Buying a property is generally an activity that is not undertaken on a very regular basis and can be a daunting process. Time and again we hear from purchasers of their uncertainty in the process, what are the next steps, what information is required and the like. One Agency Latrobe Valley provide a consistent approach to the procedures that will be handled throughout the offer process depending on the circumstances surrounding your offer and the property in question.
GENERAL BUYING TIPS
- Get your finances in order – speak with your financial institution or broker
- Clean up your credit, including credit cards, personal loans and after pay services as this is quite often checked by lending institutions when considering finance applications
- Research the market
- Attend Open for Inspections or book an appointment to hold a Private Inspection
- Consider conditions likely to be applicable to your offer (finance approval, building & pest inspection, subject to the sale of your current property)
- Consider a proposed settlement date
MAKING AN OFFER
Once you have found a property that suits your needs in order to make a purchase you will be required to make a formal offer. One Agency Latrobe Valley utilise an offer form which is presented to the vendors for their consideration, this can be emailed to prospective purchasers or is available at Open for Inspections. Information required in order to put forward an offer to the vendors includes the below;
- Full names of all parties who will appear on the contract of sale should your offer be acceptable to the vendors
- Current address
- Offer amount
- Conditions attached to your offer (in many instances this can include subject to finance, building inspection and pest inspection)
- Deposit amount, this is generally 10% of the final purchase price which is payable in line with the finance due date or an agreed date (generally 14 days) in the event that finance is not applicable to the offer
- Finance amount where applicable
- Preferred settlement date or number of days from acceptance of an offer
- Details of the Conveyancer who will be acting on your behalf
OFFER CONFIDENTIALITY
No other party will be made aware of your offer (including offer conditions) until it is presented to the seller. Offers submitted by other buyer’s will not be disclosed to you and you can be confident that your offer will not be disclosed to them.
MULTIPLE OFFERS
It is not uncommon for a property to receive multiple offers during a sales campaign. In this situation each interested party is given an equal opportunity to put their strongest offer forward for the vendor to consider. If the seller decides to accept another buyer’s offer, it will be too late to increase your offer or change your conditions.
- You will be advised that there are multiple offers being considered by the vendors
- You will be provided the opportunity to put your best foot forward, generally this will be a request for your ‘best and final’ offer and will be requested in a written format.
- Carefully consider your best and final offer as it will be too late to increase your offer or change the conditions attached to your offer.
- Written offers will then be presented to the vendors for their consideration
VENDORS OPTIONS
The vendor will have the following options available to them when considering offers
- Accept one offer
- Choose to negotiate exclusively with the most appealing offer
- Reject all offers. If the vendor chooses to reject all offers then all buyers will be given further opportunity to submit another offer
ONCE YOUR OFFER IS ACCEPTED BY THE VENDOR
Once the vendors have accepted your offer the process of formalising a contract of sale will commence, the contract of sale will be emailed to your chosen conveyancer for proof reading prior to signing. You will also be asked to forward a $1000 preliminary deposit (forms part of your 10% deposit) which is fully refundable in the event that the contract does not proceed to an unconditional status. Once your conveyancer has given the green light, arrangements will be made to sign the contract, this may take place electronically if this is your preferred method.
CONTRACT EXCHANGE
After the contract of sale has been signed by the purchaser, the vendors will then counter sign the contract which formailses the contract of sale in writing. Once all parties have signed the contracts they will be exchanged to the conveyancers of both the vendor and the buyer with copies also provided to both the vendor and the purchaser.
CONDITIONS
Now that the contracts have been exchanged it is time to get started on fulfilling the requirements as detailed in the special conditions. This will generally involve sending a fully signed contract to your financial institution or broker so that final finance approvals can be arranged and also arranging for building and pest inspections to be carried out prior to the dates stipulated on the contract. This process may also include completion of any other special conditions specific to the property as specified and agreed to by both the vendor and the purchaser in the contract of sale.