Property guides · NSW & VIC
Plain-English guides for property buyers.
Cooling-off periods, Section 32 statements, auction contracts — the things every buyer should understand, written for humans, not lawyers.
AI property contract review in NSW — how it works
A fast, plain-English first read of your NSW contract — what it flags, how accurate it is, and how it works alongside a conveyancer.
Read guide →02NSW property contract review checklist — what to check before you sign
The things worth checking in a NSW contract before you sign — price, cooling-off, special conditions, title and the prescribed documents.
Read guide →03Section 66W certificate explained — NSW property contracts
A solicitor-signed certificate that waives your 5-day cooling-off period — common at auction and on negotiated sales.
Read guide →04The 5-day cooling-off period in NSW — what it actually means
You normally get 5 business days to change your mind after signing — unless you bought at auction or signed a Section 66W certificate.
Read guide →05Auction contracts in NSW — what to check before you bid
No cooling-off at auction — everything that matters has to be checked before you raise your hand.
Read guide →06Easements and 88B instruments explained — NSW property
Rights over the land — carriageway, drainage, services — created by the 88B instrument. What burdens your block and what you can’t build over.
Read guide →07Section 10.7 planning certificate explained — NSW
The council’s record of zoning, bushfire and flood overlays, road widening and contributions — attached to every NSW contract.
Read guide →08Deposit and settlement in NSW — how they actually work
The 10% deposit (and how to negotiate 5%), the settlement timeline, adjustments at completion, and what late settlement costs you.
Read guide →09Section 32 statement explained — buying property in Victoria
The vendor statement a Victorian seller must give before you sign — title, easements, planning, rates and owners corporation, all in one document.
Read guide →10The cooling-off period in Victoria — what it actually means
You usually get 3 clear business days to change your mind in Victoria — unless you bought at, or close to, a public auction.
Read guide →11Owners corporation explained — buying a Victorian apartment or townhouse
Victoria’s version of strata: the fees, special levies, insurance and rules you take on when you buy a lot with shared common property.
Read guide →12Buying off-the-plan in Victoria — what to check before you sign
Signing before it’s built: sunset-clause protections, plan-change rights, the GAIC levy and the off-the-plan stamp-duty concession.
Read guide →13Buying off-the-plan in NSW — what to check before you sign
Signing before it’s built: the disclosure statement, 10-day cooling-off, material-change rights, trust-held deposits and sunset-clause protections.
Read guide →14Sunset clauses explained — off-the-plan contracts in NSW and Victoria
The off-the-plan deadline: why vendors can no longer rescind freely in NSW or Victoria, and why extension clauses are the thing to read now.
Read guide →15Deposit bonds explained — buying property without a cash deposit
A guarantee instead of cash at exchange: what it costs, when it helps, and why the contract has to accept one before you rely on it.
Read guide →16Material changes and plan variations — off-the-plan contracts in NSW and Victoria
What happens when the developer changes what you were promised: your notice, rescission and compensation rights in NSW and Victoria, and the variation clauses to read first.
Read guide →17Settlement and occupation certificates — off-the-plan contracts in NSW and Victoria
Off-the-plan settlement is triggered, not scheduled: plan registration plus an occupation certificate or occupancy permit start a short clock — and your finance has to be ready for it.
Read guide →18Finance risk on a long off-the-plan build — NSW and Victoria
Your loan isn’t locked in at signing: the valuation gap, expiring pre-approvals and the tight settlement window that catch off-the-plan buyers — and how to build in a buffer.
Read guide →19Off-the-plan deposit protections — how your deposit is held in NSW and Victoria
Where your off-the-plan deposit sits while you wait — held in trust, not handed to the developer — and why that matters if the build stalls or the developer collapses.
Read guide →20Off-the-plan stamp duty — concessions and duty in NSW and Victoria
NSW defers the duty; Victoria can shrink the value it’s taxed on. Which mechanism applies to you, who qualifies, and why the rules are set by your signing date.
Read guide →21Strata levies and special levies explained — buying a NSW apartment
The recurring bill you take on with a strata lot — the two funds it feeds, why a special levy can land after you move in, and what the contract should disclose.
Read guide →22Strata records inspection explained — reading the books before you buy a NSW apartment
The pre-purchase strata report: your right to inspect the scheme’s minutes and accounts under section 182, and what they reveal about special levies, defects and disputes before you exchange.
Read guide →23Building defects in a new strata scheme — what to check in NSW
New buildings still leak and crack in their first years — the statutory warranties, the strata building bond and the developer duty of care that protect you, and what to read before you exchange.
Read guide →24Strata by-laws explained — pets, renovations and apartment living in NSW
The scheme’s rulebook you inherit at settlement — what the pet reforms changed, which renovations need approval, and the by-laws worth reading before you buy.
Read guide →25Unit entitlements explained — how strata levies and voting are shared in NSW
The number on the strata plan that decides your share of the levies, your voting weight and your slice of the building — how it’s set and why it’s worth checking.
Read guide →26Capital works fund explained — reading a NSW strata scheme’s repair savings before you buy
The strata scheme’s repair savings: what the capital works fund pays for, how to judge whether it’s healthy, and why a thin fund often signals a special levy ahead.
Read guide →27Section 184 certificate explained — the NSW strata information certificate
The owners corporation’s official snapshot of levies, arrears, fund balances and special levies — the one strata document a buyer can actually rely on, and where it stops.
Read guide →28Owners corporation certificate explained — buying a Victorian apartment
Victoria’s owners corporation certificate: the OC’s formal statement of fees, arrears, special levies, insurance and finances inside the Section 32 — and how it compares with the NSW section 184 certificate.
