The time has come to sell and move on. But what do you need to do in order to get your property ready for sale?

Step 1: Contract Preparation

Before your property can be advertised for sale, it is a legal requirement that you have a contract prepared so it can be given to any prospective buyers. In order to prepare your contract, we need to obtain all the mandatory documents that need to be included (such as a council zoning certificate, a copy of the title and other title documents, strata plans, sewer diagram and any other documents). We will also write any special clauses that may be required for your contract. Once the contract is drafted, we will provide a copy to you and your agent. When you have found a buyer and have negotiated the terms of the sale, we will update the contract accordingly and liaise with the real estate agent and the purchaser’s conveyancer to organise the ‘exchange of contracts’.

Step 2: Exchange of contracts

At exchange, two copies of the contract are printed. One is signed by you and the other by the purchaser. These contracts are then ‘exchanged’ so that each party holds the contract signed by the other party. The purchaser will pay the deposit at this time (usually 10 percent) and the contracts will be dated. This is the point at which the purchaser becomes 'legally bound' to complete the transaction.

Step 3: Settlement 

After the contracts have been exchanged, we then need to prepare for ‘settlement', which usually occurs 4-6 weeks after exchange. If you have a mortgage on the property, we need to advise the discharging mortgagee that you have sold the property. We will also organise for you to sign the ‘Transfer’ (the document that passes ownership of the property from seller to the buyer). Closer to the settlement date, the buyer’s conveyancer will send through settlement figures for us to check and we will obtain a payout figure from the mortgagee. All rates and levies are adjusted as at the date of settlement and if any are unpaid, these will come out of the sale proceeds. On the day of settlement, we will attend on your behalf. Your mortgagee will be paid out and we can bank any surplus funds directly into your bank account.