The one contract question buyers forget to ask

Picture the moment: the contract is on the table, the pen is in your hand. There is one question most buyers in Addis never ask, and it is the one I would ask first: if this building is delivered late, what exactly do I get?

In Turkey, to take one example this market likes to discuss, developers can owe the buyer compensation for every month of delay written into the agreement. Whatever the jurisdiction, the principle is the same — a delivery date without a consequence is a hope, not a commitment.

How to ask it

Before signing, ask in plain words: if construction is not finished by the date in this contract, what is the compensation, and where is that written? Read the clause yourself. If the answer is vague, or the clause does not exist, you have learned something more valuable than the brochure — you have learned how this developer treats time.

Delays happen in Addis; pretending otherwise would insult you. The difference between an acceptable risk and a bad one is a developer's delivery history and a contract that shares the pain of lateness instead of leaving all of it with you.