Buying off-plan in Vietnam: process, payments and pitfalls
8 min read · Updated 2026-06-01
How new-build purchases work step by step — reservation, SPA, milestone payments, handover and the pink book — and where deals go wrong.
The purchase, step by step
A typical new-build purchase runs: a refundable reservation deposit (commonly $2,000–5,000), then a deposit contract of around 10–20%, then the sale-and-purchase agreement (SPA) with instalments tied to construction milestones. By law, the developer may collect at most 70% before handover from a foreign buyer's schedule perspective, with the remainder around handover and pink-book issuance.
Money must enter Vietnam through official banking channels, with the purchase noted as the purpose — this paper trail is what later lets you repatriate the proceeds when you sell.
What would your life cost in Vietnam?
Free 2-minute report. Instant result.
Where deals go wrong
The classic failure modes: paying deposits on projects that never obtained foreign-sale licensing; schedules that front-load payments beyond legal caps; developers with a history of late handover or missing pink books; and 'guaranteed rental return' programmes whose guarantee is only as good as the guarantor.
The defence is boring and effective: verify the project's legal file, verify the developer's delivery record, and never pay outside the contract. A local law firm does this in days.
Resale or new-build?
Resale units in delivered buildings remove construction risk and let you inspect what you buy — but the foreign quota transfers only foreigner-to-foreigner in many cases, narrowing supply. New-build offers payment spreading and the widest quota availability, at the price of delivery risk.
For a first purchase in Vietnam, a nearly-completed phase from a top-tier developer is usually the sweet spot: you see the product, wait months not years, and still get primary-market paperwork.
Want to know what your life in Vietnam would cost?
Create your free cost-of-living & investment report in 2 minutes.
Get my report