Buying a home is one of the most stressful and expensive things you will ever do. It’s vital that you seek legal advice from someone experienced in property law and who knows the area. You need to focus on the following:
- FINANCE – ensure you have approved finance before purchasing a property. Our solicitors have extensive mortgage experience and are fully conversant in financial documentation. We are happy to review any documentation at an hourly rate.
- PRE-PURCHASE INSPECTIONS – Aside from the many inspections you will undoubtedly undertake, it is often vital to organise other inspections. These can include building reports, pest reports and inspection of strata records when purchasing an apartment or townhouse. We can point you in the direction of experienced service providers.
- OFFER – You can make an offer with a deposit but until such time as contracts are signed by all parties you are able to withdraw your offer. We recommend you provide deadlines on any private offers you make and are able to make these on your behalf to both Agents and the Vendors’ solicitor. We can negotiate changes to the contract and reductions in deposit price.
- ACCEPTANCE – Once contracts are exchanged and both parties have signed contracts you are bound. If the sale is private then you are entitled to a 5 day cooling off period unless these rights have been waived. This right is not available under auction conditions and any contracts signed under auction conditions cannot be rescinded.
- EXCHANGE THROUGH TO SETTLEMENT – After the contract has become binding, we have a number of tasks to perform including:
- Arranging payment of stamp duty Liaising with the lender in regard to the mortgage
- Checking with various government authorities to see if they have a vested interest in the property
- Checking to see if there are any outstanding debts to local council
- Calculating adjustments for council, water and strata rates
- Making final checks on the title
- SETTLEMENT – On settlement day we will attend to the exchange of documents and money, liaising with your incoming financier and the Vendors’ solicitors. We pride ourselves on ensuring you are notified of the settlement immediately (before the Real Estate Agent lets you know!!)