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INTRODUCTION Following on from my article on 7 Things That You Can Do to Make Your Conveyancer Happy I thought that it would be appropriate to give you a greater insight into the stages of the Pre Contractual Conveyancing Transactions process through a series of articles each covering each stage There are essentially 4 stages […]
Following on from my article on 7 Things That You Can Do to Make Your Conveyancer Happy I thought that it would be appropriate to give you a greater insight into the stages of the Pre Contractual Conveyancing Transactions process through a series of articles each covering each stage
There are essentially 4 stages that cover the breadth of the conveyancing process:
Each of these stages offers its own risks.
First of all, is the Pre-Contractual stage
This importance of this stage, which occurs before the signing of the contract, is often overlooked with clients signing the “standard” Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) contract without really reading the document fully.
One of my faults (and my wife advises me not my worst fault) is that I read everything – it drives her mad when I look over every page of my car hire and event hire contract but she certainly supports me when I carefully read all pages of the real estate contracts for houses that we have bought.
A standard REIQ contract can be divided into the following parts
This part covers important details such as
Yet you would be surprised how many errors we find when we receive contracts signed by clients – this is an important legal document but common errors include
Next are three key matters – the Finance and the Building and Pest Inspection Dates and Terms and the Matters Affecting the Property.
The Finance Condition sets out whether the contract is subject to finance, whether the buyer is free to seek finance from any financial institution, what finance amount is required to meet the condition and when the Finance Date is due.
Please note that the standard REIQ contract specifies that unless Finance Amount, Financier and Finance Date are all completed then the contract is NOT “subject to finance” and failure to be able to pay for the purchase is not a ground for termination.
The Building and Pest Condition sets out when the inspection is to be performed and again it is important to note that if the Inspection Date is NOT “subject to Building and Pest” and issues that would be covered by such an inspection are not grounds for termination.
The Matters Affecting Property provides the place where the seller of the property is able to disclose
The Reference Schedule then shows details of compliance with Pool Safety, Electrical Safety Switch, and Smoke Alarm requirements.
Finally, the Reference Schedule shows any Special Conditions that apply to the contract.
Yes, this is the fine print and in an article of this size, we cannot provide a detailed commentary on each term.
However here are some key terms of which you should be aware:
Buying a House will for most people be the most important financial decision that they make – we cannot recommend highly enough the importance of reading the contract fully and ensuring that you satisfy yourself on all matters before you sign the contract.
Naturally, we are happy to advise you on this important, yet often overlooked, stage of the conveyancing process.
UP Next PART 2 – Conditional Phase
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