When should you get the contract reviewed?

Private sale or auction?
The timing is completely different

→ At a private sale, reviewing early buys you leverage.
→ At auction, reviewing early is the only protection you get.

Private sale: review before you offer

Reviewing before you offer is not just about catching problems. It also gives you something to negotiate with.

Once signed, every change needs the vendor to agree. Before you sign, the terms are still open. A review done at the right moment gives you:

Sign first and you're negotiating from behind, with a deposit already down.

Auction: review before auction day

If you're the successful bidder, you're committed immediately. No cooling-off. No finance clause or building and pest conditions.

That means everything you need to know has to be known before you raise your hand.

If your finance isn't approved, if you haven't read the owners corporation position, if you don't know what the special conditions do, bidding is the point of no return.

For private sales: what cooling-off actually gives you, and what it costs

Cooling-off is a safety net, not a strategy. Three things worth knowing:

1. It starts when you sign, not when the seller co-signs. This means you might be given your exchanged contract on the same day the cooling-off period ends. You may have very little time to arrange a professional review after exchange.
2. It costs money to use. A penalty applies, 0.2% of the purchase price, so it's a cost, not a clean exit.
3. It doesn't always apply. Don't assume you'll get the protection without checking.
   • It doesn't apply if you sign at auction, or within three clear business days before or after a publicly advertised auction
   • Some buyers won't get one, including companies and estate agents
   • Some deals aren't eligible, including industrial, commercial and certain farming property, or where this isn't your first contract for this property

More to the point: cooling off means walking away from a property you wanted, after you'd already decided you wanted it. Reviewing first means never being in that position.

Why “I'll get it checked if my offer is accepted” is the expensive version

It's the most common approach and it's backwards.

By the time your offer is accepted you've committed emotionally, you've probably told people, and you've stopped looking at anything else. That's the worst possible moment to discover an easement across the back third of the block, or owners corporation levies you hadn't budgeted for, or a special condition that removes a protection you assumed you had.

You've already shown your cards, the price, to the agent. Negotiating after you've signed is challenging and the seller may call your bluff. Then you'll either accept the issue, or you'll pull out and start again, having lost weeks.

Don't wait until you've found the one before looking at the contract. The buyers who move with confidence usually did their legal homework before everyone else did.

What a review should tell you before you offer

A contract review earns its place if it answers these, in plain English:

• What exactly are you buying? What's included, what's excluded, what's on title
• When do you become legally bound? Cooling-off, finance conditions, auction rules
• What does the fine print do? Special conditions that shift risk or add cost
• Can you use the property the way you intend? Easements, covenants, planning controls, overlays
• What will it actually cost to own? Council rates, water, owners corporation fees, holding costs
• What should you ask the agent before you commit?

If a review gives you a summary but not a decision, it hasn't done its job.

So when should you start?

Earlier than most people do.

Most buyers spend months searching and days deciding. The review belongs in the second step, not the fourth. If you're going to inspections on Saturday, the contract for anything you liked should be with someone on Monday.

Frequently asked questions