[JMBroad]

Lawyers will only carry out a Due Diligence Report for you once you have retained them to do so (at obvious legal costs). The process can take anywhere from a day up to 8 weeks depending on the country and development in question.

That's why some people prefer to work with agencies who have already had their legal representatives do Due Diligence on the product to make sure that it can be sold. Otherwise you'll end up finding a place you like, putting a deposit down which you hope he won't run off with and then hoping that your lawyer will come back and tell you it's ok to buy. You'd be surprised at how many developments fail the reports and never make it past the agents to the general public for a variety of reasons.

Due Diliegence Reports which agents normally say they have carried out on a project refers to issues which can impact the legality of the sale, and includes land ownership, land restrictions, building licenses etc. What exactly each report entails will depend on the country, the development and the developer.