• Buying a Property •
Once you have found the property you wish to purchase a holding deposit, which is an amount to indicate your genuine interest in the property, is paid by you to the real estate agent.
We then organise a meeting with you (office or telephone) to collect details for your file, clarify the procedure involved and take particulars of the property you wish to purchase.
We send you our Service and Cost Agreement which outlines costs, procedure and our commitment to you in the way of ‘expert advice and great service’ as well as your authority for us to act on your behalf. We ask that you sign this and return it to our office ASAP.
We ask for an initial advance of $500, to be deposited into our Trust Account, to cover the cost of disbursements (searches and enquiries) that we order early in your matter on your behalf. This amount is deducted from the invoice total on settlement.
At this stage we strongly recommended that you obtain a Pest Report, Building Report and Strata Inspection Report (if required) on the property.
You then need to arrange finance with your bank, building society or credit union, if this has not been done already.
Your agent will forward a Sales Advice to the vendor’s (seller’s) solicitor who in turn will prepare the Contract for Sale in accordance with these instructions. When we receive the Contract for Sale, we contact you to attend our office to explain the Contract to you in detail and ask you to sign it. You will need to bring to this meeting a cheque for the balance of the deposit, payable to the agent, if you have not paid this previously. The total deposit amounts to 10% of the purchase price of the property.
Once all finance arrangements and any required alterations to the Contract have been made, the Contract is sent to the vendor’s solicitor to initiate exchange. The vendor’s solicitor will exchange the Contracts and forward the signed Contract to us, to complete the exchange.
You are entitled to a five (5) day cooling off period from the date of exchange, unless a Section 66W Certificate is completed which waives the ‘cooling off’ period. You may rescind the Contract during the ‘cooling off’ period but a penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price is payable to the vendor.
On receipt of the exchanged Contract, we commence our searches and enquiries, which include certificates from the following authorities:
- Local Council – Rates and Zoning Certificates
- Roads and Traffic Authority
- Hunter Water Corporation
- Mine Subsidence Board
- Transgrid
- Department of School Education
- Land Tax
- State Rail Authority
- Land and Property Information Office - Title Search
These searches notify us of any proposals that may affect the property, that haven’t been disclosed in the Contract for Sale. Should the property be a Strata Title unit, we also obtain a Section 109 Certificate for Strata Levies.
Depending on your finance arrangements, the mortgagee may require a Survey Report. We can order this on your behalf. Should the Survey Report not comply with the rules and regulations of the Local Council, it is advisable to obtain a Building Certificate from Council. We strongly recommend both a Survey Report and Building Certificate be obtained in every instance.
Requisitions on Title, which are questions related to the property, are forwarded to the vendor’s solicitor for answering and return.
Contact is made with your mortgagee (lender) to enable the Mortgage documents to be prepared and arrange the advance of your settlement funds.
Stamp Duty, on the Contract for Sale and Transfer, is requested from you to enable us to have the documents stamped at the Office of State Revenue. You may be eligible for First Home Plus, which is an exemption from paying stamp duty and/or the First Home Owner Grant Scheme which is a grant from the government for purchasing your first home. Please contact us if you think you may be eligible. Once the Transfer is received back from the Office of State Revenue, it is forwarded to the vendor’s solicitor for approval and signature prior to settlement. Settlement is arranged and a Settlement Statement is prepared and forwarded to the vendor’s solicitor for their approval.
The Settlement Statement and our Tax Invoice is forwarded to you prior to settlement, advising you of the amount required to complete the purchase, if necessary. You are not required to pay the invoice, as this is usually deducted from Settlement Funds.
The vendor’s solicitor forwards the cheque details for settlement.
Prior to settlement, we recommend you contact the agent to do a final inspection of the property.
Settlement takes place at the office of the vendor’s solicitor or the vendor’s outgoing mortgagee. We attend settlement on your behalf and contact you once completed.
Following settlement ‘an order on the agent’ is faxed by the vendor’s solicitor to enable the agent to release the keys to you.
We then send you a client questionnaire to see if we provided the ‘expert advice and great service’ you require as your feedback is very important to us.
If you would like us to assist you, or you require further information,
call us on 02 4969 1800 to make an appointment.