Is a reservation refundable?

What is a reservation?

A reservation is a payment made against one named unit to hold it while the purchase is prepared. The form records the unit, the price agreed and the amount paid, and it keeps the unit off the market for the period it states. It comes before the sale contract; it is not the sale contract.

Which document decides whether the money comes back?

The reservation form you sign. That is the document in which the amount, what it is counted against, and the conditions for returning it are written. There is no single answer that fits every developer and every project: the terms of a reservation are the terms of its own form.

When is a reservation refundable?

When the form says it is, and on the conditions the form names. Those conditions are written in the form and in the developer's terms for the project; read them before you pay, and ask the sales team to put them in writing. A reservation is refundable according to its own text, not according to a general rule.

When is it not refundable?

When the form says the amount is not returned, or that part of it is kept on withdrawal — an administrative charge, for instance. The same document governs this side of the question. An amount the form describes as non-refundable is not returned because the buyer changed their mind, and that clause is the one to read before signing rather than after.

How do I protect the amount I pay?

Read the reservation form before paying. Check that the unit, the price and the payment plan in it match what you agreed. Check that the developer named on it is the developer of the project. Keep the receipt for the payment. Ask which document follows the reservation, and when the purchase becomes binding on both sides. What the form does not say is not part of the terms.

What happens to the reservation once the contract is signed?

The form states how the amount is treated when the purchase proceeds: it is set off against the price recorded in the contract. From that point the sale contract governs the purchase, and the reservation has served its purpose.

How does the reservation form differ from the contract?

The form deals with the reservation alone: the unit, the amount and the conditions attached to it. The purchase itself is governed by the sale contract that follows it, and the amount paid under the form is accounted for there.

Where do I read the conditions for a specific unit?

In the reservation form for that unit, in the sale contract that follows it, and in the developer's own terms for the project. The contract is where the conditions of the purchase are written — the delivery year and its grace period, the finishing level, the payment plan, and what is returned if the sale does not complete. Ask for the documents before you pay, and keep a copy of everything you sign.