Read guide →29Strata insurance explained — what the scheme covers and what you don’t in NSW
The building is insured for you — but only to the edge of your lot, and only if the sum insured has kept pace with rebuilding costs. What the scheme covers, what you insure, and how to spot under-insurance.
Read guide →30Combustible cladding explained — buying an apartment in NSW and Victoria
The façade risk that surfaced after the Lacrosse and Grenfell fires: how NSW and Victoria are remediating it, why the cost lands on owners through levies, and what to read before you buy.
Read guide →31Owners corporation rules explained — pets, renovations and apartment living in Victoria
The Victorian scheme’s rulebook you inherit at settlement — how the model rules work, where common property limits your renovations, and the rules worth reading before you buy.
Read guide →32Strata title explained — what you actually own when you buy a NSW apartment
The ownership behind most NSW apartments and townhouses: your lot, the common property you share, the owners corporation you join, and the levies and by-laws that come with it.
Read guide →33Strata renewal and collective sale explained — buying into a NSW scheme
How a NSW apartment building can be collectively sold or redeveloped: the 75% threshold, the Land and Environment Court check, and how to spot a renewal in the records before you exchange.
Read guide →34Repairs and maintenance in a NSW strata scheme — who fixes what
Who’s responsible when something breaks: your lot versus the common property the owners corporation must keep repaired under section 106 — and why the classic leak is usually theirs to fix, not yours.
Read guide →35Company title explained — buying a NSW apartment without strata
The older, non-strata way to own a NSW apartment: you buy shares in the company that owns the building, finance is harder, and a board can say who buys, sells, leases or renovates.
Read guide →36Gazumping explained — being outbid before contracts exchange in NSW and Victoria
The gap before exchange where a higher offer can undo your deal: why a spoken “yes” and a holding deposit don’t bind the seller, and why getting to exchange fast is the only protection.
Read guide →37Registering to bid at auction — NSW and Victoria
What it takes to bid at a property auction: NSW’s compulsory bidder registration and bidder’s number, how Victoria differs, and why the paperwork is easy but a winning bid binds you on the spot.
Read guide →38Unconditional contracts explained — the risks of buying with no conditions in NSW and Victoria
The offer with no strings — and no exit: what you give up by waiving cooling-off, finance and inspection conditions, why buyers do it in a competitive market, and the risk that lands entirely on you.
Read guide →39Property auction rules — how auctions work in NSW and Victoria
How the room actually works: the reserve, passing in, bidder registration, vendor bids and dummy bidding — and why a winning bid binds you on the spot with no cooling-off in either state.
Read guide →40Passed in at auction explained — what it means and what to do next in NSW and Victoria
When the hammer doesn’t fall: why the reserve stopped the sale, how the highest bidder’s first right to negotiate works, and why passing in doesn’t hand you a cooling-off period.
Read guide →41Buying before auction — making a pre-auction offer in NSW and Victoria
Offering before the auction day: why it rarely comes with cooling-off — waived by a 66W in NSW, gone by statute within three business days of the auction in Victoria — and why the contract still needs the same review.
Read guide →42Cooling-off forfeit explained — what pulling out costs in NSW and Victoria
The cost of changing your mind in the window: 0.25% of the price in NSW, $100 or 0.2% in Victoria — how it’s worked out, where it comes from, and why an auction or 66W leaves you with no cheap exit at all.
Read guide →43Auction vs private treaty — how the two ways to buy differ in NSW and Victoria
The two ways a property is sold, side by side: private treaty keeps your cooling-off period and conditional offers, auction is binding and unconditional the moment the hammer falls — and why that decides how much homework you do first.
Read guide →44Paying the deposit at auction — how much, when and how in NSW and Victoria
The deposit due the moment the hammer falls: usually 10% on the day, why it has to be arranged before you bid, how people actually pay it, and why an auction leaves no cheap way back out.
Read guide →45Building and pest inspections before auction — NSW and Victoria
No cooling-off and no subject-to-inspection clause at auction means the building and pest checks have to be done before you bid — how to arrange them, why every lost auction is a report you paid for, and what to do with a bad result.
Read guide →46Reviewing the contract before you bid at auction — NSW and Victoria
A building inspection reads the property; a contract review reads the deal. Why an unconditional auction contract has to be checked before you bid, what a review looks at, and how to negotiate a change while you still can.
Read guide →47Underquoting explained — why the guide price isn’t the sale price in NSW and Victoria
Why homes so often sell far above the guide: what underquoting is, the price-guide rules in NSW and Victoria meant to curb it, and how to value the property yourself instead of trusting the quote.
Read guide →48Extending the cooling-off period — NSW and Victoria
When the window runs out before your finance or inspection does: how to ask for more time, why only the vendor can grant it in writing, and why an extension still isn’t a free way out.
Read guide →49Using your cooling-off period — how to pull out of a contract in NSW and Victoria
Cooling off is a right you have to use, not one that lapses in your favour: how to serve a written notice of rescission in time, who to deliver it to, and what pulling out actually costs.
Read guide →50Holding deposits explained — paying to hold a property before exchange in NSW and Victoria
The token you pay before exchange to show you’re serious: why it doesn’t secure the property or bind the seller, whether you get it back, and how it differs from the 10% deposit at exchange.
Read guide →51Exchange of contracts explained — when you become legally bound in NSW and Victoria
The moment the deal becomes binding: both sides sign, the copies are swapped and the deposit is paid — why a handshake binds no one before it, why auction exchange is instant, and why cooling-off only starts here.
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