THE CONTRACT

Once you’ve made the decision to sell your property, one of the first tasks is to have the Contract for Sale of Land drawn up. Your agent is unable to market the property without a Contract.

The Contract will include not only the legal terms and conditions of sale but will also specify what items are included or excluded from the sale, the completion time you require and any other special requirements such as a release of the deposit if you intend on purchasing another property simultaneously with your sale. There are a lot of ways that a Contract can be varied, so it’s important to discuss your situation in detail with us.

You also need to know your disclosure responsibilities, as failing to disclose certain things could be detrimental to your sale.

THE DEPOSIT

Once a purchaser has been found and the Contract has been signed, the purchaser will need to pay the deposit, which is usually 10% of the sale price. The agent will hold the deposit in their trust account until settlement has taken place.

EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

Once the deposit has been paid to the agent and the purchaser has carried out their due diligence and the Contracts have been signed by you and the purchaser, then exchange of Contracts can take place. The Contract has a five (5) business day Cooling off period (can also be extended to ten (10) business days) unless the purchasers’ legal representative has provided a waiver of the Cooling off period.

SETTLEMENT

Settlement (the day that the money is paid for the property and keys handed over) is scheduled in accordance with the Contract and is usually 6 weeks after signing Contracts. During the wait for a settlement, we will liaise with your bank in relation to releasing any mortgage held on the property. During this time, you should arrange disconnection of electricity and other services.

Before settlement, the purchase price will be adjusted to reflect the council rates, water rates and strata fees that need to be shared between the parties. There may be other adjustments, based on the Contract for Sale.

Once settlement takes place, the real estate agent will be authorised to release the deposit to you, less their fees.

Please feel free to contact Michelle  to discuss the sale of your property.