Educate yourself about the property before buying

It's important you educate yourself about a property and know exactly what it is you are buying before signing a contract.

The time in between signing a contract and the settlement date is an opportune time to make sure you know all relevant information. As a general rule, try and allow around five weeks between signing and settlement.

Finance approval

There can be plenty to do during this period, such as arranging home loan finance and attending to any conditions on the contract. Home loan finance approval is a common condition and most lenders now require at least four weeks to process a loan application.

Termite clearances and building inspections are also reasonably common as general conditions on a contract to secure settlement.

Pre-purchase checks

You may want to carry out pre-purchase checks before signing the contract or ensure that certain conditions form part of the conditions of a sale.

This might include checks of the property title and that building approvals were obtained for any renovations and extensions. You should also ensure that new homes and recently renovated homes have valid building insurance.

When checking a property title look for any restrictions that may allow the use of the property for other purposes, such as Water Authority sewer lines, as this may affect future renovations.

One of the benefits of dealing with a licensed real estate agent is that they must do an official search of title details when they are contracted to sell a property.

If you are buying a property with renovations or other work that include major structural additions, such as a patio, check if building approvals were required and properly completed.

The selling agent should convey any information provided by the owner about building approvals for work on the property and you can also make your own enquiries with the local council if you wish.

Residual Current Devices

Another thing to keep in mind are the regulations in place that require dwellings have two Residual Current Devices (RCDs) installed as electrical safety switches.

There are also similar regulations around hard-wired smoke alarms, which must be present and must replace any common battery operated smoke alarms.

Ideally these things should be seen to as soon as possible, but it also means that as a buyer you need to check on these things before settlement. Under the law, RCDs and hard-wired smoke alarms are the responsibility of the seller.