It’s practically a guaranteed profit. That’s what you’ll often hear at a VIP preview or the first phase of a new launch. Buy the unit now at a seven to 10 per cent discount, and when the “normal” price is applied, you’ve made your returns. These early bird new launch discounts are a big part of Singapore’s private property scene, and draw much of the initial crowd. It’s a normal scheme that you’ll probably have seen utilised everywhere else. From concerts to exhibition tickets, early bird discounts are used to attract more adventurous buyers – and slowly increasing prices by using social proof and FOMO (fear of missing out) marketing to push the rest of the sales. In essence, almost everybody wins – developers are happy, early buyers are happy they managed to get in at a discount, and later buyers are happy they secured their units. However, incidents...