- Hi,
I'm planning to purchase my first property and I am currently interested in a villa unit which is up for auction in the coming weeks. I've read that when purchasing a property, a building & pest inspection should be conducted prior to the purchase. In this instance, if I win the auction can I sign the contract of sale with conditions subject to building and pest inspections?
Also, can anyone recommend me a good property solicitor/conveyancer and accountant in Melbourne? As I have no experience in purchasing a property before, any advise or guidance is much appreciated. Thanks heaps!
If you plan to purchase under auction conditions then you have been given sufficient time to undertake all of your investigations including pest/building inspections. A vendor will not accept an unacceptable risk post auction for the contract to fail – if you plan to have additional terms added to the contract you must get these negotiated and accepted prior to going to auction.
You may be able to make your offer before the auction. This may give you time to do your inspections after offer acceptance but you run the risk of someone coming in higher. You are only safe after the contracts have been signed. Some people manage to negotiate a extended coolong off period so they sign straight away and do there inspections during the cooling off period. This is not done often with offers before auction.
I have used Mary Haines conveyancing twice in Melb over the last 12 months and cannot speak highly enough of her.Good luck with your investment.
Generally offers pre-auction will require a S66W or similar to waive the cooling off period.
Hi first home buyer
No, you can't buy at auction subject to any conditions. And the problem with doing inspections before auction is that you may not end up buying the property – either because someone else is prepared to pay more, or because the seller wants more than any buyers are prepared to pay (hence the property is "passed in"). So you lose the money you spent on the pest inspection. You can make an offer before auction, subject to inspections. Or you can wait until after the auction, and see if its passed it. Then you'll know the highest bid and whether you are prepared to pay more. Of course, you may miss out too. For the best chance, its worth engaging a licensed buyers agent.
Yvette Goulter
Principal, RedRoof – Licensed Buyers Agents, Brisbane
http://www.redroof.com.auThanks everyone for your replies. I'm currently waiting for the agent to email me the section 32 for that property. I am thinking of making an offer prior to the auction on 4 July and see how it goes. Wish me luck
Jamesy, would you be able to send me a PM with the contact details for Mary Haines Conveyancing? Thanks!
Cheers,
CorinneI made an offer last week prior to auction and it was accepted. Now i am rushing through building and pest inspections . Finance although it will not be a problem will still take a week or two. This is the time when anyone can buy it out from under me. I attempted to offer a reasonable deposit now and sign contracts before finance willing to lose it if finance fell through ( it wont). But the owner will not do it so im annoying the bank manager daily.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Devo76.With regard to paying a deposit, does it get refunded if I make an offer but end up not buying the property for some reason (eg,
vendor counter offer but price too high and I decided not to proceed with the purchase, finance wasn't approved etc)?It will depend on specifics of your offer as you can negotiate many things. Generally a deposit given before contract signing will be refundable as long as you note in your offer that it is conditional to finance approval building pest etc.
Definitely buying a property though a good property solicitor/conveyancer is always better. I would suggest to inspect the property before signing any agreement, it will give you a better idea about the maintenance cost. Prefer to sign up a property solicitor/conveyancer that is referred by some of your relative or friend.
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