Conveyancing and Property law > Residential > Purchase

Conveyancing & Property Law - Residential - Purchase

Buying a new property is an exciting time for anyone. The purchase of a new property is one of the most important and expensive decisions you will ever make in your life. It is for these two reasons that it is important that you get appropriate, correct and helpful advice before you make the purchase.

There are many things that can go wrong when purchasing a property. For example did you know:
  1. The Vendor must have a complete up to date and accurate contract ready when they list a property for sale;
  2. You must have a written unconditional loan approval or finance available before you pay the full deposit;
  3. You can negotiate the terms of the sale;
  4. The Vendor must disclose certain things about the property and if they fail to do so you can withdraw from the sale;
  5. A 5 day cooling off period automatically applies (except when purchasing at auction);
  6. You can and should always request an extension to 10 day cooling off period as a minimum;
  7. The cooling off period allows you time to obtain building reports, pest reports, strata reports, building certificate, other reports required and obtain advice on the Contract for Sale;
  8. If after receiving the reports or advice you decide you do not want to purchase the property anymore then you can withdraw.
  9. If you decide during a cooling off period that you want to withdraw from the contract you can and you will lose the 0.25% deposit;
  10. If you decide after the cooling off period has ended that you want to withdraw from the contract you can but you will lose the full deposit and also may be required to pay the Vendor damages.
The most common reasons that people are forced to withdraw from a purchase are:
  • Not having the money to make the purchase;
  • Discovering structural defects in the property;
  • Discovering that the property or part of the property was constructed without council approval.

We recommend that before you exchange contracts you contact the Property Law team at Dooley & Associates and discuss the property you wish to purchase with them.

Buying at Auction
Different rules apply to buying at an auction. A sale at auction is automatically exchanged with no cooling off period. Therefore, YOU MUST obtain your written unconditional finance approval, contract advice and all inspections/reports prior to attending at the Auction. If you are successful at the Auction you must have the full deposit ready to pay on the day.

If you are successful at the Auction and obtain your reports after you have exchanged and paid the full deposit and realise there is something wrong with the property or your bank refuses to lend you the amount required and you cannot or do not want to complete the purchase then you will lose the full deposit and may be required to pay the Vendors costs and damages.

If you are considering purchasing a property at Auction we recommend contacting our Property Law team well before the scheduled Auction date.