Melchels

I am looking for some help please Ladies & Gents...

My wife and I are currently looking for a house to buy in Melbourne and I am astouned by the process! I would never have thought that I would say that I prefer the UK way!

We recently bid in an Auction which we reached our limit and therefore lost out, $500 on a survey down the drain! We then thought, OK, lets avoid auctions and look at private sale properties.

We were interested in one and thought that we would like to put in an offer. I was amazed when the agent wanted us to sign a contract and put a small cash deposit down before they would even pass on the offer to the vendors! They told me that I would have a 3 day cooling off period...but if I took advice from a Solicitor then I would lose the cooling off period and still be committed to buying! How are you supposed to get a survey, Solicitor to check the contracts prior to being committed to a house purchase? I thought that this may be just one agent but 2 others confirmed their process was the same!

This is quite a concerning issue as we could easily spend $5k on surveys before we manage to purchase!

Has anyone else experienced this?

thebears

Not sure which area or budget you are working on but I would suggest using a buyers agent/advocate. We are in the same process but awaiting a correction and have found a great agent who does the searching, negotiation and alot of the work you would expect from a UK solicitor - conveyancing over here is different they don't do all the surrounding checks.

Kiwi

The Crow

We were also surprised at the process - with regard to offering. With regard to a survey - if the vendor agrees you could get a survey done before offering, but you'd want to be pretty sure that your offer was going to be accepted!! We didn't do that as our offer was fairly low - but got the building inspection/survey and pest inspection carried out in the 3 day cooling off period (once offer was accepted). This would have allowed us to back out if there were substantial non-structural defects etc. The contract only allows you to tear up the contract if the surveys bring up structural problems or termite/pest infection (which the vendor is not willing to put right etc).
It's all a bit of a rush - but the good thing is, in the meantime, you can't get gazzumped!!
R

Vicky88

The key is to making your offer subject to getting finance and a satisfactory building/pest inspection. You don't have to get these done within the 3 day cooling off period.

What you do is make the offer subject to the above conditions, if it is accepted you put down the 10% deposit. You then arrange your inspections. Absolutely no need to involve a Solicitor at any point. YOur best person to handle the sale on your behalf is a conveyancer.

Make sure the wording on the contract is subject to arranging your own finance, otherwise if you can't get finance from your bank they can say we can arrange finance at some outrageous interest rate and you are caught. The process really is easy.

Buzzy--Bee

Gee S, I hope that happens for all our sakes!

Cheers

Buzzy

The Crow

I wouldn't put down the 10% deposit until after you are happy with the building and pest reports. Easier if you don't have to retrieve that 10%!

Vicky88

It's standard to put the 10% down, and you may find if you don't they will not accept your offer. There is no worry about getting it back, as the money is not held by the seller's, I belive it goes to a special account.

flip

We used a buyers agent (Australian Property Buyers) which was really helpful and they helped us negotiate and prior to the auction worked out it's value so we knew we weren't paying over the odds. They arranged for the contract and property details to be made available "Section 32" I think, and gave us details of surveyors etc. The Section 32 makes you aware of rateable values, boundaries, easements (whatever they are), etc. so you do need to examine this (or have someone look at it for you).

If you don't have a buyers agent you ask the estate agent for the Section 32 prior to auction and either check it out yourself or pass it on to a conveyancer who I don't think charges you unless you're buying the property.

At auction you need to be able to provide a cheque immediately so you have to check with the estate agents if they'll accept a personal cheque or you have to get a bankers draft (more money down the drain if you don't win).

I was amazed that although we had the top bid we had to negotiate further because the property hadn't reached reserve.

In private sales you can make an offer subject to surveys and finance but not at auction - then you are immediately tied.

There's also something called a "section 27" which you must sign to enable them to access your money to use for their own deposit. If you don't sign your deposit stays in a holding account.

It's strange, scary and exciting to think nothing can stand in our way and that the house really will be ours without any further gazumping or changes to the completion dates. After the uncertainties of the last 12 months it's great to know something will go off without any hitches.

Good luck.

Flip

Shellfish

I find that strange. We got a verbal acceptance for our offer before we put it in writing and gave a deposit.

Bemusing is a very polite word and I would have to be extremely desperate before I even considered buying a place at auction, there is absolutely nothing in it for the buyer

Shellfish

I would agree with this, alternatively try and get the building and pest reports done before the cooling period is over. A lawyer friend of mine advised that there is virtually no chance of getting out of sale once all is signed - including the bad building reports.

The Crow

Yes, the 10% goes down - but you can specify within reason when it goes down. When we first offered they wanted it within 5 working days - we couldn't get it that quickly anyway as it was still in the UK - so we insisted on 10 working days which also allowed us to be happy with the inspections. You're right that they could have turned around and insisted on 5 - but we've signed the contract so they will get it anyway.

The Crow

I agree - it's not partcularly black and white with the inspections. Building has to be some major structural defect. We did do ours during the 3 day cooling off period and managed to add in a termite barrier system be undertaken - as there were termites on the land (but no sign in the property luckily). We only got that report back 2 hours before the cooling off period ended - so some hectic faxing took place!

baconmaster

It is a pain in the arse if you pardon my french and takes up the best part of a day on each weekend. We spent $450 on a survey thing but it told us the house needed $10k worth of work so we revised our value of the property and didn't get it. just as well really coz the people who got it paid to much..
We got the survey before the auction, so yoes you could spend a few quid on surveys but I'd sooner do that than plough my millions (yeah right) into a knackered property,

Anyway, you speak to anyone who owns a property and none of them have a good thing to say about house hunting unless they were lucky. I guess the process benefits those who are selling. Just think if we had this process for selling in the UK, a sale would be a guaranteed sale and when you are selling to migrate you'd be selling with confidence.

By the way, is anyone else sick of Prison Break, they've been advertising "he will escape tonight" for the past 6 weeks.

The agents who wanted a fee before the offer got passed on sound dodgy, why not put their number on this website and we can all call them and waste their time ?? I'm game. Were their actions legal? The agents here are more pushy, we've left properties in not so many words saying 'the property is crap and we are not interested' then they ring the wife on Tuesday asking if we'll put a bid in. -( I always make sure the wife gives her number and not mine)

whereabouts are you looking. The other week we went to 2 auctions, first property needed no work and you could have moved in, it got passed in at the auction. we made an offer after but the vendors were dreaming.

the next auction, the place we had the survey on, loads of people there, the place needed work and went for $20k more than the place that was spot on. Same agent, only 500 metres from each other and similar size plots of land. Very bizarre.

You'll find something eventually, just stay away from cheltenham at 11.30am this saturday and there won't be a problem.

By the way, how easy is it to get a mortgage here ??? couldn't believe it.


Where abouts are you looking ?

Pomster

Surveys seem less common here.

When we bought, we made an offer it was accepted, we gave $100 deposit (all we had on us!) and signed the contract. We had a hand written clause added to say, deposit of 10pct would be paid within 10 days-subject to a buildings and pest survey.

Surveys were arranged very quickly...easily within the timescale. Had they been useless we would have been able to cancel easily.

Although the contracts are standard, most estate agents are happy to annotate in line with your wishes.

jond

When we brought our house we only put down $500.00 and agreed a clause that we would only complete and put down 10% if our house completed in the UK on such & such a date. The vendors were happy with this and even let us over run the settlement date of 30 days by 1 week without any penalties when we had a bit of trouble sorting out of mortgage.

We were lucky that they were really nice people as not everyone would have been that good.


John