With a new build you are not buying a house, you are buying the promise that a house will be built. You pay in instalments tied to construction phases, you get the keys at the end, and a year or two passes between those two points. This guide explains how the process is structured, where the risks sit, and what to obtain before you pay the first instalment.
What "turnkey" actually means
It means the price covers a complete, finished, habitable building rather than a shell. It does not automatically include furniture, landscaping, utility connections or pool equipment.
Settle that first, because very different scopes are sold under the same word. Ask for an itemised list of what is included, annexed to the contract. If no such list exists, there is no agreement, only an expectation.
How phased payment works
Instalments are tied to visible, verifiable stages of construction. A typical schedule has four or five steps:
- Signing the contract
- Completion of the structure, meaning the shell
- Windows installed and facade completed
- Works completed, confirmed by the supervising engineer
- Occupancy permit
The percentages vary, and they are the most important part of any offer. A schedule asking 30 percent on signature is not the same as one asking 60 percent, even when the final price is identical.
Why the first instalment matters most
The first instalment is the only money you hand over before anything has happened on site. The larger it is, the more of your money depends purely on the builder performing.
A larger first instalment is not necessarily bad, since it sometimes reflects the developer real cost profile. But it is a question to ask out loud, and the answer has to be specific rather than "that is how it is usually done".
Building permit and occupancy permit are not the same thing
This is the distinction buyers most often grasp too late.
- A building permit means the building may be constructed. It is issued before works begin, on the basis of the main design.
- An occupancy permit means the building was constructed in accordance with that permit and may be used. It is issued after completion, following technical inspection.
Without an occupancy permit you cannot properly register the building, register residence, categorise it for letting, or as a rule obtain an energy certificate. That is why the final instalment should almost always be tied to it rather than to "completion of works".
If someone offers a schedule where the full amount is paid before the occupancy permit, that is a negotiating point, not an administrative detail.
What to obtain before the first payment
- The building permit number and date, and a copy of the permit itself
- A land register extract for the plot being built on, for ownership and encumbrances
- The main design, or at least floor plans and a room schedule with areas
- An itemised list of what "turnkey" covers
- The completion deadline, with the consequences of delay written into the contract
- Who the contractor is and who the supervising engineer is
- How your paid instalments are secured
How to protect yourself
With a new build you are not buying from someone who already owns what they are selling, so the usual checks are not enough. Three mechanisms are used in practice, often together:
- Instalments tied to verifiable stages. Never to a date, always to a state of the site that someone has to certify.
- A note in the land register. Recording your contractual right protects you if something happens to the property in the meantime.
- Contractual consequences for delay and non-performance. A contract that does not say what happens if the building is not finished protects one party, and it is not you.
A lawyer here is not a recommendation but a condition. When buying an existing house, a lawyer verifies a state of affairs. With a new build, a lawyer writes the rules that will govern the next two years.
Areas: the figure in the listing and the figure in the design
Project documentation contains two different areas, and the gap between them can be substantial.
Gross area sums every space. Usable area multiplies individual spaces by a coefficient: a covered terrace often counts at 0.5, a balcony at 0.25, a loggia at 0.75. On a building with a lot of outdoor space the difference between those two numbers can exceed sixty square metres.
Neither is wrong, but they are not comparable. When comparing price per square metre between two new builds, check that both are calculated on the same basis. We publish usable area in the listing and state gross in the description, precisely so that comparison can be made honestly.
Tax on a new build
When buying from a developer who charges VAT, the 3 percent real estate transfer tax does not apply, because that would tax the same transaction twice. This differs from buying from a private owner.
The other costs remain: notary, registration, lawyer. A full breakdown with worked examples is in the guide to purchase costs.
The most common mistakes
- Paying the first instalment before ownership of the land has been verified.
- Accepting a schedule where the full amount is paid before the occupancy permit.
- Comparing price per square metre between two new builds whose areas were calculated differently.
- Assuming "turnkey" includes landscaping, utility connections or pool equipment.
- Relying on renderings. They show intent, not obligation.
Next step
Browse the current properties on Pelješac. If you are considering land, start with building land or agricultural land. If you have a specific new-build offer and want us to read it before you sign anything, send it over.
Villages covered in this guide
About the author
Sottomonte
Real estate agent
Lives and works on Pelješac. Handles sales, from stone houses for renovation to building land by the sea. Checks the land register, cadastre and permits personally before any offer goes out.