Day one – Seller and Buyer agree on the purchase price and sign the contract of Sale. The contract is then dated and your timeline begins.
Day two – If you are purchasing a house, you are responsible for obtaining insurance over the dwelling. Queensland contract law states that the purchaser bares the insurable risk from 5pm the following business day after signing the purchase contract of Sale. This is very important because should there be a claimable event the liability falls on the purchaser, when there is a contract in place.
You have 14 days to arrange and have completed your Building and Pest Inspections. You need to advise your solicitor that you are satisfied with your inspections by the 14th day. Note: Sometimes you can negotiate a shorter or longer timeframe.
When finance is required to purchase your new property, you normally have around 14 days to do so. Note: You can negotiate to have more or less time to obtain your finance, but this is the normal timeframe. Once you have your finance unconditionally approved, the approval letter needs to be faxed to your solicitor so they can advise the seller/owner’s Solicitor that your finance has been approved.
Day 14 – If your finance has been unconditionally approved and you are satisfied with your building and pest inspections, you are now ‘Unconditional’. You are now in the second half of the purchase process.
Leading up to the settlement date, you will receive a formal letter of offer from the bank. This is to give you written confirmation of your formal approval and all the terms and conditions of your loan. This will need to be signed and witnessed by a JP or Commissioner of Declarations.It is best to take your documents to your lending manager/Mortgage Broker to have them fully explained to you, before you sign them. Once fully signed, you must send your loan documents back to the bank immediately as time is of the essence.
Around the same time, your solicitor will conduct some searches at the local council on your behalf.
A few days before settlement, your solicitor will request further deposit funds from you, if you are paying a deposit. This should be deposited into their trust account.
Settlement Date – The solicitor attends settlement on your behalf and this is usually in the afternoon. After about a half an hour the house belongs to you. You can then pick up your house keys from the real estate agent. Congratulations.
