Hino

Out of the blue I received an offer to buy a property I own. The offer seemed reasonable and as there were no agents fees involved I said yes. I was motivated to sell because the land next door was for sale and I had been advised that the proposed construction on that site would severely affect my property.

I signed the contract to sell on Friday and have not yet been advised that contracts have been exchanged.

Yesterday the purchaser of the land next door appeared and spoke with me at length about his plans. It seems that his construction work will only enhance my property and as a result I now regret my decision to sell.

Is there any way I can get out of the sale, to the best of my knowledge contracts have not yet been exchanged. On-line site give lots of information about the rights of the purchaser to withdraw from the contract, but little information about the rights of the vendor.

I'm unable to contact my solicitor until Monday morning, so if there is any chance for me to escape this contract I want to be waiting at his door at opening time.

If any members have experienced a similar situation, your advice would be appreciated.

commonwealth

There's a cooling off period I presume (usually 5 biz days) though I don't know if the vendor can call it. Don't you have a solicitor? It's a big mistake to deal in property contracts without a solicitor (or at least an experienced conveyancer). You need to act ASAP before the 5 days end.

Snap Shot

Sounds like the developer wants to buy your property in the future.

Craig Vaughan

Hi,
If contracts have not yet been exchanged then you can back out. Until contracts are exchanged there is no formal agreement (and for the sale of land in Australia there must always be a written contract as per the property law acts in the respective States).

If contracts have been exchanged then im afraid you do not have any right to pull out of the sale. The cooling off period of 5 days applies only to the purchaser, not the seller/vendor.

If contracts have been exchanged and you still wish to pull out - then you could still try of course to reneg on the deal. It all depends on whether the purchaser wishes to engage a legal team and effectively sue you for Specific Performance of the contract.

Good luck.

Hino

Thanks for the replies fellas.

I believe that the five day 'cooling off' period only applies to the purchaser and I am using a licensed conveyancer.

Not quite the 'developer' situation but pretty close, it was the purchasers who gave me the original information about the proposed development. There were enough truths in their story to make the plot believable and I didn't have access to the facts until I met the purchaser of the block next door.

I'm guessing that my only hope is that they haven't signed the contract yet and I'm able to 'pull the rug' before they get a chance to. I only signed the contract on Friday lunchtime, so I guess that there's a faint hope.

Hino

Thanks Craig, it sounds pretty much as I expected.

Are you able to clarify just what is meant by "exchange of contracts" ?

Is it just a matter of I sign they sign ??

commonwealth

Did you not question their motivation for buying your property? Why would they want to buy a property thst will fall in value?

ABCD......

Depends on what State you are in.

In Queensland, once a signed offer to purchase is presented to the Seller and the Seller accepts the offer, signing and dating it, then this becomes the Contract and becomes a legally binding document. If done on the right forms.

At this point, you have lost the opportunity to change the Contract or include conditions you may have required.

If you as the seller have signed it, then you could be too late.

Hino

Hi ABCD,

I'm in NSW. It seems to be a little different here, my conveyancer drew up the contract with the details of the property and the purchase price and I signed it. It was then sent to the purchaser for their signature.

I'm aware of the purchasers right to a five day 'cooling off' period and his right to waive that cooling off period. If he has not waived his right to a cooling off period, does that mean that the contracts are not legally "exchanged" until the end of the five days ?

I'm afraid I might be clutching at straws

ABCD......

NOTE - A contract has not been made and is not legally binding before the exchange of contracts and the payment of a deposit.
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Te..._deposits.html

Every contract for the sale of residential property (less than 2.5 hectares) has a cooling off period of five working days the cooling off period ends at 5.00pm on the fifth working day). This means that after entering into the contract the purchaser has five working days in which to “cool off”. The seller is locked into the contract and cannot withdraw from the sale.
http://www.aicnsw.com.au/links/selling-property/

Hope that your conveyancer has not sent it yet, and that you can get it back.

Do you have a mobile number for the conveyancer ?

Buzzy--Bee

Hello ABCD - got a new username?

BB

commonwealth

yeah s/he used to be ABC Diamond or something.

Buzzy--Bee

Well respected senior poster.

BB

ABCD......

Yeah, I got deleted as I was under age when the rules changed. I originally used the date I joined as my date of Birth !! That was about 10 years ago !!

I lost all my karma too

Hino

I guess your renting at the moment ?

I bought this place less than three years ago and the offer ( I'm trying to refuse ), is 30% more than I paid for it.

I had to give it a coat of paint and fit a new kitchen, but over $50K in front after almost three years of rent free living can't be too bad

If instead of buying I had rented this place @ $350 per week ( three bedrooms with direct lake access ), I would have paid over $50K in rent. So I'm over $100,000 in front in less than three years, by purchasing rather than renting........ now you tell us how much do you expect property to fall by ?