I've been working with buyers for ten years, and I'll be honest with you: real estate is a complex industry, and most of what buyers actually need to know is never explained to them. Not because agents are hiding it. Most simply never take the time.
So I've written it all down. The process, the contract, the laws, the traps, and the things I tell my own buyers before they sign anything. Read this properly and you'll walk into your next home open more informed than some people working in the industry.
This isn't legal advice and it isn't a sales pitch. It's the guide I wish every buyer had.
Ben Wood · Licensed Sales Consultant · South West WA · benwoodrealestate.com
Every state does this differently. Here's the WA version, start to finish.
1. Finance first. Get written pre-approval from a broker or bank before you start looking seriously. It sets your budget and it makes your offers credible. Pre-approval usually lasts around three months.
2. Research and inspect. Watch what homes actually sell for, not what they're listed at. Sold prices are the market. Asking prices are hope.
3. Offer in writing. WA offers go on a contract called the Offer and Acceptance, the O&A, attached to the Joint Form of General Conditions. Price, deposit, settlement date and your conditions all go in it. The seller accepts, rejects or counters.
4. No cooling-off period. This is the big one. Once both parties sign, the contract is binding. In WA you cannot change your mind and walk away like buyers can in some other states. Your conditions are your only exits. Get them right before you sign, not after.
5. Conditions get satisfied. Your bank formally approves the loan, usually within about 21 days. Inspections happen. When every condition is met, the contract goes unconditional and the sale is locked in.
6. Settlement. A settlement agent (conveyancer) handles the legal transfer, checks the title, adjusts the rates and lodges everything with Landgate. You'll do a formal identity check called a VOI with original documents. You're entitled to a final inspection in the week before settlement. Then, typically 30 to 60 days after acceptance, the keys are yours.
The deposit isn't extra money and it doesn't have to be 10%. It sits in a trust account and comes off your price at settlement. Around $5,000 minimum is typical in WA. A bigger deposit just tells the seller you're serious.
Here's something most buyers don't know. WA has no mandatory seller disclosure statement. The legal starting point is buyer beware. If you don't ask, and you don't inspect, you own the surprises.
That said, you're not on your own entirely. Three protections exist, and knowing them is powerful.
Under the WA Code of Conduct, an agent who knows something material about a property must tell you. Structural issues they're aware of, a past drug lab, a serious crime at the property, unapproved renovations, an encroaching fence, a sewer main through the block. If they know it and it would affect your decision, they can't sit on it.
Australian Consumer Law makes it an offence to mislead or deceive you into a contract. A seller or agent who actively hides a known problem, or tells you something untrue, is exposed to real penalties. Silence on things they genuinely don't know about is legal. Lying is not.
Strata and community title sales have their own compulsory disclosure requirements. Owner-builders selling within the required period must provide a home indemnity insurance certificate. RCDs and compliant smoke alarms are required when a home is sold in WA.
Ask your questions in writing, by text or email. An agent can dodge a question at a home open. A written question about a material fact creates a record, and honest answers follow records.
Conditions are the safety switches in your contract. Since WA has no cooling-off period, they're the only ones you get.
The purchase only proceeds if your lender formally approves the loan by the finance date, usually about 21 days. If you make a genuine effort and finance is declined, you can withdraw with your deposit intact.
A licensed inspector checks for structural defects and timber pests. Under the standard REIWA annexure the seller generally has to fix qualifying structural defects. It doesn't cover cosmetic gripes.
Your purchase depends on selling your current home first. Completely legitimate, and common for anyone upgrading. Two things to understand:
Sellers don't just pick the biggest number. They pick the offer most likely to actually settle. Ten years of presenting offers has taught me what gets across the line.
Proof your finance is underway is worth real money. Sellers discount risky offers in their heads. Remove the risk and your number goes further.
Every extra condition is a reason for your offer to fall over. Keep the ones that protect you, drop the padding, and set dates you can genuinely meet. Missing your own finance date is the fastest way to lose a seller's trust.
Some need 30 days. Some need 90 while they find their next place. Matching their timeline can beat another buyer's extra few thousand dollars, and it costs you nothing to ask.
You won't be told the other numbers, and you usually get one shot. Decide your ceiling before emotion gets involved, offer what the home is worth to you, and be at peace either way. The worst outcome is losing a home you loved by a thousand dollars you'd have happily paid.
Deals are lost in slow replies. When your offer is in, answer your phone. When documents need signing, sign them that day. Speed reads as certainty, and certainty wins.
The selling agent works for the seller. Be polite, be honest, but never volunteer your absolute maximum budget or how desperate you are. "It's one of a few we're considering" is a complete sentence.
Fresh paint sells houses. Sometimes it also hides them. Here's how to tell a genuine renovation from a rushed job dressed up for photos.
Ask two questions about any renovation: who did the work, and where's the council approval? Unapproved patios, sheds, extensions and granny flats become your problem the day you settle, and councils can order them modified or removed at your cost. If the addition was owner-built, ask about home indemnity insurance. Vague answers are your cue to dig, not to hope.
And regardless of how good everything looks, get the independent building and pest inspection. Choose your own inspector rather than one suggested by anyone connected to the sale. It's a few hundred dollars for a professional set of eyes with no stake in the outcome.
The short version of a hundred conversations. None of this is secret. It's just rarely said out loud.
Even the friendly ones. Even me, when I'm the listing agent. A good agent will still treat you fairly and answer honestly because the law and their reputation demand it, but their job is the seller's best result. Do your own due diligence, always.
Before you offer, pull the last six months of comparable sales in the suburb. Not listings. Sales. If an agent quotes "interest around" a figure, comparable sales are how you test it.
A home sitting for 60 days has a story, and usually a more flexible seller. A home listed on Tuesday with a full first home open does not. Ask how long it's been listed and whether the price has changed. Both are fair questions and both must be answered honestly.
If you overpay in a heated moment, the bank's valuation often catches it, and your finance clause becomes your safety net. One more reason never to waive it lightly.
Turn on every tap, every light, the oven, the air con and the hot water. Flush the toilets. Open the garage door. Working order at settlement is a standard condition, and settlement day is too late to discover the ducted system died in spring.
Price, settlement date, deposit, what stays, what gets repaired, when you get access for measuring. Negotiate it all up front and put it in writing. After signatures, goodwill is optional.
Most agents in WA do the right thing. A few don't. These questions are how you tell the difference, because a good agent answers them directly and a poor one squirms.
Watch how the question lands, not just the answer. "I'll find out and email you today" is a great answer. "Don't worry about that" is not. An agent who dodges a direct question about material facts is telling you something important, and it's not about the house.
Real estate loves its own language. Here's what it all means in plain English.
Nothing in this guide is designed to make you cynical. Most agents are honest, most sellers are fair, and most transactions go smoothly. But you'll do better in every one of them when you understand the rules of the game before you play it.
If you're buying anywhere in South West WA and something here raised a question, I'm happy to answer it. No obligation, no pressure, and no jargon.
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