abroad: you sign a contract at the planning or construction stage, pay in instalments, and receive the apartment at the end. The price is sometimes lower than a finished apartment, but the risk is higher: the project may be delayed, changed or never completed.

This guide explains which clauses to demand in an off-plan contract abroad, and what local law provides in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy and the USA. Each country has a detailed guide on the site, and the links appear throughout the text. The information is correct as of November 2026.

1What is buying off-plan, and how is it different from buying a finished apartment?

With a finished apartment you check an existing property and pay against transfer of ownership. Off-plan, you pay before there is a property, so until handover you usually hold a contractual right against the developer, not a registered apartment. In Bulgaria, for example, ownership of the built unit itself can pass only after the building has reached the rough-construction stage (Act 14). The main risks are delay or suspension of construction, deviation from the specifications, a double sale of the same unit, the developer's insolvency and a change in tax before the date of the deed.

In Israel, a buyer of an apartment from a developer is entitled to security under the Sale (Apartments) Law. In most countries where Israelis buy there is no similar obligation, so what is not written in the contract or registered in the register usually does not exist.

2How do you protect your money when buying off-plan abroad?

The table summarises what local law provides and what is worth demanding in addition. It is based on the country guides on the site.

Further reading: buying off-plan in Romania, no escrow in Romania: how payments are protected, Act 14, 15 and 16 in Bulgaria, VAT versus transfer tax on a new apartment in Greece, depositing the contract in Cyprus, CPCV and escritura in Portugal and the purchase process in Italy.

3What should the payment schedule in an off-plan contract look like?

Each payment should be tied to a stage that can be verified, not only to a date. A schedule in which most of the money is paid before construction starts shifts most of the risk to you. Principles worth demanding:

1. A low deposit until the building permit is valid, and in countries where it is registered, until it is registered.
2. Interim payments by defined stages: structure, installations, finishes. Each stage approved by an independent engineer or supervisor.
3. A significant payment only against an occupancy permit or an equivalent document, such as Act 16 in Bulgaria.
4. The balance against handover and registration of ownership in your name, not before.
5. A defined account for each payment, named in the contract, and changed only by a signed addendum.

4Which clauses must an off-plan contract abroad include?

• Identification of the unit. Number, floor, area, floor plan, parking and storage, and a link to the approved plans.
• Specifications schedule. Materials, systems, finishes and what is included in the price. Without a schedule, "a new high-standard apartment" is whatever the developer decides.
• Area deviation. What deviation is permitted, and how the price is adjusted when the actual area is smaller than agreed.
• Changes to the plan. A change affecting the unit only with your written consent.
• Handover date and compensation. A date, a grace period, and agreed compensation for each period of delay.
• Cancellation and refund. When cancellation is allowed, within what time the money is returned, and what secures the refund.
• Release of mortgages. An undertaking to remove the financing bank's mortgage from the unit before handover, and a letter from the bank.
• Tax. Who bears a change in VAT or transfer tax before the date of the deed. In Greece this is a practical question because of the VAT suspension regime.
• Liability for defects. What the developer repairs after handover, and for how long.
• Assignment. The right to transfer the contract to someone else before handover, and on what terms.
• Registration. Who registers the preliminary contract and the ownership, and when.

For Romania there is a separate guide on unfair clauses in a developer contract.

5What happens if the developer is late with handover?

In most countries the answer depends on the contract. In Romania, for example, the law sets no fixed compensation for late handover. The buyer sends a formal notice with a deadline for performance, can collect agreed compensation without proving loss if such compensation was set, and in some cases can cancel. When the developer refuses to sign the final contract, you can ask for a judgment that takes the place of the contract, in a claim filed within 6 months. See your rights when a Romanian developer is late and how to draft the handover date and compensation.

In Portugal, according to case law, the sanction of losing the deposit or returning it double applies on definitive breach and not on delay alone. So agreed compensation for delay, drafted in figures, matters there too.

6Can you sell or assign an off-plan contract before handover?

Before handover there is no apartment to sell yet, so you transfer your position in the contract. In Romania, assignment of a contract under Articles 1315 to 1320 of the Civil Code requires the developer's consent, and is made in the same form as the original contract. The taxation of an assignment is not expressly regulated either. See assigning a preliminary contract in Romania.

If you are considering selling before handover, set out in the contract in advance the right of assignment, its conditions, and whether you, the original buyer, are released from the contract or remain a guarantor of the new buyer's obligations. After signing, the developer's consent becomes a matter for negotiation.

7What happens to the deposit if the developer becomes insolvent?

This is the heaviest risk in buying off-plan, and it depends on what was registered and what secures the money. In Romania, Article 131 of the Insolvency Law (85/2014) allows the buyer to demand completion of the sale only when four conditions are met together, including registration of the undertaking in the land registry and possession of the property. A buyer at the start of construction will usually not benefit from this on its own, so protection during construction is mainly the dedicated account and the payment structure. See a Romanian developer in insolvency.

In Cyprus, a contract deposited at the Land Registry creates a proprietary charge in favour of the buyer in order of deposit date. In Italy, the bank or insurance guarantee is designed precisely for this situation. In countries without such a mechanism in law, a guarantee or escrow account set in the contract is the only practical protection.

8Why does it matter to register the preliminary contract?

Because an unregistered contract is invisible to the next buyer, to the bank and to creditors. In Romania this was the heart of the Nordis affair, in which off-plan apartments were sold to more than one buyer, after which it was established that the preliminary contract for a future unit is signed before a notary and registered in the land registry. In Cyprus the contract is deposited at the Land Registry, and in Italy the preliminary agreement can be registered in the land registry (trascrizione). After registration, order an extract and make sure your right appears in it. See an apartment sold twice in Romania.

9How do we assist with an off-plan purchase?

We represent the buyer only. Before the deposit we check the land, the permit and the developer, and negotiate the payment schedule, the security and the clauses in this guide. After signing we make sure the contract is registered, follow the construction stages before each payment, and accompany the buyer through handover and registration. We carry out the steps local law requires with lawyers and notaries licensed in the country of the property. When signing from Israel for a Romanian transaction, the power of attorney is signed before the Romanian consul, as explained in the guide to a power of attorney for a Romanian transaction.

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