Bailing during the cooling off period

Hey all!

I've just exchanged contracts at the beginning of the week and the cooling off period ends this Friday.

As bad as i feel, I do not want to go ahead with the purchase anymore. Reason for this is after completing flood checks on the property, found that there is an overland flow path which runs directly through the property. This really bothers me and i know i should've checked before i made the offer... but i guess we all learn from our mistakes.

My question is, will my deposit be refundable? (i won't be suprised if it wasn't)

 

depends on the terms of the contract.

If the property is nsw and the standard contract use then probably you might lose 0,25%

 

You should cancel the contract via your conveyancer/solicitor. They'll let you know of any applicable penalties.

Your deposit is probably refundable, but there is a nominal cost in most states.

 

forgot to add. Property is in QLD

 

Executing the cooling off clause in QLD incurs a 0.25% penalty. If that amount is more than the deposit already paid, odds are they're not going to chase you for the difference.

Here's the standard clause:

 

You might be able to terminate the contract using other grounds which won't result in the loss of the 0,25% - such as a subject to finance clause (common in QLD).

Seek legal advise asap

 

This cooling off period is strange to me. In WA it does not exist.

Don't sign if not sure in WA.

 

+1

Very important if you are from another state and assume we have one. You sign it, you bought it. But we are allowed a lot more “subject to.....”

 

SA 2 day cooling off no penalty just don't sign at auction or waive your right to cooling off without having your finances sorted.

 

Hey guys - I'm in the opposite of this position. I sold a place in QLD and now about a week later the buyer wants to pull out citing 'personal finance reasons'.

There was a 21 day 'subject to finance' clause.

Is there anything I can do? I thought they'd need to provide some evidence of their finance application failing, rather than just a change of mind which is what is sounds like.

Extremely frustrating, I'm worried the property will go stale now.

 

I think QLD is pretty tame in this regard. It wouldn't hurt to ask them for their bank rejection evidence.

 

@Orion wouldn't waste time/effort.

 

This is what my (very good) conveyancer said: "If you want to dispute the termination, we can do so but I can't guarantee you a positive outcome."

I mean, stating the obvious a bit, although I'd like to know the 'likely' outcome...

This was a hard to sell property in a tough market (Gladstone, QLD), I don't want to let them off the hook that easily. There is chance it might not sell now, and cost me $10k+ in the repairs, advertising and lost rent.

 

Ask them how many they have successfully disputed...

 

Ask them on what grounds could you dispute it.

 

still cant understand why there cant be a consistent national set of rules

 

Because states can pass their own laws - anything not controlled by the commonwealth.

However recently there have been moves to try to get certain laws 'uniformed' so that laws are similar across certain states. This is happening very slowly.

 

Because we have an redundant middle tier of beurocracy to contend with. So many efficiencies could be realised if we could get rid of state governments and divide their accountabilities between federal and local govt.

 

i think once that is done, it will just be a much more streamlined process

maybe some solicitors/conveyancers will go out of business

 

lets not turn this into a politics thread