Buying a property, with the contract read properly before you sign
We act for buyers from the office on High Street, Cranbourne, across Melbourne's south east and the rest of Victoria. Send us the contract and the vendor statement first. You will know what you are agreeing to before you are stuck with it.
Before you sign
The contract and the vendor statement come first
In Victoria a seller has to give you a Section 32 vendor statement before you sign, and that is where the problems usually sit. Rates and outgoings, the title and what is registered on it, planning controls, building work done to the place, the owners corporation if there is one. An agent will hand it over with a pen and a friendly nudge. Nothing obliges you to sign that day.
We read both documents and come back to you in plain words. What is in there, what is missing, what should change before you sign, and what it costs you later if you let it through. Where a special condition pushes risk onto you, we say so and tell you what to ask for instead.
What a contract review coversThings we look for, every time
- Whether the title matches the property you walked through, easements and covenants included
- Building work done without a permit, and who carries it after settlement
- Owners corporation fees, the state of the fund, insurance and any special levy coming
- Special conditions that quietly move risk from the vendor to you
- A settlement date your finance can realistically meet
- Anything the vendor statement should disclose and does not
Searches
What the searches actually check
A search is not paperwork for its own sake. Each certificate is a question put to an authority that has to answer, and the answer binds them.
Title search
Who owns the land, the registered boundaries, and every mortgage, caveat, easement or covenant on it. A covenant can stop you building what you pictured.
Council land information
Rates owing, any council notice or order on the land, and whether it sits in a bushfire prone area or a flood overlay.
Water and drainage
Charges outstanding, plus a plan showing where the sewer runs. That plan matters the day you decide to extend.
Land tax
What the State Revenue Office has assessed against the land, so an old liability is dealt with at settlement rather than inherited.
Owners corporation certificate
For units and townhouses. Current fees, the balance of the fund, insurance, and any dispute or special levy coming.
Planning and roads
The zone and overlays that apply, and whether a road widening or acquisition proposal touches the land.
Which searches apply depends on the property. We order what your matter needs, and every certificate is passed on at what it cost us.
Timing
The dates are shorter than they look
Most buyer trouble is a date that slid past while everyone assumed someone else was watching it.
Cooling off, private sale
Buy by private sale in Victoria and you have three clear business days from signing. Clear means the signing day does not count, and nor do weekends or public holidays. You have to withdraw in writing, to the right party, inside the window. Telling the agent you changed your mind does nothing. How the cooling off period works.
At auction, there is none
When the hammer falls you are bound, on whatever terms were on the table that morning. The same applies within three clear business days either side of a publicly advertised auction. So the checking happens in the week before, and we would rather hear from you on the Tuesday than on the Saturday. What to sort out before you bid.
Finance
If your contract is subject to finance, the date in it is a hard date, and pre-approval is not approval. If your lender will be late, tell us early, because an extension has to be asked for before the date passes. After it passes, the condition has usually gone.
Deposit and settlement date
When the deposit is due, where it is held and when it can be released are terms of the contract. So is the settlement date. If that has to move, it moves by written agreement well before the day.
Step by step
What we do, from the contract to the keys
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1
You send us the contract
The contract of sale and the Section 32, before you sign and before you bid. A photo of the pages will do to start.
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2
We review and report back
You get a written summary and a conversation about it. Amendments go to the vendor's representative and we negotiate the wording.
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3
You sign, we diarise
Every date in the contract goes in our calendar. You get the reminder before the deadline, not after it.
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4
Searches and certificates
We order what the property needs and read what comes back. If something turns up, you hear about it that day.
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5
Identity and duty forms
Verification of your identity is required by law and we handle it. We also prepare and lodge the digital duties paperwork.
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6
Your lender and the agent
We deal with the bank's settlement team, the agent and the other side, so you are not the one relaying messages.
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7
Adjustments and figures
Rates, water, owners corporation fees and land tax are apportioned to the day. You get a statement showing what to have ready.
