Paul2412 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi, We've found a house that we like, and the real estate agent has sent us an "intention to offer" form (we are in QLD). This form is asking for our offer price as I'd expect but also conditions and a deposit. I'm confused about the deposit. Is this a deposit we only pay when the contract has been signed? And should the contract be signed and our solicitor finds something (such as a flood risk or other problem) and we pull out does that mean we loose the deposit? I'm finding conflicting advice. Some places say the deposit can be as little as $1000 and others are saying it's 10% of the value. I understand that if we sign the contract and its unconditional then we decide to pull out because we like something else for example then we would forfeit some of the deposit, but if that deposit is $50,000 how much are we likely to loose if the solicitor finds something? Also, should we have a solicitor before making an "intention to offer"? It's listing finance condition days and pest and building inspection days. Are these to be done before the contract is signed? At this stage, we've only made an offer so I don't want to be paying for inspections before the vendor has even accepted the offer. All rather confusing! Can anyone help us out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 There is information on these 2 websites from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland and the Queensland Office of Fair Trading: http://www.reiq.com/steps-to-buying-property http://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/buying-and-selling-a-property/buying-a-home/making-an-offer-on-a-home/contract-of-sale/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossda Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi We bought in Qld last year. I remember the estate agent saying 10% deposit but our conveyancers told us $1000 is all that is needed. We just put the $1000 down and it was fine. We engaged the conveyancers early on and they were great 'hand holders' through the whole thing. We got the survey done very quick. There were some issues picked up that were fixed very quickly by the owner. She had arranged the work to be done all in that 10 day period. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 We are just going through this malarkey too! It gets better - after the intention to offer form, you get a contract to sign to be presented to the seller! 14 pages of legal guff. I'm still confused about deposits, there's a small one (2k in our case) on contract date, a larger one on getting finance, and we still have the balance to pay to cover the 20%?!?! Silly. 14 days is standard for finance and inspections. Settlement is up to you, most sellers prefer the minimum 30 days. Don't forget to include your conditions ie. if you want to include curtains, blinds, dishwasher... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevsan Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 We are just going through this malarky too, albeit in VIC. $1000 down to secure the house from anymore inspections etc (refundable if we pull out) then contract with deposit (10%) in 10 days. Subject to finance and inspections which need to complete within the 10 days. Then settlement in 60 days for us- collect the keys 9th May. just then need to move in and sort out breaking our lease, which is a whole other rabbit hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Just remember with deposits you can put down what you and the seller agree to. We didn't even put 10% down. Our last house purchase in Cairns we put $500 down that was it until settlement and we also got the contract subject to the sale of ours in Melbourne. So if you want different terms state that. Our next house we purchase we will probably get it subject to renting until ours as sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 On the offer form, just write what deposit you are prepared to offer, the buying price and any restrictions, The normal ones are 'subject to finance' or 'subject to pest and building inspection' Thus if there are any major issues, the contract can be legally broken. And, our bank manager told us on the sly, if we found somewhere else in the meantime, she could break the contact by refusing to offer finance......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 The standard QLD contract has subject to finance/inspections built in, as long as details are completed. Both (!) the offer contracts we filled in had stuff like "sufficient to complete this transaction" and "bank of buyer's choice" already in those bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 i remember when we bought our house we just put $1000 down and you can put any subjects into the agreement, we did pest report and survey stuff our agent urged us to put subject to sale of our house too but we were in a bidding war situation so wanted to make the offer as attractive as we could to get picked! We flew by the seat of our pants selling ours but all fell into place in the final weeks, wouldn't recommend it though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Just remember with deposits you can put down what you and the seller agree to. We didn't even put 10% down. Our last house purchase in Cairns we put $500 down that was it until settlement and we also got the contract subject to the sale of ours in Melbourne. So if you want different terms state that. Our next house we purchase we will probably get it subject to renting until ours as sold. Yep, put down whatever you want, I have done a $100 deposit before, remember this money goes into the estate agents account so they get the interest therefore it is in their best interest to get a large deposit and it is them which usually state the amount in the contract but you do not have to agree to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 On the offer form, just write what deposit you are prepared to offer, the buying price and any restrictions, The normal ones are 'subject to finance' or 'subject to pest and building inspection' Thus if there are any major issues, the contract can be legally broken. And, our bank manager told us on the sly, if we found somewhere else in the meantime, she could break the contact by refusing to offer finance......... I once had an offer on a house from a person that worked in a solicitors office, in the conditions she just put subject to 'due diligence' with in 14 days. Sure enough 13 days later "after due diligence I will not be proceeding with the purchase" no explanation or reasons given of actually why, just due diligence. I think this is a good thing for the buyer, but not the seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 I once had an offer on a house from a person that worked in a solicitors office, in the conditions she just put subject to 'due diligence' with in 14 days. Sure enough 13 days later "after due diligence I will not be proceeding with the purchase" no explanation or reasons given of actually why, just due diligence. I think this is a good thing for the buyer, but not the seller. Don't accept the offer if not happy with the conditions. Just say No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Don't accept the offer if not happy with the conditions.Just say No. Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Beware that once an offer is accepted, things move bloody quickly! We were told Wednesday lunch time our offer was accepted, and because the final offer was verbal at that stage, we had to amend the contract with the new offer and email back. By yesterday -within 48 hours - I had to pay initial deposit, get the mortgage application in, arrange inspections and now we have to get home & contents insurance ASAP. So make sure things are in place as much as possible - research which inspection company you will use, choose a lender and get pre-approval, check out insurers (we weren't prepared for this and will probably have to go through a broker). Amazingly our mortgage was pre-approved the same day the offer was accepted, so once I received the full contract it was easy just to whizz it to the lender (ING, highly recommend) and they have already organised a valuation. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Oh, and for building and pest inspections, do consider using separate companies. They vary greatly in thoroughness, and combined inspections will likely lack in pest expertise. Because the house we're buying is 'older' (built 1986!), and a good bit above median price, we're going with separate companies. It will cost nearly twice as much but you don't want to skimp on these things! I would certainly not recommend using inspectors referred by the real estate agent, as they act purely in the seller's interest and will tend towards the less thorough inspections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Don't accept the offer if not happy with the conditions.Just say No. I never said I was not happy with it, just that it was different to the standard building/pest/finance clauses, and really did not know what to expect from it. For the buyer it is really a good clause as you do not have to explain/give reason in other words you can just change your mind on the whole purchase, no need to go to the bank asking them to refuse finance. For the seller maybe not that good, but really you still get a decision with-in the normal time frames so no big drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Beware that once an offer is accepted, things move bloody quickly! We were told Wednesday lunch time our offer was accepted, and because the final offer was verbal at that stage, we had to amend the contract with the new offer and email back. By yesterday -within 48 hours - I had to pay initial deposit, get the mortgage application in, arrange inspections and now we have to get home & contents insurance ASAP. So make sure things are in place as much as possible - research which inspection company you will use, choose a lender and get pre-approval, check out insurers (we weren't prepared for this and will probably have to go through a broker). Amazingly our mortgage was pre-approved the same day the offer was accepted, so once I received the full contract it was easy just to whizz it to the lender (ING, highly recommend) and they have already organised a valuation. Good luck! Yes, that really is just an insurance company rort imo. In our case we bought in August but the owners were not moving out till October (once their new house was finished) and they had their own insurance in the meantime. Never did understand what contents we were insuring as our furniture was in storage and we were paying insurance separately. But it was a condition of sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Yes, that really is just an insurance company rort imo. In our case we bought in August but the owners were not moving out till October (once their new house was finished) and they had their own insurance in the meantime. Never did understand what contents we were insuring as our furniture was in storage and we were paying insurance separately. But it was a condition of sale. It is building insurance that you need from contract date (unconditional date) if the house burnt down before completion you would be stuffed without insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 It is building insurance that you need from contract date (unconditional date) if the house burnt down before completion you would be stuffed without insurance. The previous owners were still living there and had buildings and contents insurance in place too. We joked with them that if the house burnt down while they were living there we would each have a valid claim. My memory may be playing up as I thought they wanted contents insurance too. Probably in the paperwork somewhere but can't be bothered to hunt through it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 The previous owners were still living there and had buildings and contents insurance in place too. We joked with them that if the house burnt down while they were living there we would each have a valid claim. My memory may be playing up as I thought they wanted contents insurance too. Probably in the paperwork somewhere but can't be bothered to hunt through it now. I am pretty certain that the building insurance is the buyers responsibility once the contract is unconditional (and maybe even from contract date), I have also being told this by my bank. I am also sure that insurance companies will, speaking from experience, try and avoid paying out where they can and it could be that the sellers insurance is not valid so no claim accepted. Damaged caused by the seller between contract and completion