A free AI skill — my own, not a borrowed plugin — that builds the case against an off-the-plan deal before you commit. You buy now and settle years later against a valuation that doesn't exist yet. This lays out the traps first: valuation shortfall, settlement risk, body-corporate blowouts, developer track record and rental-guarantee tricks. Install it once, run it on any brochure.
In this guide
i · Why this mattersii · What you're building01 · Install02 · Run it03 · Read the risks★ What it catches04 · Refine· What only a solicitor can rule on
Why this matters
Off-the-plan is the one deal where the risk is invisible today.
With an established home, what you see is what you buy. Off-the-plan, you sign a contract now for something that won't exist for two or three years — and the bank won't value it until settlement. If it values low, you cover the gap in cash. If your circumstances or lending policy change, you can be stuck. If a sunset clause bites, the developer can walk.
The glossy brochure is built to sell, not to warn you. Someone has to build the bear case before you sign — and it shouldn't be the developer's agent.
What you're building
A deliberate bear case, section by section.
You paste in what you have — price list, config, quoted rent and strata, deposit terms, settlement timeframe, developer name. The skill returns the risks in order: valuation shortfall, settlement risk, body-corporate reality, rental-guarantee traps, supply risk, plus the exact questions to put to your broker and your solicitor. It argues against the deal on purpose, so you sign with your eyes open.
What you need
The Claude desktop app (claude.ai/download), Skills enabled, and the brochure or price list — plus whatever the agent has quoted you on rent, strata and settlement. Setup takes about five minutes, once.
Step 01 · Install the skill
Five minutes. You only do this once.
i
Download the Claude desktop app from claude.ai/download and sign in.
ii
Open Settings → Capabilities and turn on Skills.
iii
Add the propertyaiOS skills — upload the skills file I'll DM you, or clone the free repo at github.com/ginnypie/PropertyAIOS.
iv
Done. The property tools now appear in every new chat — off-the-plan, cash-flow, appraisal, and the rest.
Heads up: if you don't see Skills in Settings, your Claude plan doesn't include them yet — turn on the Code / Skills capability first.
Step 02 · Run it
Type the command. Paste the brochure.
Open a new chat, type the command below, and paste everything you've been given — the price list, floor plan, quoted rent and strata, deposit and settlement terms, and the developer's name. The more you give it, the sharper the bear case; anything missing becomes a question it tells you to chase.
/off-the-plan-risk
Then paste: price, config, suburb & state, quoted rent, body-corp estimate, deposit terms, settlement timeframe, and the developer / builder name.
Step 03 · Read the risks
Nine sections, all pointed at the downside.
What comes back
✻Valuation shortfall risk
✻Settlement risk
✻Body corporate risk
✻Rental & rental-guarantee concerns
✻Supply risk
✻Developer / builder questions
✻Lending questions
✻Solicitor questions
✻What must be verified before proceeding
How to read it
1
Start with valuation shortfall. This is the risk that costs real cash at settlement — read it before anything else.
2
Take the solicitor questions to a solicitor. Sunset clauses and variations are where off-the-plan buyers get hurt. Don't self-diagnose them.
3
Treat the "must verify" list as non-negotiable. If you can't clear those items, that's your answer.
★ What it catches
The three traps the brochure won't mention.
The value is in the things designed not to be obvious. Run a typical off-the-plan deal through it and three flags come up almost every time — the ones that turn a "sure thing" into a problem at settlement.
The valuation gap
The bank values at settlement, not at signing. If it comes in below your contract price, you cover the difference in cash — the tool sizes this risk before you're exposed to it.
The rental guarantee
A "guaranteed" rent is often just baked into a higher purchase price, then quietly disappears after year one. The tool flags it as a pricing trick to test, not a benefit.
The sunset clause
A clause that lets the developer cancel and re-sell into a risen market. The tool tells you to have a solicitor read it — because this is where buyers lose the property they waited two years for.
What it won't do
It never tells you the contract is safe. It flags what to check and sends the contract clauses to a solicitor — because on off-the-plan, only a conveyancer can actually rule on the risk.
Step 04 · Refine
Pressure-test it harder.
1
Feed it any comparable sales you can find — completed stock nearby tells you far more than the developer's own price list.
2
Ask it to model the deposit gap if the valuation comes in 5% and 10% low — see the cash you'd actually need to find.
3
Give it the developer's name and ask what to verify about their track record and any past project delays.
Before you rely on it
Where it stops and a professional starts.
The contract itself
A prompt can flag a sunset clause; only a conveyancer can read your actual contract and tell you what it means. Never sign an off-the-plan contract without one.
Finance at settlement
Lending policy and your circumstances can change over a two-year build. Your broker confirms whether the finance will still be there when you settle.
The developer's real position
It can't see a builder's balance sheet or pipeline. Treat its developer questions as a research list, not a verdict.
The finished product
Renders flatter. Light, finishes, aspect and defects only reveal themselves at completion — hold back what you can until you've inspected.
Where this gets you
You'll walk into the display suite already knowing the traps.
Run this before you sit down with the developer's agent and the conversation changes. You're no longer being sold to — you're asking the valuation, settlement and sunset-clause questions they hoped you wouldn't. Most off-the-plan deals won't survive it, and that's the point: the one that does is the one worth a solicitor's time.
Next tool
Ready for the full verdict? Put it to the committee.
— Broker handoff
Numbers organised? The lending structure still needs a human.
AI can prepare the property summary, the assumptions and the risk questions. A credit specialist structures the actual deal — borrowing capacity, lender policy, income treatment, loan structure and the application strategy. Bring your prepared file when it's time.
These tools are for preparation and education only. They do not replace credit assessment, financial advice, tax advice, legal review or lender policy checks. Verify everything with qualified professionals. Finance on the Coast is a subdivision of Model Mortgages Pty Ltd (ABN 82 108 681 063), Australian Credit Licence 387460.