my experience on buying a house in AU for the first time

I bought a house with a shop front which is zoned as "low residential LDRZ" in Upwey, VIC. This property is now used as the primary residence at the moment.
1. inspect the property and request for section 32.
2. once feel certain that I like to live in this property and the location/area and it fits my budget (spared some for renovation), i paid $275 to conveyancing lawyer for pre-purchase advice.
3. made decision to buy or not to buy on the lawyer's advice and etc.
4. I prepared the contract myself using the pre-purchase advice from the lawyer. Never let vendor, vendor's solicitor and or the agent(s) dictate this.
Free download the standard form of contract from REIV?
I added special conditions to the contract:
Special condition 1. This contract is subject to the purchaser's satisfaction on building and pest inspection reports ....
Special condition 2. This contract is subject to finance aporoval ....
5. made an offer in writing
Hi vendor's agent,
I (my name) of my rental address would like to offer $ (total purchase price) for the address of the property to b purchased under the following conditions:
1. this offer is valid until 7 pm 14 Apr 2015;
2. the deposit is 10% of the purchase price of the property and must be paid by funds transfer/ direct deposit on the date of the contract exchange. The balance is paid on settlement date; and
3. This offer is subject to building, pest, electrical and plumbing inspections (Please see more info on the signed contract attached herewith).

Here's my best offer for payment plan:

Total Payment or Purchasing Price $ xxx
excluding stamp duty
Deposit $ xxx on the date of the contract exchange
Balance $ xxx by 13/05/2015

The signed copies of the vendor’ section 32, due deligence and the sale contracts are attached herewith.

Regards,

6. as soon as my offer was accepted by the vendor, i paid deposit and arranged the pest and building inspection.

7. coordinate with the inspectors and vendor's agent for the time and date.
8. be there at the property before the inspectors came. let them work and do not interfere but i hv to check if they do the check thoroughly and properly. Before ended, ask them for any concern and make note.
9. on the very same date, check the land dimensions. i didn't hire a surveyor.
10. made decision to buy or not to buy based on the inspection reports. what to fix? how much? fix it/them yourself? within my renovation budget? time? negotiate for discount from the vendor?
11. i paid around $800 for conveyancing lawyer. this amount was payable on settlement date.
13. once negotiation fit my requirements and budgets, let the vendor's agent know about my decision which i chose to proceed in this case.
14. before settlement date, i did calculate everything myself even if i used lawyer. Never trust anyone because it's my MY MONEY....
For ex: the settlement was on says 20 june 2015 and the total purchase price says was $492,000
i. i already paid 10% deposit which was $49200 into agent's trust which generates no interest.
ii) I received says $1300 reduction from the vendor for me to accept all the inspection reports as satisfactory.
iii) therefore the balance to be paid on settlement was $441500.
iv) transfer fee $1342 payable to registrar of titles
Stamp Duty Calculator for state tas on property price $63,035 - PropertyPriceHistory.Com
v) stamp duty for 1st home buyer, primary place of residence and old house $10745 payable to SRO vic
vi) the adjustment of rates and taxes
outgoings rates & taxes wil be transfered. The vendor is responsible for these up to and including the date of settlement. (to be continued later)
vii) as per the contract, the purchaser is responsible for fees up to 3 cheques.
viii) To my surprise and i couldnt locate it anywhere on the contract, i have to pay around $110 for settlement room. this $110 was payable to the vendor.
ix) i additionally paid to have a caveat lodging before settlement $ 75.35 + lawyer fee of $ 110. These amt to be paid on settlement.

 

calculations of rate adjustments:
1. As previouly mentioned, i as a buyer am responsible for all the on-going rates from 21 jun 2016 onwards.
2. confirm rates via the website of water authority which is South East Water in my case.
2.1 parks victoria from 01/07/2014 - 30/06/2015 (365 days) is $ 70.62
therefore i'm resposible for $1.95 from 21/96/2015 - 30/06/2015 (10 days)

2.2 melb water drain from 01/04/2015 - 30/06/2015 (90 days) is $23.25
therefore i'm responsible for $ 2.60 for 10 days

2.3 south east water service charge from 01/04/15 - 30/06/15 $27.19
therefore 10 days is $3

2.4 sewerage service charge from 01/04/15 - 30/06/15 is $94.76
therefore 10 days is $10.55

3. i sent email to yarra ranges council for council rate for the property that i was purchasing.
here's ex:
Subject: What is the capital improved value (CIV) before and after the settlement?

Hello

I just bought a house (address ... upwey vic which will be my principal place of residence). Final settlement is 20 Jun 2015. So I would like to receive the following information particular for this property:

1. The council rates notice including capital improved value (CIV) before and after the settlement of this property?

2. Recycling & Waste Calender 2014-2015

3. Any information pack for newcomer (I'm moving from Werribee to Upwey)

Could you kindly please email me the info requested above?

