Send us the contract before you sign it
You have the contract and the vendor statement, and your name is not on anything yet. That is the moment advice is worth the most. Send both documents through and we will read them properly, then tell you in plain words what you would be agreeing to.
Weekends by appointment. We are in the office now.
Before you sign
A contract of sale is not a formality
It sets your settlement date, how much deposit you hand over and when, what happens if your finance does not come through, and which conditions the other side has written to suit themselves. None of that is obvious on a first read, and some of it is buried in the special conditions at the back.
Once you sign, those terms are the deal. In Victoria a private sale normally carries a short cooling off period and an auction purchase carries none at all. South Australia sets its own rules again. Cooling off is a narrow safety net either way, not a substitute for knowing what is in front of you.
So the useful moment is now, while nothing is signed. It costs you nothing to ask, and we would rather read a contract for you than fix a problem after settlement.
How to get it to us
- Email it. Attach the contract and the vendor statement and send them to convey@wisestep.com.au. The agent can usually forward both in one go.
- Call us. If you are standing at the property with paper in your hand, ring 0450 016 397 and talk it through first.
- Photograph it. Only have a printed copy? Send the pages on WhatsApp and we will work from that while the agent sends the file.
- Or use the form. Tell us the address and your deadline, and we will reply with where to send the documents.
What we look for
Two documents, read line by line
There is the contract, which is the agreement itself. Then there is the vendor statement, which is what the seller must disclose to you. Both matter, and problems tend to hide in the second one.
The contract of sale
- The settlement date, and whether it works with your finance approval and your current lease
- The deposit: how much, when it falls due, and who holds it until settlement
- Whether a finance condition is properly written, or quietly absent
- Special conditions added by the vendor's side, and what they shift onto you
- What is included and what is walking out the door, from the dishwasher to the shed
- Default and penalty interest terms if settlement runs late, on either side
- Off the plan terms: sunset dates, the vendor's right to amend the plan, and when title is expected to issue
The vendor statement (Section 32 in Victoria, Form 1 in South Australia)
- Title, and whether anyone else holds rights over the land through an easement, covenant or caveat
- Zoning and planning, including any overlay that limits what you can build or change
- Owners corporation details, current fees, and whether a special levy is coming
- Rates, land tax and outgoings you will be adjusting at settlement
- Building permits issued in the last seven years, and whether owner builder insurance is there
- Notices from council or an authority that pass to you as the new owner
- In South Australia, whether the Form 1 has been served properly, because that affects your cooling off
What comes back to you
A straight answer, not a marked-up PDF
In plain English
A short summary of what the documents actually say, written so you can read it once and understand it.
What to change first
The terms worth pushing back on before you sign, and the wording to ask the agent or the vendor's representative for.
What is normal
Half of a contract review is telling you which clauses are standard, so you stop worrying about the wrong page.
Our honest view
Whether we would be comfortable proceeding on these terms. If the answer is no, you will hear that clearly.
On timing
Tell us your deadline when you send the documents. Bidding on Saturday, offer closing Friday at five, settlement already proposed for a date that does not suit you: say so in the first message. We work contract reviews around auction dates and offer deadlines, and once we have the file we will tell you when to expect ours. If something in the documents means we need longer, you hear that immediately rather than on the day.
Weekends
Saturday is when this actually matters
Victorian auctions run on Saturday mornings. Private offers get signed at kitchen tables on Sunday afternoon. Most conveyancing offices close at five on Friday and open again on Monday, by which time you have either signed or lost the property.
Our office on High Street keeps weekday hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We are also available by appointment on weekends. Ring before you raise your hand at an auction, or before you sign an offer on a Sunday, and you will get a person. If we are on another call, leave a message and we will come straight back.
A lot of what we read is off the plan
Clyde North has 55 active estates and sits among the highest dwelling approval rates in the country. Across Clyde, Cranbourne East, Botanic Ridge and Lyndhurst, a large share of the contracts that reach us are off the plan, house and land, or a builder's own paperwork.
Those contracts behave differently to an established home. The sunset date, the amendment clause and the timing of title issuing all sit in the fine print, and they decide what happens if the build runs late. We read that part carefully, because it is where buyers in these estates get caught.
Office 4, Level 1, 105A High Street, Cranbourne VIC 3977
Being straight with you
When a contract review is not the right help
A licensed conveyancer can review and act on a purchase, a sale, a transfer or a subdivision. There are matters we cannot take on, and we would rather say so before you send anything.
If the contract is already in dispute, if a caveat needs removing against someone's wishes, if an estate still needs probate granted, or if family law orders decide who ends up with the property, you need a solicitor. The same goes for advice on tax or duty, which belongs with your accountant or a lawyer. Tell us what is going on and we will say honestly which one you need. We have no interest in taking work we should not.
Wise Step Conveyancing is licensed in Victoria under the Conveyancers Act 2006 and registered in South Australia under the Conveyancers Act 1994, with professional indemnity insurance and membership of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers (Victoria Division). We act for South Australian clients from Cranbourne, because conveyancing there is electronic.
Send it through
Tell us what you are looking at
Five questions. Pick the weekend option if you are bidding or signing in the next few days, because that moves you up the list. You will hear back from a person who has read what you wrote.
Prefer email? Send the contract and vendor statement to convey@wisestep.com.au.
Prefer to talk? Call 0450 016 397.
Office 4, Level 1, 105A High Street
Cranbourne VIC 3977
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Weekends by appointment