Consider this if…
- You are bidding this weekend and have not had the contract looked at
- The agent sent you the contract and section 32 a few days ago and you have not opened them
- You want to make a pre-auction offer and do not know what to ask for
- You are bidding on an apartment and want to know what the owners corporation is carrying
- You are not sure whose name or entity should be on the contract
- You have been told you can add conditions and want to know whether that is true
How it works
Send us the contract, the section 32 and the auction date
The date is the important part. Contracts with an auction date are prioritised over everything else in the queue.
As soon as the agent provides them
We read both documents in full
Title, plan, covenants and easements, the vendor's disclosures, owners corporation material, and every term and date in the contract — including the special conditions the vendor's solicitor has added.
1–2 business days
You get our view before auction day
What you would be buying, what we would want changed, and a plain answer on whether anything in there should stop you bidding.
Before the auction
We put changes to the vendor's representative if you want them
Deposit terms, the settlement date, the name or entity on the contract. This has to happen before auction day, because afterwards there is nothing to negotiate.
Before the auction
If you are successful, we carry the matter through
No second review fee and no starting again. We move straight into the conveyance and act through to settlement.
Ongoing
Fee
Quoted in writing before we start
GST inclusive
Excludes: Search and certificate costs are charged at cost and itemised separately.
If you are successful and we act on the conveyance, the review fee is credited in full against our conveyancing fee. If you are outbid, there is nothing further to pay.
Turnaround
Our written view back to you within two business days, and before auction day where the timing is tight.
What changes at auction
At a private sale you sign, and in most residential cases you then have a short cooling-off period and often a finance condition to fall back on. At auction neither exists.
The hammer falls and the contract is formed on the spot. No cooling off. No condition allowing you to withdraw if finance falls through, if the building inspection turns up something, or if you simply change your mind. You sign, you pay the deposit, and you are bound on whatever terms the vendor's solicitor drafted.
That is not a reason to avoid auctions. It is a reason to have read the contract before you go.
Everything is negotiable — until auction day
The part buyers most often miss is that an auction contract is not fixed until the auction. Beforehand, a vendor will sometimes agree to change things:
- The settlement date, if 30 days does not suit your finance or your sale
- The deposit, occasionally reduced, or paid by bank guarantee or deposit bond
- The name or entity on the contract, which is far easier to fix now than later
- A special condition the vendor's solicitor has drafted more favourably than it needs to be
Whether the vendor agrees depends on how much competition there is. But it is free to ask, and it can only be asked in the days before the auction. Once you are standing on the footpath with a paddle, the terms are the terms.
What we look at
The same work as any contract review, with the deadline moved forward:
The title and what restricts it. Covenants, easements, section 173 agreements, overlays — anything that limits what can be built or done. If you are bidding on a knock-down rebuild, this is the question that decides whether the plan is possible at all.
The vendor's disclosures. Rates and outgoings, planning controls, building permits in the last seven years, notices and orders, whether services are connected, whether the land is in a bushfire-prone area. And what is not there.
Owners corporation material, for anything strata-titled. Current fees, the state of the funds, any special levy already struck, insurance, and whether the owners corporation is in dispute or has litigation running. Buildings with defect claims or cladding rectification are where auction buyers get caught, because there is no condition to fall back on.
The contract terms. Deposit and release. Settlement date and whether it is achievable. Default and penalty interest. GST treatment. Foreign purchaser additional duty, if it applies. And the special conditions, which is where the drafting worth arguing about usually sits.
Before you bid, have these settled
- Finance genuinely approved, not pre-approved
- The deposit available on the day, in the form the contract requires
- The name or entity that will go on the contract decided
- A ceiling you have written down, and a reason for it
- Our view in your hand, read rather than skimmed
If you are outbid
Nothing further to pay, and the review was not wasted. Auction buyers usually look at several properties before one lands. We keep what we have already read, so the next contract on the same street or in the same building is quicker and cheaper to review than the first.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a cooling-off period when you buy at auction?
No. Cooling off does not apply to a sale by public auction. It also does not apply to a private sale made within three clear business days before or after a publicly advertised auction. So a pre-auction offer, or an offer made just after a property is passed in, will usually carry no cooling-off right either.
Can I add conditions to an auction contract?
Not on the day. Before the auction, yes — sometimes. Vendors will occasionally agree to vary the settlement date, the deposit, or the name on the contract if it is put to them in advance. Whether they will depends on how much interest the property is drawing. It costs nothing to ask, and it can only be asked before auction day.
What happens if I win and then cannot get finance?
That is the risk an auction contract puts on the buyer. There is no finance condition, so failing to obtain finance is not an excuse for not completing. The vendor can keep the deposit, resell, and pursue you for any shortfall and costs. Have your finance genuinely approved, not merely pre-approved, before you bid.
Whose name should go on the contract?
It matters more than most buyers expect. The name on the contract affects duty, any first home buyer relief, land tax, and how the property is held between co-owners. Changing it afterwards can trigger a second duty liability. Decide before you bid — it is one of the things we raise in the review.
How much deposit will I need on the day?
Ten per cent is the usual figure, payable immediately on the fall of the hammer, though the contract sometimes provides for a different amount. Where the deposit is held, and when it is released to the vendor, are set by the contract and are worth checking before you bid rather than after.
The property was passed in and I am negotiating. Is that different?
Legally, yes, but not as much as people assume. A sale negotiated within three clear business days of a publicly advertised auction generally carries no cooling-off right. You are usually still signing something close to an unconditional contract, so it should be read with the same care.
Related services
Tell us the auction date and we will put it at the front of the queue.
Send us the contract