A Queensland residential purchase runs on dates. The contract is short, but a handful of clauses carry almost all of the risk, and each of them is tied to a deadline that is enforced strictly.
Day 0 — the contract date
The contract is dated when the last party signs and the other is notified. Every other deadline counts from that day, so send the signed contract to your solicitor the same day you receive it. A day lost here is a day lost from every condition.
1. Cooling off
A buyer of residential property generally has a cooling-off period of five business days, ending at 5pm on the fifth day. If you terminate within it, the seller may deduct a penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price from your deposit. The period can be shortened or waived — by a written waiver — and it does not apply to property bought at auction, so check what you actually signed rather than what you were told.
2. Seller disclosure
Under the seller disclosure regime, a seller of freehold residential land must give the buyer a disclosure statement and prescribed certificates before the buyer signs. If that does not happen, or the statement is inaccurate or incomplete in a material way, the buyer may have a right to terminate at any time before settlement. Read the disclosure statement carefully — it is not a formality, and it is one of the few protections that survives the contract date.
3. Finance
Unconditional written approval must be in hand by the finance date. Pre-approval is not approval. If the lender will not be ready in time, ask for an extension in writing before the date passes, and get the seller's written agreement. Once the date passes without notice, the condition can lapse, and you may be bound to complete a purchase you cannot fund.
4. Building and pest
Book the inspection the day the contract is signed, not the week the condition expires. Inspectors are booked out, and a report that arrives after the due date is worth nothing contractually. If the report is unsatisfactory, you must give written notice by the due date — a phone call to the agent is not notice. Read the report yourself: "satisfactory" for an inspector and acceptable to you are different standards.
5. Searches
Between contract and settlement your solicitor orders the searches that reveal what the contract does not: title and encumbrances, rates and water, land tax, body corporate records for a unit, transport and planning proposals, and, where relevant, flood and contamination. This is the stage where problems surface while you can still act on them.
6. Settlement
Time is of the essence. Missing settlement without an agreed extension can expose you to interest, a termination, and the loss of your deposit.
- Do a pre-settlement inspection, and do it after the seller has moved out
- Have your funds and identity verification complete the day before, not the morning of
- Confirm the property is insured from the day after the contract date — risk usually passes to the buyer well before you hold the keys
After settlement
Transfer duty is paid and the transfer lodged. Notify the council, water authority, insurer and body corporate. If you are eligible for a first home concession, the claim is made as part of the duty assessment, not afterwards.
The one rule worth remembering
Every right in the contract is tied to a date, and almost every date requires written notice to preserve the right. If a deadline is approaching and you are not ready, the answer is a written extension request — never silence.
General information only. This article describes the law in general terms and is not legal advice for your situation. Time limits are strict and the law changes. Call BNE Lawyers on 0423 007 888 to discuss your own circumstances in English or Vietnamese.