Completed or off-plan? Include the cost of waiting

Handover timing belongs in the budget

A completed home and a future development differ in more than price. When you need the home, where you will live until then and which payments overlap can change the result. A lower-priced project may become more expensive after waiting costs, or the reverse.

Write down the purchase date, desired move date and quoted handover date. Distinguish an advertising target from contractual terms. Show the cost of staying in your current home alongside new-home instalments on one monthly schedule.

A simple waiting-cost example

In a hypothetical scenario, a completed home costs TRY 4,500,000 and a home planned for handover in 18 months costs TRY 4,000,000. The TRY 500,000 difference looks attractive. But at an unchanged monthly rent of TRY 30,000, waiting costs TRY 540,000. These two items alone bring the off-plan option to TRY 4,540,000.

This excludes loan interest, alternative uses of money, transaction costs, service charges and price changes. It does not prove completed homes are always better; it makes the waiting cost visible.

Identify the amount due at handover

Low construction-stage instalments may leave a large final balance. Decide now how that amount will be funded. If it depends on selling another property, consider uncertainty in timing and price. An unapproved loan is not confirmed funding.

A completed property may still need furniture, refurbishment or preparation. Having keys is not the same as being ready to move in. Compare equivalent specifications.

Test three situations

• If you need to move soon, actual handover and suitability for occupation take priority.
• If you own your current home and can wait, a payment schedule may offer more flexibility.
• If buying to let, consider costs before income begins and possible vacancy.

Do not count future rent or price growth as guaranteed income. Test a weaker-use or delayed-handover scenario. If the budget works only under optimistic assumptions, review it.

You need not start with one country

Our Türkiye, Dubai and Northern Cyprus collections involve different currencies and conditions. Define your intended use first; simply converting asking prices at today’s exchange rate is not enough. Assess practical use, payment capacity and transaction terms separately.

Bring your current accommodation cost and target move date to ARCTY so we can place offers on the same timeline.

Method

Original ARCTY editorial content, prepared on 30 September 2026. Example figures are hypothetical, not current market prices, financing offers or return forecasts.