Selling a Residential Property?

Selling a residential property can be quite a stressful time in one’s life however, we aim to make this process as stress-free as possible.

In the state of New South Wales, owners are not able to put their home on the market unless prospective purchaser are provided with a marketing contract with disclosure documents. Therefore, the first step needed to sell your property is having these documents ordered and collated. Here at Carter O’Neill Legal, we can attend to all that is requires as well as providing you with sound advice to ensure you are equipped for the present market.

Preparing the Contract

Disclosure documents include a title search of the property as well as details of any interests recorded (such as mortgages, covenants, easements, drainage diagram, council zoning certificates and additional information of the property has a swimming pool). Owners must also provide warranties with respect to the property being sold. These warranties just declare that there are no ‘adverse affections’ to the property such as government proposal and that the sewer is as indicated in the drainage plan.

It is also an implied term in the contract that there are no demolition or work orders outstanding and that the relevant approval was obtained for any works on the property. After exchange of the contract, if the purchaser discovers a breach of warranty or non-disclosure then the contract can be rescinded (cancelled).

If you are aware of have an incline of any issues, then they should be disclosed in the contract with a special condition inserted to address the issue and limit the purchasers right to rescind the contract. You may alternatively, opt to fix the defects. It is best you get in touch with us as soon a possible so we can discuss these issues with you.

Exchange

Once a sale has been negotiated, we will be provided with the sales agreement from the agent and we will forward the contract to the purchaser’s representatives. It is likely the purchaser will attend to pre-purchase enquiries including a pest and building inspection. Here we will be able to answer any questions raised, negotiate, and organise a fast exchange.

Exchange of contracts is quite a formal process which legally bounds the parties to the contract. The contract is signed, either identical or in counterpart and the deposit is usually paid to the agent to be held until settlement.

We generally insist that contracts exchange unconditionally and that any cooling-off rights are waived by the purchaser. However, if a cooling-off periods is entered, purchasers will usually have five business days from exchange to cancel the transaction.

What’s next?

The date of exchange of contracts usually triggers the date of settlement which is usually 6 weeks later. If you have a mortgage, we will put them on notice of the sale so arrangements can be made to release the security over the property. The lender will provide their payout figure close to settlement which will be required to be paid on settlement for the mortgage to be released. We will attend to reviewing the settlement adjustment figures from the purchasers’ representatives and check these with you. On the day of settlement, we will attend to all the necessary requirements to ensure that settlement is affected.

It is vital that you understand your obligations when selling your property. Here at Carter O’Neill Legal, we will attend to all the necessary documents as well as explaining the process to you in plain language so you are aware of the process.