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8
Settlement in PEXA
Settlement runs in an online workspace. Funds and title move together and the transfer lodges automatically. We call you the minute it settles.
We also remind you to do the final inspection in the week before settlement, while there is still time to do something about what you find.
New estates
Off the plan and house and land in Clyde and Clyde North
Clyde North has 55 active estates and sits among the highest dwelling approval rates in the country. Much of our buying work is in those estates, along with Clyde, Botanic Ridge, Cranbourne East and Junction Village.
An off the plan contract is not an ordinary contract. You are buying a lot that does not legally exist yet, on terms the developer wrote. Titles in new estates slip, so the real question is what happens when the timing changes.
Where these contracts bite
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Sunset dates
If the plan has not registered by the date in the contract, someone can walk away. Knowing who, and on what notice, matters.
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Amendment clauses
How far the developer can change the plan, your lot dimensions or the specification without asking you first.
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Settlement on notice
Registration triggers settlement, often at short notice. Your finance approval has to still be live when that notice lands.
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Two contracts, not one
House and land means a land contract and a building contract. We act on the land. Have the building contract read by someone who does building contracts.
Buying in South Australia
We are licensed in Victoria and registered in South Australia, and we act on SA purchases from the Cranbourne office. The work is electronic, so it does not need an Adelaide address and we will not pretend to have one. What changes is the paperwork. The disclosure document is a Form 1 and cooling off runs differently.
Conveyancing in South AustraliaWhen you need a solicitor instead
Conveyancing covers the transaction and nothing wider. If your purchase runs into a dispute headed for court or VCAT, or it involves probate, a trust or company structure, family law orders, or advice on how duty and tax apply to you, that belongs with a solicitor or your accountant. We would rather say so on day one.
Ask us who to callQuestions
What buyers ask us
When should I send you the contract?
Before you sign, and before you bid. Once your signature is on it, your options are whatever the contract already says. Send us the contract and the vendor statement as soon as the agent hands them over, even if you are only half serious about the place.
Can you look at a contract before a Saturday auction?
Yes. The office runs Monday to Friday, and we take appointments on weekends, which is when Victorian auctions happen. Ring us during the week if you can, because amendments have to be raised with the vendor before auction day, not on the footpath.
Do I get a cooling off period?
Buying by private sale in Victoria, you have three clear business days from signing, and you have to withdraw in writing inside that window. There is no cooling off at auction, or within three clear business days either side of a publicly advertised auction.
What happens if my finance is not approved in time?
Tell us as soon as your broker or lender says they will be late. An extension has to be asked for before the finance date passes. Once it goes by without notice, the condition usually falls away and you are on an unconditional contract.
What is settlement actually like?
Settlement runs in a PEXA workspace, where your lender, the vendor's representative and we all sign off digitally. Money and title move at the same moment and the transfer lodges automatically. We ring you when it is done, then you collect the keys.
Do I still need a building and pest inspection?
Yes, and we are not the people to do it. We read the title and the paperwork. A building inspector reads the building. Different risks, and you want both checked before you commit.
Do you act for buyers in South Australia?
Yes. We are registered there as well as licensed in Victoria, and we act on South Australian purchases from Cranbourne. The work is electronic, so it does not need an Adelaide office and we do not claim one. The disclosure document is a Form 1 and cooling off runs differently, so ask us early.
Get in touch
Send us the contract
Five questions, and a person who has read them will come back to you. If there is an auction or an offer in front of you, call 0450 016 397 instead and we will talk it through.
Office 4, Level 1, 105A High Street
Cranbourne VIC 3977
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Weekends by appointment
Already signed a contract?
Fill in your purchaser instruction sheet online
Everything we need to act for you on the purchase, completed and signed on your phone or computer. Save it part-way and come back, attach your concession card or loan approval, and we email you a copy when it is done.
Open the purchaser sheet