OK so we are at the beginning but can anyone explain to me the process of buying a house in oz. Realistically its a long way off yet but just wondering how it compares to our system and how long it takes. Ta muchly x

There was a thread a couple of days ago on this. But its pretty quick (4-6) weeks, and mostly you can't out once your offer is accepted.

1) You make an offer with some conditions ( subject to finanace, survey..)
2) They accept your offer
3) If you pull out in the first week ( cooling off ) , you pay .25%
4) You have a time scale to reach conditions, once done, the contact goes unconditional, and there is no way out for either party.
5) You get the house in 30,45,60,90 days depending on what the contract says.

You need building survey, pest survey, and possible independant validation.

Of course there are stamp duties and convencing fees etc.

In SA, you only have 48 hours cooling off period, you have to get the survey done in this time (or let them know if you have problems arranging one).

They gave us 21 days to sort the finance out, but extended it because we were having problems with the mortgage advisor. Our settlement was made 6 weeks after we put the offer in.

so basically you need your finacne in place before you make an offer? Wow thats quick and sounds much better as people are less inclined to mess around.

So you have to get valuation done in and survey in 48 hours? Wow thats fast are they very organised then in order to meet this dedline??

Depends who you ring. I rang one guy who said he couldn't do it within the 48 hours, but the next ones came the next day.

You have to get it done in 48 hours, but you have something like another 4 or 5 days to get the report and tell them you are happy with it (or not)

I was going to say, what if the survey is bobbins, you can then back out?? would you still have to pay anything??

No you don't. You have them 5 days to pay the deposit, once that's paid then they can keep it if anything goes wrong. So you are best getting a mortgage in principal before you go looking for houses (especially if you use the broker I did ).

When you want to buy, give me a shout and I'll tell you who we used in the end as he was fantastic.

I'll give our experiences (some details maybe different in other states, we are in NSW) for house for sale via auction.

Suggest you have finances pre approved and solicitor you want to use sorted out, as usually 5wks between house on the market & the auction

1) go to open house, ask questions like what is the guide price
2) if you are interested ask for copy of contract - best to get by email as quicker to pass onto your solicitor
3) flick through contract yourself to raise Qs with your solicitor & bits where you might want to request changes to (eg settlement date or deposit amount)
4) suggest you check if the are any planning approvals/submissions for the house & area that may change your views. Details can be obtained from council but request may take a week to process. some details can be found via google
5) arrange for pest/inspection reports
6) knock on doors around the area - check no boundary disputes, or other info to reassure or raise concerns.
7) ensure contract changes have been agreed by vendor solicitor before auction date
8) agree a max bid before auction that you will STICK to.
9) take id (to register) & cheque book (pay deposit) to auction

Sometimes the vendor will accept a bid prior to auction.

Strongly suggest you attend several auctions to get an idea of the process & different auctioneers techniques, and to see the difference between guide price given & actual sale price

Every state is different. When people give an answer perhaps it would make more sense if they indicated where they were and to which state their answer relates. Of course if the person asking the questions indicated where they live or intend to live, that would allow sensible answers to be given.

Oh, there I go, off to dream land again. Fancy imaging people asking for information giving all the pertinent facts. Sometimes having a suburb shown in a profile doesn't always identify the state.

Here in WA there is no such thing as a cooling off period. An offer is binding once it has been signed and all conditions met.

Bob in Bull Creek

In QLD:

Once property found contact Real Estate Agent selling house who will help complete written offer. Real Estate Agent then presents offer to vendor - if accepted, vendor will countersign offer. Terms of settlement indicated at this stage (e.g 30 days). Deposit of 0.25% paid at this stage (e.g for $400,000 house = $1,000 deposit).

You've then got 10 to 14 days (can't remember exactly) to get the surveys done (building and pest) plus finance arranged before the offer goes unconditional - more money is normally paid at this stage. TIP - get finance pre-approved before making an offer - based on your circumstances the bank you're dealing with will be able to pre-approve an amount they are willing to lend you - subject to the property that you find of course. Also puts you in a stronger position as buyer if you already have finance pre-approved.

When settlement arrives, your solicitor will have received the funds from the bank, and after the balance of the purchase price plus stamp duty and solicitors costs have been paid, you pick up the keys and move in.

There are no hold ups with chain's in Australia. It is quite normal for people to take out bridging finance over here (if you can afford it).

Hope this helps.

The OP is going to Adelaide if it helps (the signature gives it away )

... but most of the replies are about Queensland law . Go figure !