Office 4, Level 1, 105A High Street, Cranbourne VIC 3977
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The questions clients ask us most, answered properly. Every figure on these pages is checked against the relevant Act or revenue office, and we say so when something cannot be verified.
The two states run different rules. Each guide is labelled, and we never carry a Victorian rule across to a South Australian matter.
19 guides
Victoria 8 min read
Once you sign a Victorian contract of sale, the cooling-off period is the only free exit, and in auction week there is not even that. Here is what we look at in a contract before a buyer signs, and why each item matters.
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Victoria 8 min read
A house and land package is sold as one product, but legally it is usually two contracts under two different Acts, with different deposits, different cooling-off rights and different risks. Knowing which rule belongs to which contract is most of the battle.
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Victoria 10 min read
An off-the-plan contract can run for a year or more before you own anything. The Sale of Land Act gives you a set of rights for that gap: a capped deposit held on trust, a way out if the plan changes or never registers, and protection from a developer who wants to cancel and resell.
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Victoria 8 min read
If you built, extended or substantially altered your home as an owner-builder, you cannot simply list it. For six and a half years after completion, the Building Act requires a defects report, statutory insurance and a notice of cover before you sign a contract. Miss one and the buyer can walk away right up to settlement.
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Victoria 8 min read
Buy a townhouse with a shared driveway or a unit in a block and you join an owners corporation. Its certificate tells you what you will pay, what is owing, what is planned and whether anyone is in court. Here is how to read it, and what it does not tell you.
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Victoria 7 min read
Sellers often want the buyer's deposit before settlement, usually to fund their own next purchase. Section 27 of the Sale of Land Act is how that happens today, with a 28 day clock that catches buyers who do nothing. Parliament has now voted to abolish it.
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Victoria 8 min read
The title search in a Section 32 is two or three pages, and the words that matter are usually in a document it only refers to. Here is what easements, covenants, section 173 agreements and caveats are, how to find them, and what each one can stop you doing.
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Victoria 10 min read
There is no cooling off period when you buy at auction in Victoria. The contract binds you the second the hammer drops, so every check has to happen in the week before.
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Victoria 9 min read
A conveyancing quote is two numbers stacked together, and the firm only controls one of them. Here is what the searches, certificates and registration fees actually cost in 2026-27, and what makes a matter more expensive.
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Victoria 9 min read
A licensed conveyancer can handle most Victorian property sales and purchases from start to finish. Here is where the line sits, and the situations where you genuinely need a solicitor.
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Victoria 9 min read
Three clear business days, and the counting is stricter than most buyers expect. Here is how the clock runs, how to withdraw properly, what it costs, and the situations where you get no cooling-off period at all.
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Victoria 9 min read
How the title was held decides almost everything: joint proprietors pass to the survivor without probate, while a sole owner or a tenants in common share goes to the estate. Here is what happens next, and who does which part.
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Victoria 9 min read
If the dutiable value is $600,000 or less, a Victorian first home buyer pays no stamp duty. Here is where that line sits, what the $10,000 grant covers, and the conditions attached to both.
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Victoria 10 min read
The Section 32 is the disclosure document a Victorian seller has to give a buyer before the contract is signed. Here is what the law requires it to contain, who prepares it, and what a buyer can do if it turns out to be wrong.
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Victoria 10 min read
A vendor's timeline for a Victorian sale, from the vendor statement through to settlement. The paperwork that holds campaigns up, and the order that stops it happening to you.
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Victoria 9 min read
Settlement in Victoria is electronic, takes a few minutes, and almost never needs you in the room. Here is the whole day in order, including what happens if it slips.
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Victoria 9 min read
A subdivision is three approvals stacked in a fixed order, and the new titles only exist at the very end. Here is the full sequence, who handles which part, and the traps in selling lots before the plan is registered.
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Victoria 9 min read
Gifting a house to your son does not make it duty free. Here is how Victorian duty works on family transfers, which exemptions exist, and when you need a valuation.
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Victoria 9 min read
For auctions held on and from 16 October 2026, Victorian agents must publish the seller's reserve a week ahead. Here is what that changes for buyers, and how vendor bids, underquoting law and passing in work.
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We are registered in South Australia and act for SA clients from our Cranbourne office. SA conveyancing is electronic, so where you are does not limit who can act for you.
South Australia 8 min read
A South Australian auction contract is unconditional and has no cooling-off period, so the work has to happen before you raise your hand. Here is what the law requires of the agent before and during the auction, and what you need in place before Saturday.
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South Australia 7 min read
South Australia has no Victorian-style off-the-plan law. There is no statutory deposit cap, no default registration deadline and, for now, no limit on a developer using a sunset clause. Reform is out for consultation until 30 October 2026. Until it passes, the contract is your protection.
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South Australia 7 min read
In South Australia, how the title was held decides the path. Joint tenants pass to the survivor with no probate. A sole owner or tenant in common's share needs a grant, a transmission application, and then a transfer or a sale. If the grant is Victorian, it has to be registered in South Australia first.
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South Australia 8 min read
A unit or townhouse in South Australia comes with a corporation, by-laws or articles, levies and sometimes debts. Older groups are strata title, newer ones community title, and the rules differ. Here is how to tell which you are buying, and what to check before you sign.
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South Australia 10 min read
For most South Australian sales and purchases, a registered conveyancer can do the whole job. Here is where the line sits, how to check a registration on the CBS public register, and the matters that genuinely need a solicitor.
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South Australia 10 min read
Two clear business days, counted from the later of the contract date and the day your Form 1 arrives. How the clock runs, how to withdraw properly, what it costs, and every situation where you get no cooling-off period at all.
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South Australia 9 min read
South Australia gives eligible first home buyers full stamp duty relief with no value cap, but only on a new build. On an established home you pay the lot. Here is how the relief, the grant and the conditions actually work.
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South Australia 11 min read
The Form 1 is the disclosure statement a South Australian seller has to serve on the buyer. Here is what goes in it, who signs the certificate, when it is due, and why service of the Form 1 is what starts the cooling-off clock.
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South Australia 10 min read
A seller's timeline for a South Australian sale, from getting the Form 1 prepared through to settlement. The paperwork that holds campaigns up, and the order that stops it happening to you.
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South Australia 10 min read
Settlement in South Australia happens inside an online workspace and takes minutes once everyone is ready. Here is the whole thing in order, including the adjustments nobody explains and what happens if the date slips.
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South Australia 9 min read
South Australia charges one rate of stamp duty whether you are buying somewhere to live or somewhere to rent out. First home buyers can have the whole amount wiped, but only on a new build, and that one distinction is worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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South Australia 10 min read
South Australia has no general family exemption. Here is how RevenueSA treats gifts and transfers between relatives, which exemptions genuinely exist, and what evidence of value you will actually need.
Read the guide →Send it through before you sign. That is the moment where advice is worth the most.
