Cheltenham Conveyancing recommends that you contact us prior to signing any Contract for the purchase of a property.

It can be daunting when an Agent thrusts a Contract of Sale and/or Section 32 Statement at you and you are not sure where to begin.

We can peruse the documents on your behalf and advise you of any concerns or peculiarities that may arise on reviewing the documents.

This is particularly important as the terms Caveat Emptor or “Buyer Beware” apply when purchasing property.    Therefore you must ensure that you have made adequate enquiries regarding the property prior to entering into a Contract.  For example if you are purchasing an Apartment “Off the Plan” and believe it comes with a Car Park/Car Stacker and storage cage you must be sure you are aware of the position of those parts of the Unit and that they are clearly shown on the Plan of Subdivision.

Often a Purchaser is not aware of what a Section 32 Statement is or does.  A Section 32 Statement is a fundamental document in the Conveyancing process .  It is designed as a Consumer Protection mechanism, the Statement requires the Vendor to disclose certain items of relevant information to a prospective Purchaser.

The Section 32 Statement contains information such as the Title description of the property, zoning details, outgoings on the property such as rates and Owners Corporation fees, notices, building permit details and advises as to what services are connected to the property.

A Contract becomes a binding document once it has been signed by both the Vendor and Purchaser.   Therefore it is essential that you ensure that all terms of the Contract have been included i.e. finance clause, pest & building inspection clauses and most importantly if something specific is to be included or excluded/amended etc that it be included as an “essential term” of the Contract.  We can assist you in this regard.

Once the Contract is signed we can also arrange to provide you with a high level of protection in relation to your purchase in particular :

• Arranging for Title Insurance – this provides protection against illegal structures or inconsistent boundary measurements etc.
• Lodge a Caveat at the Land Title Office to protect your interests in the property as purchaser.  A Caveat prevents the Registrar of Title accepting any dealings against the Title without your knowledge in the period from signing until settlement.   The Caveat lapses once you become the registered proprietor.

Contact the helpful team at Cheltenham Conveyancing Services to discuss these matters further if you are interested.