is a different matter, hence why an inspection is recommended just prior to completion then adjustments can be made at completion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Yeah I'm a bit confused about insurance and still don't have it. I can't answer half the questions anyway! Now got a huuuge tick list of searches from the solicitor and I have no idea what to do with it! A few are already ticked, I assume they are mandatory? We only want the basics, no plans to extend, develop etc! So confusing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2412 Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 (edited) So now we've found a house that we like, is in budget and we're the only offer. However, of course things aren't that simple. Are my concerns below warranted or am a being an outrageous snob? We went over to the house today, and had more of a look round. There were 2 dogs that sounded pretty large almost constantly barking next door. At first I put it down to the fact we are new voices and they probably feel threatened. It continued for 20 minutes or so as we were at the house so I peered into the back yard of the house next door. The yard is pretty messy, with quite long grass and bare patches all over it. The front yard is also quite messy. One of the dogs seems to be a PitBull or something similar. On the previous inspection, I noticed the somewhat messy yard but didn't hear any dogs. As we left the house, there was a young bloke jump starting his truck. Maybe in his early twenties. I went over to ask about the internet (he lived next door) and he seemed a bit of a bogan. I'm now worried that we might end up living next door to a bit of a nightmare family. The area is known for being fairly middle class but still that bogan element. Am I being very judgmental here? I really don't care if they are a bit bogan, it's the image you see of neighbours suffering all night parties and dealing with noise all day long that bothers me. It'll be our first house with a baby on the way in September so maybe this is making me being overly cautious. Would be interested to know others experience with this and whether it's normal when looking to purchase your first home in a new country. Edited May 10, 2016 by Paul2412 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 So now we've found a house that we like, is in budget and we're the only offer. However, of course things aren't that simple. Are my concerns below warranted or am a being an outrageous snob? We went over to the house today, and had more of a look round. There were 2 dogs that sounded pretty large almost constantly barking next door. At first I put it down to the fact we are new voices and they probably feel threatened. It continued for 20 minutes or so as we were at the house so I peered into the back yard of the house next door. The yard is pretty messy, with quite long grass and bare patches all over it. The front yard is also quite messy. One of the dogs seems to be a PitBull or something similar. On the previous inspection, I noticed the somewhat messy yard but didn't hear any dogs. As we left the house, there was a young bloke jump starting his truck. Maybe in his early twenties. I went over to ask about the internet (he lived next door) and he seemed a bit of a bogan. I'm now worried that we might end up living next door to a bit of a nightmare family. The area is known for being fairly middle class but still that bogan element. Am I being very judgmental here? I really don't care if they are a bit bogan, it's the image you see of neighbours suffering all night parties and dealing with noise all day long that bothers me. It'll be our first house with a baby on the way in September so maybe this is making me being overly cautious. Would be interested to know others experience with this and whether it's normal when looking to purchase your first home in a new country. My concern would be the dogs, especially with a young family (that said with a newborn you won't be the quietest of neighbours either ;-) ). I would be put off by barking dogs. We had very noisy dog next door back in the UK - drove us crazy as always barked when owners were out so they never had to put up with it!! Trust your instincts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2412 Posted May 10, 2016 Author Share Posted May 10, 2016 My concern would be the dogs, especially with a young family (that said with a newborn you won't be the quietest of neighbours either ;-) ). I would be put off by barking dogs. We had very noisy dog next door back in the UK - drove us crazy as always barked when owners were out so they never had to put up with it!! Trust your instincts. Strangely it's not the barking that overly concerns me. When we were inside and away from the other side of the fence they quietened down much more. I guess it's the combination of dogs, messy yard and somewhat bogan resident (possibly the family son) and with that is the thought that maybe they would cause us problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Iv'e bought and sold a few house since we came to Qld in 1986.And only ever had one problem.I once paid $5000 deposit to the Agent,and she didn't pay it into the trust account.And took off with the money.There are so many SHARKS in Australia.My advice is to take all the paper work plus the contract to your Lawyer.My Lawyer Charges $450 conveyancing +serches. Whatever you do don't go to one of these so called cheap conveyancing firms.It could end up in tears.Your contract won't become uncontional,untill you get finace arranged,and your bulding. and pest done,that's usually 21 days.but it really depends on your bank.then it becomes unconditional,but the pest and bldg inspection,has to be Ok'd by u.And completed by the agreed date.If it's not OK you can pull out. If everything is fine,BY YOU And u have Signed.That's it you Can't pull out.It's not like the UK.were u can pull out anytime for no reason.In Qld all the Stuff about flooding is written in the contract,but your agent should make you aware,if any the flood water effects the property u are buying.Don't pay a huge deposit.Pay the lowest Possible.That is refunded if anything is wrong,and you only pay one deposit.You can if you wish Add your own conditions to the contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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