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When selling a residential property,
you or your agent must have a Contract for Sale before you
commence the marketing of
the home. We will prepare a
contract within 48 hours of receiving your instructions so that the marketing
of the home can be initiated without delay. |
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When buying a home it is essential that your solicitor has
the opportunity to inspect the contract before you commit to purchasing the
property. Your solicitor will advise you on your rights and liabilities
under the contract, the pitfalls you may be exposed to and whatever
enquiries need to be undertaken to minimize the exposure. |
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Your solicitor may also suggest
specific enquiries, changes and special
conditions to be included in the contract and will negotiate on your behalf
with the vendor's solicitor to achieve those changes. This is particularly important before bidding
at auction. Once the property is knocked down to you at auction you are
deemed contractually bound to complete the purchase. It is then too late to
negotiate terms or to discover that the property is gutted with white ants. |
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If you are the successful bidder at auction you are
committed to complete the purchase. Failure to do so will usually mean you
will at least lose the 10% deposit. Therefore you could be exposed to a loss
of tens of thousands of dollars. It will cost you nothing to have us peruse
the contract before the auction. |
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If possible, we will even attend the auction with you - and
there is no added cost. |
Auction
Stress
One
of the most stressful events you will encounter when purchasing property is an
auction. Whether you are buying or selling, the auction process is stressful. At
the fall of the hammer by the auctioneer a contract is enforceable - for both
the buyer and the vendor. Whilst it is common practice to have both the buyer
(the successful top bidder) and the vendor formalize the agreement by physically
signing the contract, this is not essential to validate the contract. So, if you
have just
bid in excess of your budget or if as vendor you reduced your reserve price too
low under pressure, you cannot change your mind after the fall of the hammer.
The
auction room or auction site can be quite threatening to the inexperienced.
Whilst the auctioneer is conducting proceedings, it is the salesperson's duty to
move
from one buyer to another “inviting” the buyers to start bidding or increase
their bid. The agent is obliged to seek out the best offer for the sellers.
Once
bidding slows or stops, the listing salesperson will "invite" the vendors to
reduce their reserve price . The sellers have invested a lot of money to achieve
the top market price for their home. Agents would be failing in their duty if
the top market price is reached and the vendor is not made aware that the
bidding is nearly exhausted and they might lose their opportunity to sell.
With all this activity and all the pressure of the
occasion, it is little wonder that you are stressed. You may feel more
comfortable if your solicitor accompanied you on the day.
Give
me a call and if I can possibly schedule attendance at your auction I will be
pleased to do so – at no extra cost.
