Real estate

Bruce CoodeBruce Coode has been handling real estate transactions for well over thirty years and is experienced in all types of dealings. In addition to working for individual clients in private practice as a solicitor for all that time he was a legal advisor to three local councils for many years and has lectured in real estate law at university. You can have confidence that Bruce will look after your sale or purchase.

We see it as our role to provide you with service and so as part of the we do work for you we will do the following without charging any extra fees:

  • We will look at, and discuss with you, several contracts if needed whilst you are looking around to decide which property to buy, and
  • if you intend going to an auction we will look at the auction contract and give you advice before the auction, regardless of whether you end up buying the property, and
  • we will help you with applying for any stamp duty exemptions, or discounts that may be available such as first home buyers, or senior citizens, or new buildings/off-the-plan purchases, etc., and
  • we will satisfy the legal requirements of your financier/bank, and
  • will prepare new wills for you (or update your existing wills).

We will explain everything to you in plain English, and will always answer your questions with courtesy and patience. We realize that buying or selling a property can be a stressful time and we will work with you to achieve your aims with the least fuss.

These days purchasers are often asked to pay a deposit (usually 0.25% of the price) and to sign the contract at the agents’ office before they can see their solicitor. This is normally not a problem as long as the purchaser follows these rules:

  1. Before you sign the contract, read it to see the following:
    1. How long is the cooling-off time period? It must be at least ten working days (though ten working days is better). The agent should be able to show you the part in the contract that sets this out.
    2. Look at the front page of the contract for the following:
      1. Ensure that your names are identical with the way your names are set out in your finance application.
      2. Check the list of Inclusions on the front page to see that everything such as the air conditioner, the curtains, etc is referred to or that the relevant boxes are ticked/marked.
      3. Check the description of the price and timing for payment of the deposit.
      4. Check that the correct choice between ‘vacant possession’ or ‘subject to existing tenancy’ has been selected, by ticking a box.
      5. Also ensure that any special promises made to you to induce you to buy the property are repeated in writing in the contract (for example, if a specific completion date has been agreed to).
  2. You also need to make sure you do not agree to a price you cannot afford, so ask yourself whether you have enough to pay all the ‘extras’ like stamp duty, bank loan application fees, etc.
  3. In NSW a real estate contract is not legally binding unless it is in writing, signed by both seller and purchaser and the buyer has paid a deposit. Until all those things are done anyone can just walk away and the deposit is refundable.

We are happy to sit down with you and go through these things before you start looking for a property and answer any questions you have. There is no extra charge for this.

Our charges are:

Sale: $1,700 incl GST plus disbursements/expenses including compulsory government certificates — usually about $500.

Purchase: $2000 incl GST plus disbursements/expenses including government searches and pest and building reports — usually about $1,250.

Comments are closed.