NovBuyer scenarios: a path for your goal
Choose one primary objective and make the others constraints
One property can be considered for rent, later occupation and capital preservation, but these objectives can conflict. Select the objective that drives the decision and express the others as minimum conditions—for example, required net income while preserving the ability to occupy after three years.
Multi-criteria guidance emphasises clearly defined objectives and measurable criteria and warns that good performance in one area can compensate for failure elsewhere. A legal blocker, unfundable schedule or unsuitable living environment should remain a mandatory condition rather than receive a low weight in an overall score.
Create a scenario record before choosing a project
Record the buyer or decision participants, primary objective, measurable outcome, budget and currency, holding period, intended purchase date, acceptable commitment and exit event. Date the scenario because finances, exchange rates, projects and family plans change.
UK Government Analysis Function guidance recommends structuring the problem, identifying stakeholders, objectives, criteria and options before comparing solutions. “I want an investment apartment” is incomplete until the buyer defines the required net cash flow, period, reserve and acceptable risk.
1. Rental income
You want cash flow and a clear payback — not an "advertised yield" from a presentation.
- Set a target on net income, not gross: subtract vacancy, management, repairs, furniture, taxes and your own time.
- Model a base, a stress and a zero-income case in the break-even tool — it is a model, not a forecast.
- Check real demand for your unit type in the exact micro-zone (genuine comparables, who the tenant is).
- If GRR or buyback is offered, it is an obligation of the party named in the contract (SPA) — not a NovAsia guarantee and not "market yield". Verify the legal entity, amount, term, exclusions and enforcement route.
- Plan the exit: to whom and at what price you resell the unit in N years.
Test every route in three states
The base case uses the best-supported inputs. The downside case combines plausible variation—lower rent, higher costs, weaker base currency, delayed handover or a changed family plan. The control case removes the expected benefit: rent does not start, relocation is postponed or sale cannot occur on the planned date.
Government Analysis Function guidance recommends changing uncertain inputs one at a time to identify the most influential, then testing combinations. The output should show not only the final amount but the point of cash shortfall, failure of a mandatory condition and the action triggered.
Close a stop condition with evidence, not a seller explanation
For every blocker, identify the required evidence, verification owner, deadline and condition for removal. Missing comparable rent needs executed leases or evidenced management data; an unclear title route needs documents and legal advice; the final balance needs available funds or committed finance.
Where the stop condition has already occurred, it becomes an issue rather than a future risk. Record the date, fact, immediate action and decision to stop, amend the terms or escalate. A red flag should not disappear merely because the linked page was opened.
2. To live in
You buy to live in it — comfort, environment and sustainable costs matter more than "yield".
- Start with the district and micro-zone: daily route, noise, traffic, infrastructure, future construction nearby.
- Check the building: floor, view, lifts, generator/water, fire safety, management quality.
- Add up sustainable costs: management, sinking fund, tax — what is paid annually and monthly.
- Inspect the unit at different times of day; a prestigious district name is not a site inspection.
3. Capital preservation
The goal is to preserve money in a US-dollar asset, with acceptable risk and a clear exit.
Give every scenario a horizon and exit event
A horizon is not only for an investor. An owner-occupier needs a plan for relocation, a remote owner needs to know when physical presence may be required, and an off-plan buyer needs a response to delay. A rental investor needs the event that triggers sale, refinancing or a strategy change.
RICS discounted-cash-flow guidance calls for a defined analysis period, cash flows, expenses and exit value rather than hiding disposal inside one yield figure. The page only needs the expected period, review event and exit costs; it should not promise a future price.
- Priority is the quality of the right: strata title on the specific unit, building registration, clean seller and encumbrances.
- Focus on building and location quality (resale liquidity matters more than a headline discount).
- Assess a realistic exit: the depth of the resale market for that unit type.
- Mind the currency: dollar income and costs help, but check your own currency flows.
4. Off-plan (under construction)
A cheaper entry with a payment plan, but construction risk is added — surviving the schedule matters more than a headline discount.
- Verify permits, land rights, the project's legal entity and the stage of works.
- Break down the payment mechanism and money protection: reservation, milestone instalments, the large handover balance.
- A handover balloon is especially risky — the source of the final payment must exist independently of a resale or an unapproved loan.
- Review the developer's track record: what they have delivered and on what timeline (from sources, not promises).
- Renders are not photos of a finished building; a model or showroom does not prove handover quality.
5. Remote purchase
You are not in Cambodia and transact remotely — identity, document and payment security come first.
- Video-verify with a known representative; confirm the seller's legal entity through an independent channel.
- Never send money to bank details from an unexpectedly changed email — an account change requires confirmation through a previously verified contact.
- If a power of attorney is used, local counsel checks the form, scope, legalization and revocation.
- Independent legal (and where needed technical) review works for you, not for the seller.
Not sure which scenario is yours?
Tell us your goal, budget and horizon — we assemble a route and suitable projects, honestly marking what is confirmed and what is to confirm. We connect you with a specialist, not with advertising.
Turn the selected scenario into a route to completion
Group the journey into tasks: define the criteria, select and compare units, verify rights and the project, confirm the budget, prepare the reservation, agree the SPA, perform payments, accept the property and complete registration. Give every task an outcome, status and next action.
The GOV.UK Design System recommends showing users the tasks, order and completion point in long transactions, grouping related actions and displaying status. Useful NovAsia states are not started, in progress, confirmed and blocked. Completion means a verifiable outcome rather than opening a page.
Define the conditions that change the scenario
Record the events and values that make the current route unsuitable. Examples include net income falling below the minimum, delay requiring more capital before handover, remote review failing to establish the exact unit or a life-plan change making liquidity more important than future rent.
Sensitivity analysis tests whether the preferred option changes with the inputs. For a buyer, this means deciding in advance when to move from off-plan to ready property, visit in person, reduce the budget, change the objective or stop the purchase rather than forecasting the market.
Include “do not buy yet” as an option
Compare every route with retaining the funds, continuing the search or returning after a named event. The control option preserves liquidity, avoids contractual exposure and allows the buyer to wait for documents, completion or a better-fitting unit, while carrying its own opportunity cost.
No winner is a valid outcome. If no project passes the mandatory conditions or the decision depends on unverified rent, finance, quota, completion or buyback, the next action is to close the information gap rather than select the least weak candidate.