Developer offers free scooter, but no car park, to encourage off the plan apartment sale

Serra Property Group are offering a free scooter with their one-bedroom apartments. The 38 High Street Toowong, Queensland development (pictured above) does not come with car parks.

Bruce Goddard, marketing the properties through Place Projects, notes that buyers don’t need a car.

“There are a multitude of public transport options, with a bus stop just 10 metres away, the Toowong train station 50-metres away and the CityCat located 500 metres away, and being an inner city suburb, situated only a few kilometres from the CBD, it’s very easy to get around,” said Goddard.

The scooters provide an “added convenience” he said, with the developer only recently introducing the incentive. He noted it had been well received so far.

“You don’t need a motorbike licence to operate the scooter, only a car licence, so it appeals to most people, and we’re throwing in not only the scooter, but also a year’s registration and a helmet,” he said.

The remaining property includes half of the scooter-eligible one-bedroom apartments, and half two-bedroom apartments. They range from 51 square metres to 87 square metres and are priced from $378,000 to $795,000.

This isn’t the first time a developer has thought up the scooter enticement.

In a South Yarra development from SPEC Property Group, buyers were being offered a Vespa on the one-bedroom apartments. Up to 20 were on offer, however these apartments – without car spaces – did come with scooter spaces.

Those one-bedroom apartments ranged from $339,000 to $445,000, between 39 square metres and 45 square metres.

Notably, Vespas are worth from $4,000 to $9,500, depending on the model.

The Vespa incentive first appeared in Jacksonville Florida, with buyers at the Chelsea Lofts being able to choose between receiving a Vespa, having their homeowner association fees paid for a year or getting a plasma TV.

Another popular buying incentive, this time offered on established properties, was in the form of food. Or, more specifically, ice cream.

A year’s supply was on offer for the buyer of a newly renovated Albert Park house.

This same technique was used six months earlier for the sale of a Camperdown cottage.

Here are some examples of incentives previously offered by developers, from covering your mortgage repayments to doubling your deposit.

Developers have also been known to offer anything from cars, to providing you the property without a deposit.

Property Observer readers were previously of the opinion that offerings in the form of incentives, such as the trend of providing frequent flyer points based on the value of the purchase, would indeed entice buyers. Of those who were polled, 71.4% said 'Yes', buyers would be tempted.