Selling your property is a very important decision in your life.  It will require planning and patience.

Below is a summary and a guide to selling your residential property in New South Wales.  This page is not set up to offer any legal advice to the reader, as individual circumstances may vary between different sellers and different properties being sold.  Sellers must consult their own legal advisers when selling a property. 

Guide to selling your property

What do I need to do when selling my Property?

You are required by law to have the proposed form of Contract for Sale of Land available for a buyer to inspect before you can begin to offer a residential property for sale yourself or for sale through a real estate agent.

We will provide you with easy to understand detailed written advice on what is involved in selling your property in New South Wales.

Who prepares the Contract?

We will meet with you, and advise you on the steps involved in selling your property.

We will then order the searches required by law to be attached to your contract.

We will prepare the Contract for you and we will make a copy available to you or your agent to enable your property to be put on the market for sale.

What must be contained in the Contract?

Your details must be in the Contract together with the details of the property you are selling.

The terms of the sale will also be in your contract including how long you require for settlement after a buyer is found.

Searches and Certificates - By law, the contract must contain searches and certificates from various departments including a Title Search, a Deposited Plan Search or Strata Plan Search, a Drainage Diagram, a Zoning Certificate (149 Certificate) from Council and the contract must also contain details of any dealings registered on the Title of the property.  These documents are ordered and obtained by us on your behalf.

Inclusions - These are the items that are included in your sale.

Exclusions - These are the items that will be removed by you from the property.

What happens when a buyer is found?

Both you and the buyer enter into and sign counterpart Contracts, The Contracts are then exchanged and both you and the buyer are then bound by the terms of the Contract.

The purchaser must pay the deposit (usually 10%) to the deposit holder (usually the agent).

The buyer usually gets a cooling-off period unless the property is purchased at auction or the cooling-off rights of the buyer are waived by way of a Certificate pursuant to Section 66W of the Conveyancing Act.  The Certificate must be signed by the buyer's Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer.

What is a cooling-off period?

This is a 5 business day period which commences from the date contracts are exchanged which allows the buyer to rescind or stop the contract.  During the cooling-off period, the purchaser does his or her purchase inspections if they have not already been done and finalises his or her loan.

It is usual for the cooling-off period to be extended to more than 5 business days.

If a buyer rescinds during the cooling-off period, then the buyer will forfeit 0.25% of the price to you.

You do not have a right to recind during the cooling-off period.

Once the cooling-off period expires, the buyer will be bound to proceed with the contract.

What happens after the cooling-off period?

The buyer usually obtains seasrches and certificates from various departments in relation to the property you are selling.  The buyer will sign his or her loan and mortgage documents.

We notify your lender of the sale and legal documents are then prepared by the legal representatives in readiness for the settlement.

The parties legal representatives then prepare for settlement.

When does settlement occur?

This is negotiable between the buyer and you before exchange.  However, usually settlement occurs 6 weeks after exchange.

Do I have to be present at settlement?

Settlement usually occurs at the offices of your lender.

Neither you nor the buyer are usually present at the settlement.  Settlement is attended by the parties lenders and legal representatives or their settlement agents.

Summary for selling your property