Purchase
Did you know that you’re entitled to legal advice on the Contract of Sale before you sign it?
There may be other conditions that can be inserted for your further protection.
Please contact our office to make an appointment for pre-contractual advice prior to signing your residential contract.
Talk to us by calling 07 3369 7145 or by sending an email to reception@justuslaw.com
Sale
Putting your property on the market can be a daunting experience.
We offer the service of reviewing the contract before you sign it. You may have questions that the Agent cannot answer but we can. It is always best to have your questions answered before entering into the agreement.
Selling your property privately? We can assist in the preparation of the Contract of Sale for you.
Whether it is preparing or reviewing a contract, our Solicitor can assist.
Talk to us by calling 07 3369 7145 or by sending an email to reception@justuslaw.com
What you should consider
What you Need to Know – the Pitfalls in Conveyancing
- Initial Deposit and Balance Deposit. How is this to be paid by cash or bank guarantee? When is it payable?
- Is the Contract being purchased in the correct entity?
- Is the property tenanted? Does the buyer need vacant possession?
- Included or excluded fixtures and chattels – must be stated on the Contract.
- Special Conditions – ensure that conditions are practical i.e. dates to fall before settlement. Must specify who is to comply with condition meaning the Buyer or Seller? For example who is to organise the Body Corporate approval of pet?
- Does the property have new structures which would need Council Approval?
- Specify days in the conditions rather than weeks i.e. 30 days rather than 4 weeks.
- Amending or terminating the Contract – fully executed Contracts are binding. Changes must be made either by written correspondence or by formal agreement. Consult a Solicitor first.
- Should it be made subject to the sale of an existing property which you may be relying on funds for to complete this new purchase?
Electronic Settlements
Settlements are moving in a new direction with the introduction of online property settlements. Settlements will be completed through a secure process involving the transfer of funds via the Reserve Bank of Australia to destination accounts. These transactions will benefit buyers and sellers with funds being cleared in their accounts following settlement some times within an hour of the transaction taking place. In today’s online world, why would you wait days for a cheque to clear?
Stamp Duty
Stamp duty is a type of tax that you may have to pay if you are buying a property. So how do you know if you’re required to pay and how much it will cost?
Generally speaking, if you are a first-time buyer, then you may be eligible for a concession, but if this is an investment or second home, then stamp duty needs to be factored into your budget. And the main thing to note is that stamp duty is additional to the cost of your home.
Use the Stamp Duty Calculator.
Super Fund Transactions
Are you one of many Australians who use their Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) to purchase investment properties?
SMSF transactions, whilst following the same conveyancing process, can be more complex than residential transactions depending on whether you are paying cash or obtaining finance.
When purchasing a property using your SMSF, care needs to be taken to ensure the purchasing entity recorded on the Contract of Sale is correct, as this can otherwise hold up the loan approval process with your financier.
We can assist you by giving pre-contract advice prior to you signing a Contract of Sale, whether you are paying cash or borrowing funds.
Retirement Village Transactions
Buying into a retirement village is a very different process to buying a house and can be done by either:
- Buying the freehold title to a unit;
- Leasing the unit under a long term lease; or
- Holding a licence to occupy the unit.
Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages which should be considered carefully by you, ideally after you have taken legal and financial advice.
Each Retirement Village has its own Public Information Document which details the rights and obligations of both you as a resident and the operators of that Retirement Village. It is important that you obtain legal advice so that you properly understand the nature of what you are signing and the rights and obligations that you will have. We are able to help you understand this document so that you can make an informed decision.
Property Developments
We can advise you on Development Applications and appeals. We can assist you to draft and register sub-divisions and easements. We can assist you to draft off the plan contracts and act for you in multiple settlement transactions.
We can represent you in the Environmental and Land Court to deal with objections to any DA.
Most importantly we can assist you to navigate through Cultural heritage protection legislation which is an area often over looked by developers and if not handled correctly can halt your development. Did you know for example that an Aboriginal Party can obtain an injunction in the Land Court to stop your development if there is a danger that cultural heritage will be harmed?
For more information please refer to our Development Applications, Cultural Heritage and Environmental Legislation Compliance.
Other considerations
We make the Estate Planning process simple and easy for you to understand, so that we can help you to design an estate plan that makes sense to you and avoid the complexities and expense of poor planning.
We work with individuals, couples and families, to prepare Wills and Enduring Powers of Attorney, taking into account superannuation, business interests and family law considerations.
We will assist you with the process of reality testing all aspects of your estate plan, to ensure that your wishes will be effected under your Will.
For more information please read the Wills, Estate Planning and Administration page.
We can also help you to establish Body Corporates for the purpose of holding common property for Community and Group Titles.
For more information please read the Commercial and Corporate Law page.
