Purchase of property or land
What steps are involved when I buy a property?
Once you have found the property that suits you, a part deposit is usually paid to the agent . This shows your genuine interest in the property but does not guarantee the property will be yours, further steps are required before that happens.
We meet to talk to the client either by phone or face to face and discuss finance arrangements, pest and building reports ,stamp duty and First Home Owners Grant if applicable.
We will confirm all the costs involved and let you have our Cost Agreement.
Following receipt of the Agent’s Sales Advice the seller’s solicitor will send a contract to us so that we can arrange for you to discuss it and if in agreement sign it ready for exchange.
Exchange means that we send a signed contract to the other solicitor and he/she sends a contract signed by the seller to us. Once we are satisfied that you are happy with a pest and building report of the property we make the exchange. This means that you are now legally committed to buy the property and cannot change your mind.
Exchange of Contracts is completed when the seller signs and dates the original of the Contract and it is sent to us. Settlement usually takes place 5 or 6 weeks from the date of the Contract.
The full deposit (usually 10% of purchase price ) or a Deposit Bond must be paid on or prior to exchange of Contracts and is usually paid to the Real Estate Agent to hold in their Trust Account.
A Purchaser of residential property (unless bought at auction) usually has a "Cooling Off" period of 5 business days from date of exchange of Contracts. A Purchaser who withdraws from the Contract forfeits 0.25% of the purchase price to the seller.
Following exchange of Contracts, we then attend to title searches and detailed enquiries relating to the property. We also order, if required, a survey and a Council Building Certificate.
If you are financing we contact your lender to arrange preparation of the financial documents.
If you are not a first home buyer, stamp duty will be payable on the Contract, Transfer and Mortgage and we will request this amount from you approximately three weeks prior to the settlement date.
Settlement is arranged and a settlement statement and tax invoice are prepared for you. After taking into account any loan moneys, we advise you of the amount required to complete the purchase.
Household Insurance
Once Contracts are exchanged you should arrange household insurance noting your lender’s interest on the policy as insurance is your responsibility after settlement but it is prudent to have insurance cover from exchange.
Other steps to take prior to settlement
We suggest that prior to settlement you organise the furniture removalist, telephone, gas, electricity & arrange redirection of mail ready for the settlement.
What is Settlement
Settlement occurs at a given time, eg: 35 or 42 days, after contracts are exchanged.
Final Inspection
The purchaser should carry out a final inspection of their property during the morning. This is usually arranged through the Real Estate Agent.
On the day of settlement
A place of settlement, usually chosen by the sellers solicitor or lender, is chosen and the seller’s solicitor, seller’s lender, the purchaser’s solicitor and purchaser’s lender all meet at a given time and documents and cheques are exchanged so that the purchaser or the purchaser’s lender receive the Title Deeds and the seller or the seller’s lender receive the cheques.
On occasions there could be several settlements taking place simultaneously Immediately after settlement the sellers solicitor faxes a letter to the Real Estate Agent confirming settlement. They will deduct their commission from the deposit held and then provide the seller with the balance. and release the keys to the buyer.
After Settlement
After settlement we will send you a closing letter In which we advise that our involvement in the matter is finished, we will send you copies of settlement sheets ,our invoice and cheque requirements for the settlement, advise the council and water authority of change of ownership and forward cheques for unpaid rates that have been adjusted at settlement.
We will keep your file for seven years after which it may be destroyed.