A residential property cannot be advertised for sale until a Contract of Sale has been prepared. The contract must contain a copy of the title documents, drainage diagram and the Zoning Certificate (s 149) issued by the local council. Property exclusions must also be included and a statement of the buyer’s rights under the cooling-off period must be attached. The draft contract must be available for inspection at the agent’s office.

Exchange of contracts

The contract exchange is a critical point in the sale process:

• the buyer or seller is not legally bound until signed copies of the contract are exchanged
• buyers of residential property usually have a cooling-off period of five working days following the exchange of contracts during which they can withdraw from the sale
• if the agent arranges exchange of contacts, the agent must give copies of the signed contract to each party or their solicitor or conveyancer within 2 business days
• the cooling-off period can be waived, reduced or extended by negotiation
• there is no cooling-off period for sellers; once contracts have been exchanged, sellers are generally bound to complete the agreement
• there is no cooling-off period when purchasing at auction.