Note that a 3 day “cooling off period” from the date you signed the Contract usually applies to your purchase (exceptions apply). If you end the Contract using the cooling off period the Vendor is entitled to retain 0.2% of the Purchase Price.

If buying a property at auction, your lender will only be able to provide you with a “pre-approval” which means that the Lender has assessed your capacity to borrow, but that approval will still be subject to your Lender’s lending conditions (such as a valuation of the property).

An unconditional loan approval should be in writing to you from your Lender and is usually provided upon satisfaction of your Lender’s lending conditions.

This information is required as it relates to the stamp duty that you will pay. For stamp duty fees and concessions applicable to your purchase, we recommend you visit the State Revenue Office's website, www.sro.vic.gov.au   If any buyers are not an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident, you should first check your eligibility to purchase property and the additional stamp duty that you may need to pay if you are a "foreign buyer". If applicable, you should go to the Foreign Investment Review Board website http://www.firb.gov.au/content/faq.asp

“Joint Proprietors” means that if one partner dies, the property will be pass to the other surviving partner without it being subject to the Will of the deceased person.

This differs from “Tenants in Common” whereby each partner owns a share in the property (60/40, 50/50, 70/30, 80/20, etc) and the deceased's share is distributed according to his/her Will. A Will can be challenged by any person deemed legally entitled to raise an objection or challenge.

Basically, are you moving into the property after settlement within 12 months of the settlement date for a continuous period of 12 months? If so, the property will be your Principal Place of Residence (PPR). As a result, you may be entitled to receive a PPR concession off your standard stamp duty rates. For further information and eligibility criteria go to sro.vic.gov.au  

The effect of a Caveat means that the Vendor will require your consent to make and changes (or "dealings") to the title. This is a prudent legal tool which we recommend. Clients often opt for this protection to legally secure the property or if there is a reasonably long settlement period or sometimes because their bank may not actually register documents some months after settlement. Our additional fees (which include titles office registration fees) are $165 for this service, as this is an additional service outside our standard fees quoted.

Please read the First Title brochure on our website's "Resources" Tab for more information. We strongly recommend that you obtain Title Insurance for the property through "First Title". Title Insurance is very different to standard building and contents insurance in that it provides you with the comfort of knowing that you can be protected against a range of risks. Firstly, this is a "one off" payment policy (ie. it is not a policy that requires annual or monthly payment). You pay for it once upfront prior to settlement and it lasts for as long as you own the property! The policy fees are provided under our “Resources” Tab on our website in the “First Title Brochure under "Downloads".

The risks that title insurance protects you against include (but are not limited to) illegal or unregistered structures, fraud or forgery, zoning issues, breach of easement, boundary encroachments and outstanding rates, taxes and levies.

In most cases, you have already executed your Contract of Sale and generally you cannot make a claim against the Vendor even if there is a discrepancy in measurements, so title insurance can offer you protection in this regard. It is also desirable to check for the existence of any easements not shown on the Title. These may be disclosed by, for example, the presence of a defined path or track, a drain through or over the property, overhanging eaves or spouting on any adjoining building, a wall shared in common with an adjoining building, a gate or opening in a boundary fence, or windows or other openings in a wall of an adjoining building on or near the property boundary. Again, our examination of the Title itself cannot assist you in this regard and title insurance may entitle you for cover in this area in the event of a claim.

Once your Contract is proceeding on an unconditional basis, we recommend that you should insure your property (not at settlement) for Building, Contents and Public Liability Insurance. If your property is a strata property, it is probable that the Owners Corporation (body corporate) will insure the property for Building Insurance and Public Liability of the common areas. In such cases, you should only need to insure for contents (including the fixtures and fittings) and Public Liability for within your title boundaries.

Your lender may require you to note them as Mortgagee on the Insurance Policy and provide them with a Certificate of Currency noting same. This is usually requested in the mortgage documents sent to you directly by your lender. If leasing the property, we recommend that you obtain a Landlord's Insurance policy.

At settlement, you will be required to pay share of Council rates, water rates, owners corporation fees and land tax. You should allow for your share from the settlement date until the end of that rating period (Council rates are adjusted to the end of the financial year, while most other fees will be adjustable on quarterly basis). Land tax may apply for the 1st Calendar year in which you settle and then should not apply in the following Calendar year (if the property is used as your principal place of residence).

Stamp duty and titles office fees on the property are usually based on the Contract price. They are payable by you usually via your Lender in that they will be deducted from the loan funds provided by your Lender at settlement. So, make sure you borrow enough to cover these costs as well as our fees and adjustments of rates. You may wish to arrange an "authority" for your lender to debit your account for any shortfall of settlement funds so that you will not then be required to draw any bank cheques for settlement. Go to sro.vic.gov.au   for further details on stamp duty rates. If you hold any pension or concession cards, please advise us and email a copy of your Card to matt@conveyancingexcellence.com.au (as you may be entitled to a stamp duty concession).