Guide to Selling Property

The purpose of this guide is to explain, in more detail, these important elements of the Northern Beaches Conveyancing Service in relation to selling property anywhere in NSW. For those of you who are experienced house movers, we apologise as this is familiar ground. But you might find it a useful refresher course. For those of you who are new to the process, we hope that the guide will help your understanding of the various steps involved in selling a property.

Estate Agents

It is possible to save money by marketing your own house. If this appeals to you, we suggest you purchase a good ‘DIY’ book. But most people still use an estate agent. We can also highly recommend names of Sales Agents (in your area) so please let us know if you need our help in choosing one or a couple. It is important to establish exactly what is going to be included in the agent’s fees. Does it cover advertising, for example? The terms on which you appoint the estate agent can vary.

SOLE AGENCY: you agree to sell your house with one agent only, usually for a particular period; with a sole agency the commission rate is generally lower than that for a multiple agency.

SOLE SELLING RIGHTS: NOT A GOOD IDEA: you must pay commission even if you sell privately.

MULTIPLE AGENCY: you appoint two or more agents and the one who makes the sale usually gets the commission however the agencies can work it out between themselves.

The Contract

Before your property can be marketed, a Contract needs to be prepared, which involves obtaining:

• • 10.7 (aka 149 Certificate from Local Council)
• • Sewer Diagram (from Local Water Supplier – ie. Sydney Water)
• • Full title search against the property from Land & Property Information (Land Registry)

We will then issue a copy of the Contract promptly to your nominated Real Estate Agent, usually within 24 hours
but it is dependent on your local council.

Accepting an Offer

An acceptable purchaser’s offer will be agreed through the agent, ‘subject to contract’. At this point, put the agent in touch with Northern Beaches Conveyancing Service so that we can prepare a copy of the contract and send it to the purchaser’s legal representative. You will then need to send us the deeds or, if the property is mortgaged, let us have details of your bank or building society so that we can line everything up.

Exchanging Contracts

Once the deposit is paid (usually held by agent), Contracts are signed and exchanged and become binding on both parties, Standard settlement period is 6 weeks from date of exchange, however, this can be varied to suit yourself prior to exchange. Unless there is cooling off period.

Buying and selling at the same time

If you are involved in a sale and purchase, you will probably wish to complete both at the same time so that you can move out (and in) on the same day. Because completion dates are fixed on exchange of contracts, this means that usually contracts also have to be exchanged on the same day. The need to achieve this synchronisation, in exchange of contracts, can inevitably lead to delay. This is particularly the case if a chain is involved… the longer the chain, the greater the potential both for delay and risk that one of the links in the chain may break. As a result, the period leading up to exchange of contracts can be full of tension and frustration. You can be sure that we are aware of these difficulties and will do our best to overcome them.

 We are very experienced with simultaneous  settlements so please let us look after you.

After Exchange of Contracts

We will report to you, your Agent, your Bank and Body Corporate (if applicable) of the exchange. If property is tenanted, we will also ensure the real estate gives the necessary notice. You will need to ensure you have signed any necessary Release of Discharge papers at bank where mortgage over property is held.We need to see a copy of your latest statement to link things up. We then co-ordinate all parties for settlement. You are not required to attend at the settlement, but should consider arranging removal lists.

After Settlement

You need to ensure you have cancelled:

• • Insurance on the property
• • Gas Company
• • Sydney Electricity
• • Phone Company
• • TV cable company
• • Any other service you have except for Council, Water Board & Body Corporate. We handle those.

Leave all necessary keys to house, garage, shed, granny flat etc with the real estate agent. We will contact you to advise settlement has been affected. We will fax an authority to the agent to release keys and arrange for release of the deposit held by them to be sent to you directly or as you direct. We will notify Body Corporate (where applicable) of change of ownership. Refer to our handy notification checklist of who to notify of your change of address.