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Click here for Selling Property - Part 1 - Contract for Sale of Land.

Marketing your property

After preparing the Contract for Sale of Land, you can now market and sell your property. You can either engage a real estate agent to do this for you, or you could sell your property privately. Remember - an real estate agent will not be able to list your property unless you have a Contract for Sale of Land.

The benefit of engaging a real estate agent is that they are able to offer professional advice on the best way to market your property, give you an idea of the market and an expected sales price, and they are likely to be able to find more potential buyers than you if you attempted to sell your property privately. In exchange for that advice and service, real estate agents generally charge a commission on a successful sale, normally calculated as a percentage of the sale price of the property and paid on settlement of the transaction.

If you decide to engage a real estate agent, be sure to be clear about the terms of their engagement which should be contained in the agency agreement. Be clear on your respective rights, especially if it is an exclusive agreement and clarify whether any commission includes or excludes other costs such as marketing and advertising expenses. Real estate agents are regulated by the Department of Fair Trading, and you can contact the Department of Fair Trading to obtain further information or advice on their Code of Conduct and your rights in dealings with real estate agents.

Considering options for selling your property at auction or private treaty will be dealt with in subsequent articles.

Sold!

Once you have found a prospective buyer and you have agreed on a sales price, the next step is to exchange the contract. There is no legally binding agreement or contract in place until you and the buyer exchange the contract. This means you can still sell the property to another buyer, or the buyer can decide to not proceed with the sale.

Exchanging the Contract

Exchanging the contract takes place when the buyer gives you a copy of the contract signed by them, and you give the buyer a copy of the contract signed by you. You essentially 'swap' signed contracts so that at the end of the process, you will have a copy of the contract signed by the buyer, and the buyer will have a copy of the contract signed by you. The process of exchanging the contract means that the signed contract is now in duplicate with each party holding one copy.

Exchanging the contract may take place through the real estate agent or your lawyer, depending on the circumstances of the sale and the transaction at that time. It is important for you to ensure that whoever exchanges the contract is properly instructed and authorised to conduct the exchange, especially if neither you or the buyer are not doing the exchange yourselves. At the time of the exchange, it is also normal for the buyer to pay a deposit in accordance with the contract.

If you are the seller, you may think that it is important to exchange the contract as soon as possible so that you 'lock' the buyer into the sale, however you should consider that it is just as important to ensure that the contract is 'correct' before you sign or exchange the contract. Once you sign and exchange the contract, you may not be able to amend or change it! Remember - even if the contract is subject to a cooling-off period, the rights that arise during cooling-off period only benefits the buyer, not the seller.

Therefore, if you are selling your property you must make sure that the contract properly protects you and your rights, and covers aspects of the transaction that are important to you. Some of the ways that you can protect yourself is by having your lawyer check the contract before it becomes legally binding on you.

Once you have exchanged the contract, you are well on your way to selling your property.

What should you do?

At PHANG LEGAL, our experienced property lawyers are able to put your mind at ease and guide you through the conveyancing process from start to finish. If you require competitive fixed fee conveyancing services, including preparing a Contract for Sale of Land, then you must call us on +61 2 9687 8885 to discuss how we can best assist you or visit our website at www.phanglegal.com.au for more information regarding our practice.

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Ern Phang
Solicitor & Public Notary

PHANG LEGAL
www.phanglegal.com.au