Contracts and settlement

A sale isn’t finished when the hammer falls or the contract is signed. It’s finished when the money lands. Have the paperwork ready before the first buyer walks through, and there’s far less to slow things down once you’ve agreed a sale.

Contract and disclosure, state by state

NSW. You cannot legally market a residential property until a contract of sale exists. Your conveyancer or solicitor prepares it before listing, attaching prescribed documents: title search, the zoning (section 10.7 planning) certificate, a sewer diagram, and any relevant strata or swimming pool compliance documents. Budget one to two weeks to assemble. Agents can’t advertise without it, so this is genuinely step one.

Victoria. The vendor must give buyers a Section 32 statement (named for section 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962) before they sign the contract. It discloses title and mortgage details, covenants and easements, zoning, rates and outgoings, building permits issued in the past seven years, owner-builder warranty matters, services connected, and notices affecting the land. A defective Section 32 can give the buyer the right to walk away even after signing, so this is no place for a DIY template. Have it professionally prepared alongside the contract before marketing begins.

Queensland. The big recent change. Under the Property Law Act 2023, from 1 August 2025 sellers must give every buyer a Form 2 seller disclosure statement, plus prescribed certificates (title search, registered plan, and where applicable body corporate certificate, pool safety certificate and notices), before the buyer signs the contract. The statement covers title, encumbrances, zoning, rates and water, environmental and heritage notices, tree orders and more. Get it wrong, or skip it, and the buyer may be able to terminate any time up to settlement. The disclosure pack is now effectively part of listing preparation in Queensland: engage your solicitor or conveyancer before the campaign starts, not after a buyer appears.

South Australia. Buyers must receive a Form 1 (the vendor’s statement under section 7 of the Land and Business (Sale and Conveyancing) Act 1994) disclosing title particulars, encumbrances, charges and a long schedule of government interests in the property. It’s prepared by the agent or, more safely, a conveyancer, and must be served on the buyer; the buyer’s cooling-off rights run from its service, and errors can extend the buyer’s right to cool off. In practice the Form 1 gets assembled during the campaign and served at or before contract signing.

Western Australia. Sales run on a contract for sale by offer and acceptance, with the standard-form Joint Form of General Conditions (published jointly by the Law Society of WA and REIWA) doing the heavy lifting on terms. WA has no general vendor disclosure statement, though specific duties exist (strata disclosure, and the general prohibition on misleading a buyer). The agent typically prepares the offer and acceptance; a settlement agent or solicitor handles conveyancing from contract to settlement.

ACT. Like NSW, the contract must exist before marketing, and the ACT goes further: the pre-listing pack for a house must include a building inspection report, pest report, compliance report and an energy efficiency rating (EER), with the EER star rating disclosed in all advertising. Buyers can rely on these seller-provided reports, and budget accordingly: the pack commonly costs $1,000 to $2,000 before you’ve taken a photo.

Tasmania and NT. No comprehensive vendor disclosure statement; contracts are prepared by your solicitor or conveyancer at or before offer stage, with general law and consumer protections doing the disclosure work. Tasmanian practice typically has the seller’s solicitor prepare the contract before or during the campaign.

Conveyancer or solicitor?

A licensed conveyancer handles standard property transfers, typically for $800 to $1,500, and for a routine freehold sale is all most sellers need. A property solicitor costs more ($1,200 to $2,500 for a standard sale) but can advise beyond the transfer itself. Choose the solicitor when anything is non-standard: deceased estates, family law settlements, sales involving trusts or SMSFs, boundary or easement disputes, off-the-plan, or a dispute with the buyer. One quirk: in Queensland, conveyancing is done by solicitors (standalone conveyancer licensing doesn’t exist there), while in WA, settlement agents are the local equivalent of conveyancers. Whoever you choose, engage them before listing. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT you legally need documents prepared before or at marketing; everywhere else, early engagement is the difference between a 24-hour contract turnaround and losing a keen buyer over a slow draft. Our conveyancing guide covers what to ask before you hire one.

Settlement: the 30-to-90-day quiet stretch

Settlement is the date the money moves and the title transfers, negotiated in the contract. Common defaults: around 30 days in Queensland, 42 days (six weeks) in NSW and Victoria, with 30 to 90 days the practical range nationally. A longer settlement is a legitimate term to negotiate if you need time to secure your next home.

Between exchange and settlement, your side’s job list is short but strict: your conveyancer responds to requisitions and prepares the transfer, your lender gets the discharge of mortgage moving (start this immediately; lenders routinely take two to three weeks), and you keep the property insured until settlement and in the same condition as at sale. The buyer is entitled to a pre-settlement inspection, usually in the final week, to confirm exactly that, including that any contractually included items (dishwasher, curtains, the shed contents you promised) are present and working.

On settlement day, almost everything happens electronically through PEXA or a similar platform, attended by the conveyancers and lenders rather than you. In sequence: the buyer’s funds are drawn, your mortgage is paid out and discharged, rates and water are adjusted between the parties to the day, transfer documents are lodged, and the balance lands in your nominated account, usually that afternoon. The agent, on written authority, releases the keys to the buyer and deducts their commission and any unpaid marketing from the deposit they’ve been holding in trust, remitting the remainder to you. Then it’s done: no signing ceremony, no handshake, typically just a phone call from your conveyancer and a settlement statement by email. Keep that statement and the contract with your tax records, permanently if the property was ever income-producing.