Buying your Investment Property

1. Loan Preparation – Arrange your loan documentation with your bank including maximum conditional pre-approval before looking for a property. At exchange you will need to provide at least 10% of the deposit price to the Vendor.
2. Property Hunting – Consider the type of property and price range you wish to buy to determine whether you may be entitled to a little help from the Government with some stamp duty or tax concessions. 
3. Pre-Exchange Due Diligence – You should arrange all pre-exchange searches including all pest and building reports, surveys, due diligence and physical inspections. have a solicitor review your Contract prior to auction/purchase and liaise with the Vendor for amendments in your interests.
4. Exchanging Contracts – A solicitor should assist you with signing the Contract. You will then exchange contracts with the Vendor and contracts will become binding after 5 days on all parties unless a cooling off period of 5 days has been waived or the property was purchased at auction. It will be generally a 6 week period until settlement takes place.
5. Post Exchange Steps – Following exchange, your solicitor should correspond with the Vendor’s Solicitor regarding any queries or questions that they may have. You should organise your insurances, stamp duty payments, unconditional loan approval, final inspections and getting ready for settlement day. You should check all required statutory searches to ensure the Vendor has complied with all statutory requirements by law and paid all water/council/strata rates up to the day of your settlement.
6. Getting Ready for Settlement – Undertake a final inspection of the property a couple of days before settlement to make sure it is all ready for you to move in. At settlement you will need to pay the remainder of the funds off to the Vendor and must have all of your approvals and money ready.
7. Settling Your Purchase – A solicitorwill attend settlement on your behalf and complete the documents for the bank to have the property registered in your name. Following settlement you will be able to collect your keys from your agent.
8. Post Settlement Checks – At the end of the process, all authorities need to be advised to update your details on their registers. Be sure to update your estate planning such as your wills as you have a new addition to your property portfolio!

Important points to keep in mind:

• When buying apartments, you need to look at the by-laws and a strata report which will help you determine whether there is a healthy and friendly operation of the building.

• When buying off the plan, as the process generally takes a couple of years, you need to consider that the market may change considerably and interest rates and property prices are likely to fluctuate from when you purchase until you settle.

• Choose the type of ownership you want to own it under if you are purchasing with a spouse or friend as this can go against your wishes under a Will.

• Think about fluctuating interest rates, upfront costs and budgeting for your lifestyle when buying a property. Also consider your inspection costs, conveyancing costs, stamp duty costs, set up costs and changes to interest rates in your budget to buy a property.

• For further advice please contact our In House Solicitor, Sarah Hatch at Sarah.Hatch@tauruslegal.com.au who can assist you with purchasing and settling an Investment Property.

The information contained in this newsletter is of a general nature only and does not take into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs. Accordingly the information should not be used, relied upon or treated as a substitute for specific financial advice. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided. Taurus Financial Services Pty Ltd its directors or staff, nor its employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.