Thank you and regards,

NT
my mobile was also provided.

 

4. Council's reply:
.... the annual amount for 2014/2015, it was $1,740.35. The Capital Improved Valuation is $375,000, this valuation will be the same for the 2015/2016 Rating Year....

5. therefore out of 1740.35 i'm responsible for $ 47.70

 

15. long before settlement date, i should expect to pay out the following:
1. $1345 payable to registrar of titles
2. $10745 payable to SRO
3. one cheque payable to conveyancing lawyer (as above mentioned, the sum of 73.35 + 110 + 800 + post-settlement lawyer fee of 49.50)
4. cheque fees upto 3 cheques only if more than these the vendor must cover for all the additional cheque fee.
5. amount not higher than $ 441675.80 payable as directed by the vendor. this is the sum of the balance after inspection report negotiation+ adjusted rates + the surprised room charge for settlement. If I have to pay more than this amount, i must question(s) my solicitor in writing as soon as i received the instruction for settlement cheques.

 

16. just before the settlement date, my solicitor emailed instructions for settlement cheques and i check these amount against my research and calculation.
As expected, the total amount of the 3 cheques as per vendor's instruction was higher than 441675.80 by says $543. If it's lower i would hv zipped my mouth off course.
Who else is to protect my right and money? but myself in the end (not my lawyer and accountant).
17.1 As soon as i received the email from my solicitor, i replied his email explaining my calculation and asking for the reason(s) of the excess amount.
here's part of my email:
.... based on calculation after the adjustments, i should pay the vendor $441675.80 in total?..
.....could you kindly please break down the excess amount of $543 in detail?

Please note the calculation demonstration of the figure $543 below.

$543 is derived from:
.........

17.2 even if the amount is higher than the correct amt i expected to pay, i had made all the cheques available and delivered exactly as per my solicitor's instruction.
18. settlement was proceeded accordingly.
19. follow-up with my solicitor for the excess amt.
My solicitor replied and wanted to charge me for another $220 or more for his "professional time".
So i emailed him back:
Hell(o) .....
I'd like to let you know that i'll post my experience regarding buying my house for the first time publicly online. But there is an issue that it involved your organisation behalf since i was hiring you to do conveyancing for this property which included proper adjustment which i was and still not happy about. This included overpayment or duplicate payment or whatever term. pls refer to the attached docs.

I understand that your time is valuable, but why do i have to pay additionally for the mistake (s) of the conveyancing services that supposed to include the proper adjustment calculations in the 1st place?......

20... time & etc .... Around a month later i hv received a cheque of access amt payable to me from the vendor.

---------------------------
I forgot to mention. Just a day before the settlement date, I did the final inspection and take dated photos of gas, power and water meters.

--------------------------------
Please feel free to leave comments/ constructive suggestions

 

So in summary are you trying to say that someone miscalculated the monies due at settlement but now they have been repaid to you?

 

Tl;dr please.

 

Ditto with Mumbai. Sorry but I gave up after the first sentence.

 

I just want to explain the public about my experience of buying PPOR, there is no any question asked here. I hope this will be somewhat useful to other people who want to buy their first property in AU.

 

What was the conveyancers job in this ? You did all the work and paid them also.
Conveyancers and lawyers are different....Do you know why ? I personally would never use a conveyancer. I encountered a legal issue with first purchase and learned a lesson when I still needed to see a solicitor. .

Drafting your own contract wasn't smart. ie : Subject to Finance approval by Westpac Bank.would have been a better condition than a broad subject to finance clause. What about a land tax / GST clause etc (It is a shop front) ?

 

To long of a post with poor formatting which is going to turn off a lot of people from reading it.

TLDR needed.

 

TL;DR:

1: Find property
2-5: Make offer
6: Offer accepted
7-11: Due diligence
12: ???
13: Exchange
14-20: Doing someone else's job

 

Ty

RE: Point 12, I agree it is a bit light on details.

 

Is there someone to take my money somewhere in there?

 

Do we have lawyers here?, they are solicitors in our English I thought, but I see more people here refer to lawyer now.

Agree re finance, you could have got a conditional approval with unacceptable conditions and your up the creek without a paddle.

 

Was there a subject to finance clause? I couldn't see it in any of the OP's posts (too difficult to read)

 

Its your responsibility to instruct your lawyer and check the settlement amounts are correct before settlement. You must have approved the settlement amount and release of the funds. Why did you pay for a lawyer for then draw up a contract yourself ? You cant even use proper punctuation ! You must have too much time on your hands and nothing better to do than whinge.

 

Thanks live-in-upwey
Learnt some stuff.

 

Thank you as well for useful information!
Is there a general FAQ or wiki on process of buying property?

 

Can't wait for when the property is sold!