The Sales Process – What Happens Next?

What happens next? It’s a common question for those who are not in the property field every day of the week and rightly so, it’s called a sales process for a reason – it’s a process. Sometimes this process is not what many people expect. There are a lot of moving parts to a sale (or purchase of a property) and there are lots of people involved – that’s why having a good team around you is so imperative.

To quickly illustrate how confusing the process may be, below is a list of all the potential people who will be involved with the decision making of purchasing a property:

• Property Purchaser
• Buyers Agent
• Mortgage broker
• Financial Advisor
• Accountant
• Conveyancing Solicitor
• The Bank
• Selling Agent
• Auctioneer
• Vendor

These are just to name a few! This doesn’t include any family or friends you may discuss with during the time as well.

To summarise the sales process, there are 4 key time frames to purchasing a property and they include:

1. Prior to exchange of contracts
   • This is where all the research, inspections, number crunching and negotiations happen
2. Contract Exchange
   • Holding deposits are paid and the cooling off period is within this time frame
   • Buyer completes any due diligence they see fit (Building & pest and/or finance check) however, we recommend you sort out the finance well in advance.
   • At this point the Buyer still has the opportunity to pull out of the contract
3. Settlement Period
   • Contract has been signed and the agreed settlement period begins.
   • Existing tenant or persons living in the property may have to move out depending on the buyer’s requirements
   • A pre-settlement inspection is taken place to ensure the property is in the state it was agreed to be left in.
4. Settlement
   • Buyer pays  Balance of Deposit.
   • Notice of Transfer by Vendor
   • Discharge of any mortgage on title
   • Title is transferred from Vendor to Purchaser with Land Titles Office
   • Agent waits for instructions from Vendor’s solicitor to release keys to purchaser
   • Agents takes commission & costs as per Agreement

That’s it! nothing to it – don’t you think? This list above obviously doesn’t cover all the details however it outlines the requirements to allow the property to go through to settlement.

For a more detailed view download the free PDF of The Sales process