Home Truths

Focus on value for money and forget the freebies, says Edel Morgan

"Would a private jet be out of the question?" might be your closing gambit if you're negotiating with a developer to throw in a few "incentives" with a property. Okay, you might find yourself being ejected from the sales office as quick as you can say "generous tiling allowance" but, given the war among developers to lure buyers, it might only be a matter of time before they up-the-ante to more tantalising offers.

Not that a private jet is as outrageously far-fetched as it might seem. That - and a private island no less - are among the carrots being dangled by DAMAC properties in front of Irish investors if they buy one of their Dubai apartments during the Dubai Shopping Festival which runs until February 24th.

Purchasers will be entered into a draw for an island in Pelican Caye in the Caribbean Sea and a new Eclipse 500 jet. If that wasn't enough, the company, which has a sales office in Dublin, is also giving flash cars to everyone who purchases a property.

Unsurprisingly, the flashness of the car directly correlates to the price of the apartment. With the luxury penthouses, for example, there's a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Two-bed apartments priced at €357,000 come with a BMW 3 series whereas studios and one-bed apartments costing €110,000 have the fairly respectable sweetener of a BMW 1 series. Somehow a free barbecue set or towel heater just don't seem the same any more.

Irish developers might not have quite as deep pockets as their Dubai counterparts - although some would dispute this - but already there are signs that they are thinking a little more creatively. So-called "lifestyle packages", which include glossy kitchens and high quality bathrooms, have become almost run-of-the-mill and some have raised their game to offer landscaping, mortgage-free periods and covering solicitors' fees or childcare for up to two years.

While it's not exactly in the private island stakes, a Sligo developer held a raffle for a free apartment for anyone who bought one of 12 tax-designated units - priced at €175,000 - before January 18th. Menolly offered purchasers at The Coast development in Baldoyle the alluringly-named "Golden Hello" package which included fittings worth between €8,500 and €22,000 - depending on the price of the home. A spokesperson for Menolly Homes was reported to say that people were free to spend the money on "whatever tickles their fancy. If people want to blow €5,000 on a 50-inch plasma TV, be our guests". Or a barricade perhaps to keep out envious neighbours who bought into previous phases without so much as a silver-plated how do you do?

There is evidence though that most buyers - particularly if they're first-timers - are taking a sensible approach. When the developer of a new homes scheme at Kings Court in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath offered buyers the choice of a Fiat Punto or furniture packages worth €15,000, most opted for the furniture package. According to a Real Estate Alliance survey published yesterday, one of the most important factors for buyers, apart from location, is that the price of a property is right.

I'm guessing that very few hard pressed buyers are going to turn their nose up at a few freebies, but most would prefer a discount on the property. While many developers are disguising the 15 per cent drop in the value of new homes through incentives, a few like Capel Construction, Albany Group and Kingscroft, as well as the Durkans and Glenkerrin have accepted current market conditions and cut prices accordingly.

But in schemes where the developer won't budge on price, the incentives are probably going to have to become more extravagant. The advice is: ask yourself if, ultimately, the property is value for money. After all, you'll need every spare cent to run that private jet.