The pre-sales break-even point: how to reach it sooner without cutting prices

Pre-sales have one goal that matters more than any other: reaching the break-even point, known in Colombia as the punto de equilibrio. Until that day, the money buyers pay stays with the trust company, construction cannot start, and every month of waiting costs interest, sales room rent and buyers who grow tired of waiting.

This guide explains what the break-even point is, why so many projects stall a few units short of it and what you can do to move pre-sales faster without resorting to discounts.

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What a project's break-even point is

In Colombia almost all new housing is sold before it is built. According to Guillermo Herrera, president of Camacol, the national builders' association, more than 70% of purchases are made off-plan. To protect those buyers, the down payment does not go straight to the developer: a trust company receives and manages it through a pre-sales trust arrangement (encargo fiduciario de preventa).

Camacol explains it this way in its buyer's guide: the trust company guarantees that the funds go only to building the project, and construction starts once the project reaches its break-even point. From that moment the purchase promise agreement is signed.

The law does not set a single percentage. Each trust agreement defines its own break-even point, which usually combines commercial, technical and legal conditions: a minimum number of units sold, the building permit, the sales permit and, in many cases, approval of the construction loan. The trust company checks that they are met before releasing the money.

What happens if it is not reached

The agreement also sets a deadline. If it passes without the project meeting the conditions, the money goes back to the buyers. As Fiduciaria Caja Social describes it, when the release conditions are not met, the funds are returned to the future buyers along with their returns.

For the developer that means losing months of sales work, the money spent on the sales room and advertising and, often, the opportunity on the land. That is why, during pre-sales, the question that matters is how many units are left and how fast they are selling.

Why pre-sales stall near the goal

Many pre-sales start strong and stop a few units short of break-even. The first sales come from buyers who already knew the developer, from referrals and from people who find exactly what they were looking for. What is left after that follows familiar patterns:

• Hard units: low floors, views of the neighbor's blank wall, apartments next to the trash room or unusual layouts. On a floor plan they all look equally gray and the buyer cannot picture living there.
• Buyers who never reach the sales room: those who live in another city or abroad, and those who have no time to visit on a Saturday. If they cannot see the project, they rarely reserve.
• Questions nobody answers in time: how the light comes in, what you see from the balcony, whether the furniture fits in the small bedroom. Every open question is a postponed reservation.
• Families that decide in parts: one partner visited the sales room and the other did not. The decision waits until both have seen the same thing.
• Cancellations: buyers who reserve and withdraw before signing. Each one puts a unit back in the inventory. We cover them in cancellations in off-plan housing.

Six ways to get there sooner without cutting the price

1. Make the slow units easy to understand

A ground floor with a garden, a corner apartment with more windows or a layout with a study can be good buys, but the floor plan hides it. With the project modeled in 3D, the sales rep shows the real light in that unit, the view from its window and how it can be furnished. We go deeper in how to sell the apartments nobody wants.

2. Sell beyond the sales room

The sales room only serves the people who walk in. According to Camacol data published by Portafolio, as of November 2025, 12.1% of new homes in Colombia were sold to people who do not live in the country and another 12.5% to Colombians from other departments. The same project model, sent as a link or presented on a video call, reaches those buyers. See how to close a sale remotely.

3. Answer questions before the buyer asks

The view, the light, the real size of the rooms and the finishes are the questions that slow decisions most. When buyers can answer them on their own, from their phone, they arrive at the sales room almost decided. See how to show the view and the light before you build.

4. Put the whole family in front of the same project

When the person who decides is not in the sales room, the reservation gets postponed. A link to the tour or a video call with the model on screen lets the partner, the parents or the son who lives abroad see the same thing and weigh in on the same day. We explain it in video calls with several decision makers.

5. Track the pace as well as the total

Knowing how many units you have sold is not enough on its own. What helps is knowing how many reservations come in each week, how many appointments each one takes and how many weeks are left before the deadline. With those three numbers you know whether you will make it or need to change something now. The metrics are in sales room metrics.

6. Look after the reservations you already have

A canceled unit goes back into the inventory and pushes the goal further away. Keeping buyers informed while they wait, with project updates and quick answers, reduces the cancellations that can be avoided. See how to show construction progress to buyers.

Why a price cut should come last

A discount on the last units looks like the quick fix, but it has costs that do not show up at first. It shrinks the margin of the whole project, upsets the people who already paid full price and teaches the next buyers to wait for the markdown. And if the real problem was that buyers did not understand the unit, the discount does not solve it either.

Before touching the price list, check whether the right buyers are seeing the unit and whether they are seeing it well. The problem is often there.

A four-week plan for the remaining units

1. Week 1: list the available units, group them by the reason they are not selling (view, floor, size, price) and decide what each group needs to show.
2. Week 2: prepare, for each group, a tour or a set of views from the 3D model that answers that objection, and rehearse it with the sales team.
3. Week 3: contact the leads who did not reserve with a link to the unit that suits them, and open video call appointments for those who cannot visit.
4. Week 4: review how many appointments and reservations each group produced and repeat what worked.

At Inviewd we build the project in real-time 3D so the sales rep can show any unit, with its light and its view, in the sales room, on the buyer's phone or on a video call. If your pre-sales stalled close to the goal, take a look at the virtual sales room.

Frequently asked questions

What is the break-even point in a real estate project?

It is the set of conditions in the trust agreement that must be met for the trust company to release the buyers' money to the developer so construction can start. It usually includes a minimum number of units sold, the building permit, the sales permit and the construction financing.

What percentage of sales is needed to reach break-even?

It depends on each project: its trust agreement sets it according to the financial structure of the build. Buyers can ask the developer or check it in the trust agreement.

What happens to the money if the project does not reach break-even?

If the deadline passes and the release conditions are not met, the trust company returns the funds to the buyers along with their returns.

How can pre-sales move faster without discounts?

By showing the hardest units more clearly, reaching buyers who cannot visit the sales room and answering questions about the view, the light and the size of the rooms in time. A 3D model of the project helps with all three.

Sources

Camacol: Educando al comprador de vivienda (trust arrangement and break-even point), in Spanish

Fiduciaria Caja Social: managing funds during pre-sales, in Spanish

Semana: Camacol on the Colombian housing outlook (May 2026), in Spanish

Portafolio: home sales to non-residents, with Camacol data (January 2026), in Spanish