mh929

Hi Folks

Maybe a stupid question (forgive me!). I seem to remember reading on here somewhere that buying a house in Oz is much more straightforward than in the UK and the whole thing can go through in 5 weeks - is this true? Does this sort of timescale only apply to new or empty houses or those with no chain?

Is the chain situation the same as the UK - ie if there's a long chain involved it could take 3 or 4 month to all go through?

Thanks in advance, folks......

Martin

Bix

Good question for you ABC

dotty

One of the reasons it goes so smoothly is people are very reluctant to get into chains, occasionally you might accept a contract subject to the sale of another house but most people would want to sight the fully finance approved contract for the other deal. I have never heard of people getting involved in the long UK style chains.

Basically then, find a house to buy, new or used 30 day contract is achievable. Put in a clause for 14 days to do pest and building inspection and get finance. You would have paid a deposit, but have 5 days cooling off to change your mind but you will loose a bit of the deposit if you do that. In the 14 days you meet your conditiions and if not satisfied with the reports/cant get finance you can legally pull out then. The contract is then unconditional and settlement goes ahead on the date on the contract (often the 30th day) , contracts that are straightforward with no finance are often 14 day contracts. You know exactly when settlement will be.

Only downside I can see is that many people here rent between buying houses because of the short contract time, its sell and be ready to move 2-4 weeks later so often people cant find another house let alone build in that time so renting between is very common.

It is much much easier than the UK. Make sure you have a solicitor tho, or all sorts of stunts can crop up.

ABCDiamond

LOL, I'll just agree with what Dotty said

I'd have said the same but she words it better than I would

All I will add is that there are more propertiers available at the moment as they are not selling as fast as they were last year. Not many people seem to be bringing the prices down to sell them, just leaving them up for sale at the asking price for longer.

eg: Late last year they would often sell within days of being on the market. (or sometimes hours)

I will also just emphasise that any offer you make, is actually a binding contract, (subject to conditions), if the seller accepts your offer.

Joanie Babes

It is much much easier than the UK. Make sure you have a solicitor tho, or all sorts of stunts can crop up. [/QUOTE]

Oh and for God's sake get a proper termite inspection!
We got our house completed in 28 days but you can put longer on the contract date if you like a friend put 6 months to complete, but I think that is unusual.
The hard part is trying to find the house of your dreams- we spend every weekend, Sat and Sunday for 6 months driving round Bardon, Paddingon and Red Hill. The good side is I now know the suburb

mh929

Many thanks folks - knew I could rely on you! We are going to do some intensive house hunting when we arrive and settle as quickly as we can.

Thanks again

Martin