Buying Tips

1. If borrowing money from a financial institution to buy property, speak with your financier or your Finance Broker to find out your borrowing capacity and arrange the best loan to suit your needs.

2. Find a legal representative who will act on your behalf. This can be a Solicitor or Conveyancer. Find out what fees are charged for their service and an approximation of search fees which may be charged over and above their consultation charges. 

3. Prepare a short list of preferred suburbs that suit your lifestyle, bearing in mind affordability and accommodation requirements.

4. Research sales in those preferred suburbs. Inspect every property on the market in your preferred suburb so you have a feel for the prices. Attend all open homes in the area.

5. Develop a relationship with one of our professional team who specialise in your preferred area. Your Dowling New Lambton Sales Consultant will be able to advise you of any additional information you may need.

6. When you find a property that suits your requirements, put forward an offer to the sales consultant, who will reply to you, the Vendor’s acceptance or rejection of the said offer. If you are in any way unsure of the process speak with your sales consultant and they will guide you through the process.

7. Once your offer has been accepted, advise the sales consultant of your legal representatives details. Arrange a building and/or pest inspection to make sure you are aware of any possible issues (check with your financier if they require copies of these documents for final loan approval).

8. Once negotiations have been finalised, you will be required to sign the sale contract and pay a deposit of 10% of the agreed purchase price on or before exchange of contracts. Your deposit will be held in a trust account (usually the real estate agency’s) until settlement. Once you have signed the contract for sale and paid the deposit, you can instruct your legal representative to exchange contracts and proceed to settlement.

9. On settlement day it is advisable that you do a final inspection before settlement takes place. This is to ensure that the property is in the same condition as when you last inspected it, and that all inclusions are as per the contract you signed.