SPEAK WITH A CONVEYANCING EXPERT IN ENGADINE

Before you commit, we look at three key areas that could impact your purchase.

Finance

If you’re relying on a home loan, it’s crucial to get formal approval from your bank or broker before moving forward. Unconditional approval should be in place before signing.

State and condition of the property

Buying property “as is” means any problems become yours after settlement. To avoid surprises, we recommend appropriate inspections. This may include building and pest reports for houses or a strata report for units. Depending on the property, we might also suggest surveying, building certificates or council checks to confirm approvals are in order.

Contract for sale

We’ll go through the contract with you. Not all contracts are the same, and small details can carry big consequences. We check:

• What items are included with the property (like air conditioning or blinds)
• The land size and any restrictions listed on the plan
• Strata obligations, if applicable
• Land use rules in the zoning certificate
• Sewer diagrams showing main access points
• The type of ownership (e.g., joint tenants or tenants in common)
• Stamp duty amounts and any exemptions or grants available

This stage marks the point when the purchase becomes legally binding between buyer and seller.

Until contracts are exchanged, the seller can still accept other offers. Once the exchange happens, both parties are committed to the deal under the agreed terms.

There are two common ways this takes place:

Option 1: Exchange handled by the real estate agent

After your offer is accepted, you sign the contract at the agent’s office and pay a 0.25 percent deposit to hold the property. At this point, the seller is locked in and cannot accept other offers.

You, however, have a five business day cooling-off period where you can withdraw from the contract for any reason. If you do, the holding deposit is forfeited. This period is usually used to complete pre-purchase checks discussed in Step 1.

Option 2: Exchange managed by the seller’s solicitor

You review and sign the contract with your conveyancer or lawyer, who then forwards it to the seller’s solicitor for formal exchange.

This method is typically used when you’ve completed all due diligence and are ready to proceed without relying on a cooling-off period.

After contracts are exchanged, the next priority is to finalise your mortgage documents. Promptly signing and returning these to your lender helps keep the process on track and avoids delays as settlement approaches.

Our team will also take care of property checks with relevant bodies, including Sutherland Shire Council, the local water provider, and Roads and Maritime Services. If the property is part of a strata scheme, we’ll communicate with the Owners Corporation as well. This allows us to confirm that rates, levies and other obligations are up to date.

Before settlement, you’ll carry out a final inspection to confirm that the property is in the same condition as when the contract was signed.

Settlement marks the completion of your property purchase in Engadine. The balance of the purchase price is paid, the title is transferred into your name, and you take legal possession of the property.

We will coordinate directly with your lender, calculate the final amount needed for settlement, and itemise any adjustments for rates, stamp duty and our legal costs.

Once the transfer is finalised, we notify all relevant authorities, including the local council, water provider and Valuer General. After that, we confirm with both you and the real estate agent so that keys can be collected and the property officially becomes yours.