Solicitors advice (NSW)

The solicitor can only sign the certificate if you instruct him that you are waiving the cooling-off period.

From Dept of Fair trading website:

Cooling-off period
When you buy a property in NSW there is a five business-day cooling-off period after you exchange contracts. During this period you have the option to get out of the contract as long as you give written notice. The cooling-off period starts as soon as you exchange and ends at 5pm on the fifth business day.

A cooling-off period does not apply if you buy a property at auction or exchange contracts on the same day as the auction after it is passed in.

You can waive the cooling-off period by giving the seller a ‘66W certificate’. This is a certificate that complies with Section 66W of the Conveyancing Act 1919. The certificate needs to be signed by your solicitor or conveyancer.

View the following on the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office web site:

Section 66W and Section 66W certificate
Conveyancing Act 1919
If you use your cooling-off rights and withdraw from the contract during the five business-day period, you will have to pay the seller 0.25% of the purchase price. This works out to be $250 for every $100,000.

Sometimes, there are more buyers looking for homes than there are properties on the market. This is called a sellers’ market. In this case, you may want to organise a quick contract exchange. This way you can reduce the possibility of someone beating your offer and get your building and pest inspections done during the cooling-off period. You will still be able to back out if there is a problem. However, it is important to have the contract checked by your solicitor or conveyancer before you sign it.

It is possible to waive, reduce or extend the cooling-off period with the consent of the seller. If your solicitor or conveyancer has examined certificates from the appropriate authorities, a pest and building inspection has been done and your finance has been approved, then deciding to waive the cooling-off period could make your offer more attractive to the seller.