Buying a home can be an exciting, stressful, confusing, happy time. But it doesn’t need to be more complicated than it already is!
Your Offer
What you offer for a property is made up of more than just how much you agree to pay for it. Price is certainly a big component, but other things to consider might include the following –
Building or pest inspections – is your offer subject to a qualified building inspector confirming that there are no major defects at the property? Or is it to have a builder friend look through it? Having a builder look though to give advice may not be covered by a special condition in the contract, so you are better to do this before making your offer.
Finance – are you getting a loan to buy the property? The majority of buyers buy their property subject to a finance. Getting this process started early on in your buying journey is important. Knowing that your finance is preapproved gives you a better idea of how much you can spend, as well as giving the owner a bit more surety that it is likely to be approved.
Settlement timeframe – are you flexible in this?
Subject to sale – do you need to sell your property first?
Inclusions – is there any furniture that has been made for the property that you might like to buy with the property? A ride on mower?
The key is to make your offer as attractive as possible while making sure you are able to back it up!
Your offer has been accepted by the owners – congratulations! But what happens now?
When your offer has been accepted you will be asked to provide the following information to the agent so we can request contracts.
Your full name – all of them!
Your residential address.
Your legal representative – who will you get to do the conveyancing?
If you are subject to finance, approximately how much are you borrowing, and from which institution.
When we have all of this information from you we can then request that the owners legal prepare contracts.
The prepared Contract and Vendor Statement (or Section 32) will be sent to your conveyancer to review. They will discuss all aspects of the Contract with you and check that everything is correct. You will then sign the Contract and Vendor Statement.
You have signed Contract & Vendor Statement – then what?
Put the champagne in the fridge then wait!
Once you have signed the documents they will be sent through to the owners legal for the owners to sign.
When the contract is fully signed your legal representative will forward a copy to the bank (if subject to finance) so they can process your application.
If your offer was subject to a building inspection you should arrange this now. You call and book it with the building inspector of your choice, and they will contact us to arrange access to the property.
Deposit
At this stage you will need to pay the deposit (if it was payable on signing). If you haven’t received the banking details ask your agent for them.
When you receive the receipt make sure you pass it to your finance provider (if subject to finance).
Building Inspection
If you hear back from the building inspector that they have identified major defects you should read through the report and understand what the defects are, then have a conversation with the agent – you may be able to negotiate a price adjustment or the owner may agree to have items addressed, or you may choose not to go ahead with the purchase.
If you decide not to go ahead with the purchase you will need to provide a copy of the inspection report to the conveyancer and tell then that you are not going ahead. They will let the agent and the owners legal representative know.
Finance Approval
Your bank will let you know when your finance has been approved. When they do, make sure they have let your conveyancer know as well. They will then let the owners conveyancer know as well as the real estate. If finance was the last thing to be approved then the contract will be unconditional.
The contract is now unconditional – big congratulations! But what does that mean?!
This means that the SOLD sign can go up because all of the special conditions of the contract have been satisfied.
And you can pop the champagne!
There will still be a period of time before settlement. Settlement is when the property will be yours and you will be given the keys to move in.
Before settlement you will be advised to complete a ‘pre-settlement inspection’. This is an inspection to confirm that the property is how you expect it to be, and in the same condition as when you signed the contracts. You should hear from the agency to book in an inspection in the week before settlement.
Closer to settlement there will be other things you will need to do with your conveyancer, keep in touch with them and ask all the questions that you have!
Settlement
Today is the day! Settlement day!
One thing to be really aware of is that occasionally there can be delays with settlement. This can be caused by a form not being completed fully, or a technical issue and can be caused by either the owners or the buyers side. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen and can cause big issues if you have arranged for a removalist for that day. All you can do is check with your conveyancer that they have everything that they need from you.
Make sure you have a plan B, just in case. If you can, give yourself a day or two margin in the date you book the removalist.
Another thing to be aware of is that the rules are different for sales properties and rental properties. When leaving a rental property it is usually a requirement that the floors be steam cleaned. This is not a requirement for properties for sale. We ask owners to leave the property in a clean and tidy condition free of any loose items, but we don’t have control over the standard of cleanliness of a property. If that is important to you it should be included in the negotiations and added to the contract before you sign. The unspoken rule of ‘treat others how you wish to be treated’ unfortunately isn’t what all people live by!
You will need to wait until you hear from your conveyancer that settlement is complete. When they call you they should also send the agent an email confirming that settlement is complete. You should hear from the agent as well, congratulating you on settlement.
Head to the agency to pick up the keys!
~ now take a breath and start unpacking ~
This is only intended as a rough guide of what to expect. All sales are different and may vary to the above steps. In all things, if you are wondering about something, ask! You won’t be the first to have asked the question. This is written from a real estate perspective, not a legal perspective.