Purchasing a Home

Conveyancing (buying and selling property) is a major part of our firm and our solicitors are very experienced in this area of the law. If you are looking to buy or sell property then contact our office today on (02) 4821 1588 and make an appointment with one of our solicitors. 

What should I expect or need to do?

The steps required when purchasing a home vary depending upon the nature and the type of property, whether you are a first home buyer, whether there are special rules limiting what you can purchase as a first home buyer, the level of finance available to you, the need for the property to be valued by the lender and approved as satisfactory for the loan that you need, the condition of the property being reviewed such as by a competent friend or getting a pest and building report and most importantly having the Title and the Contract reviewed by your solicitor. 

Finance available

Your search for an appropriate property will always start by understanding what finance is available to you and the nature and the type of property that you want.

What property

You then look at properties with real estate agents and if there is a property that you like and it is a residential property, the agent must have a marketing Contract available for you or your solicitor to review – get access to that contract if you are really interested in making an offer on that property.

Once you have the contract, have it reviewed by your solicitor.

Making and offer

If your finance appears to be in order and the Contract is in order then you can go through the process of offer and acceptance and see whether a deal can be done at a price you can afford.

At this stage, there is no binding commitment.

If the deal is struck the agent will either ask you to exchange a Contract with a cooling-off period which is usually 5 business days but often extended to 10 business days (recommended) or he/she will issue a Sales Advice to the vendors solicitor asking that a Contract be prepared and sent to your solicitor.

Once this Contract is received it is often made available to your lender so the lender can approve the loan and in the interim period you might get a pest and building report in relation to the condition of the property.

Exchanging the Contract – What does this mean?

Once you have satisfactory pest and building reports and unconditional finance approved you can move forward to exchange the Contract (the point at which it becomes binding) and you pay the deposit.

In some cases you may not be able to pay the usual 10% deposit and you might need to ask for a reduced 5% deposit or you might need to purchase a product known as a deposit bond (a one off fee) which will guarantee the deposit to the vendor. You can discuss this with your solicitor.

Types of Title

Most properties are Torrens title which is freehold title although there are still some old system freehold titles in Goulburn. There are other versions of Torrens title known as Strata title or Community title and if these apply to the property that you have chosen, you need the specialist advice of your solicitor/conveyancer. You may need to get another search done before you commit to the purchase, that being a strata search (the cost for which is usually about $385).

All of the hard work is done in the beginning. Finding the right place, negotiating the price, making sure that the property is in good condition and negotiating any repair issues that might arise is a critical first part of the transaction before committing and exchanging the Contract.

Settlement

After the exchange the settlement date (when you pay the purchase price and can move in) is set. After exchange and with the help of your solicitor it is all downhill except for the hard work of moving.