Formal loan approval - fully executed contract of sale

Hello,

First time buyer here so apologies if this seems obvious to those with more experience. I received loan pre-approval to buy a NSW property recently with St George with formal approval subject to:

- Acceptable security
- Full Valuation (Organised by the Bank)
- Fully Executed Contract of Sale
- Evidence of funds to complete at Formal approval

I understand most of those points except 'Fully Executed Contract of Sale'. Does this simply mean I provide the contract of sale to them or does this mean if I have to sign and exchange contracts prior to them formally approving the loan? After a few open houses and discussing with the agent, they have said they likely wouldn't encourage an exchange of contracts until formal approval has been sought and confirmed as it would be a bit risky to to enter a binding agreement without formal approval. It sounds like the agent is actually helping me be careful. It sounds like they don't really do the whole '0.25% deposit' thing which is basically what I read about when I search through threads.

I understand there's a cooling off period in NSW - is this perhaps what the bank is relying on? It has been stated in a few places that 'subject to finance' clauses aren't really applicable in NSW.

I have an appointment with a solicitor next week to discuss this further. I was just curious about the whole thing.

Thanks for reading!

 

Is the property for sale by auction?

 

Signed but not necessary to exchange

 

Private treaty.

 

The mortgage broker advises you on the loan process.

The solicitor about the buying process.

the agent works for the seller.