FAR NORTH COAST CONVEYANCING

The property buying process can be a complex one! There can be a minefield of legal, financial and procedural hurdles to clear. To make things easy, we have outlined the Property Purchase process below. Please contact our team if you have questions about this.

CONTRACT DRAFT & SALE ADVICE
Congratulations! At this stage you have either made a successful offer on a property, or been the successful bidder at Auction. Alternatively, perhaps your sale has been conducted privately or “off-market”, or some other process has taken place.

A contract will be drafted that contains the details of the property and the sale. It is important you have your solicitor explain the effect of the contract to you before you sign.

Once you sign the contract, and it exchanged, this is generally binding – see further below for more information.

BUILDING AND PEST INSPECTIONS
The seller of a property is only required to disclose any matters affecting the title (i.e. Title Deed) to the property. They are not required to disclose any defects regarding the building itself, including its condition, known defects or problems, including pest problems.

Before you commit to purchasing, you should obtain both pest and building reports from reputable and licensed inspectors.

Please note, that if you are purchasing your property at Auction, your Due Diligence (Build, Pest and Finance) must be conducted prior to Auction.

FINANCE
Prior to making your offer, you have most likely obtained either a Pre-Approval or Formal Finance (unconditional) approval. It is essential you have unconditional written finance approval before the contract is exchanged, at which point it becomes binding and unconditional. Alternatively if there is no financier, ensure you have sufficient funds to complete the purchase.

PAYMENT OF THE DEPOSIT
The deposit must be paid on or before the contracts being Exchanged. The deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price.

EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS
This is a big moment in the sale process. As a buyer, all of your Due Diligence must be completed prior to this step.

Once the vendor and purchaser agree of the terms of sale the Contract is finalised in duplicate, compared to ensure they are identical dated and “exchanged”. When contracts are exchanged, both the Buyer and Seller are legally bound to complete the transaction within the prescribed settlement period.

THE COOLING OFF PERIOD
By law, NSW Residential Property sales have a cooling off period of five business days before the contract becomes binding. However, in recent years, this cooling off period is generally waived by the Buyer. If you waive your cooling off period rights, you are bound under the contract.

INSURANCE
The risk of damage stays with the vendor up until the completion or the purchaser taking possession of the property. We do recommend that you take out a cover note as you do have an interest in the property.

STAMP DUTY
Stamp duty is payable on the Contract and is due on completion or up to 3 months from the date of exchange. If you have a mortgage your financier will require the contract stamped on completion. First Home Buyers can sometimes be offered exemptions on Stamp Duty, this is dependant on the state you are purchasing in, and your circumstances, please contact us for further information about this. 

SEARCHES
It will be necessary for us to carry out various searches of the property. These searches will investigate whether any government authority (e.g. Local Councils or State Governments) have any plans which will adversely affect the property, or whether there are any statutory charges levied against the property which require payment or adjustment. This process can also be used to check if alterations to the land or property have been done with proper council approval.

PRE-SETTLEMENT INSPECTION
Once settlement takes place it is too late to be finding that some of the inclusions are missing, or that something has been damaged! We recommend you or your agent inspect the property a day or two prior to settlement.

SETTLEMENT
The day of settlement is determined by the date of exchange and is normally 28 days after that date, but this can vary with agreement between the parties. The settlement time is determined by the availability of all parties to the transaction, including banks if they are part of the transaction (i.e. providing or discharging a mortgage).

It is at settlement that the deeds to the property are handed over to the buyer, the buyer makes payment for the property, and the banks transfer their agreed mortgage or loan.

AFTER SETTLEMENT
Immediately following settlement the agent will be advised and he will release any keys. The transfer will be lodged with the LPI and if you have borrowed money the Title Deeds will be retained by them.

Time to celebrate in your new home!