Need your advice urgently.
I have offered to purchase a property, and was told verbally by the real estate agent that the vendor has accepted already, but I have not paid the deposit yet.
I found the real estate agent not honest with me, and did not give me time to read the offer document which we signed and refuse to give us a copy of the offer document at the time of our signing, saying she could not give us a copy until the vendor has signed the acceptance.
Now I want to withdraw or back out from this purchase, can I do this without getting sued?
Hi Bee
All the States of Australian have different regulations regarding the Cooling Off period you are entitled too. Roughly, it's five business days from exchange of contracts. Hopefully you are still within the 5 days. My suggestion, if you are unsure about all this, is to ring a solicitor, first thing Monday morning and get him/her to send a letter to the Real Estate Agent, withdrawing from the sale (insist it's sent immediately)
If you are not still within the cooling off period, then still talk with your solicitor on Monday morning.
Cheers, Paul
Paul Dobson | Vendor Finance Institute
http://www.vendorfinanceinstitute.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeAn alternative way to finance your home.
thanks a lot , Paul Dobson for your helpful reply. the real estate agent told me on the phone last night that the vendor has accepted, but I still have to receive and see the signed offer document. If this verbal communication of acceptance thru the real estate agent is binding, the cooling off period will start tomorrow, Monday. If this is the case, based on your info/advice above, do you mean I can still withdraw from this purchase withing this cooling off period which begins tomorrow?
Hi Propertybee.
Contract Law 1.01 "a contract is not binding until consideration has taken place." What is consideration? It is defined at law when money (SUCH AS A DEPOSIT) is paid to the Vendor (seller) in consideartion of the purchasers offer. A contract will NEVER be binding on you the purchaser until, at the very least, you have paid a deposit and met the legal requirements of meeting consideration under Contarct Law. Should you have any further concerns or need further information or reassurance, please feel free to email me at my address below.
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,thanks a lot , Alfi. So if have not paid any deposit yet, it means I can email the agent that I am withdrawing from this purchase and they cannot hold me legally liable for suing. Is this right?
YES!
I hope this has been of benefit to you.
Kind regards,I have just found out that the agent has excluded the conditions which will require the seller to rectify any structural defect on building inspection by not ticking it and just ticking the other condtions which was initialed by my son.( The purchase is in my son's name), Again, she was in a hurry, and refuse to allow me to read these changes.
propertybee wrote:I have just found out that the agent has excluded the conditions which will require the seller to rectify any structural defect on building inspection by not ticking it and just ticking the other condtions which was initialed by my son.( The purchase is in my son's name), Again, she was in a hurry, and refuse to allow me to read these changes.Withdraw the offer and resubmit with changes.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
TerryW, how can withdraw the offer? please tell me the steps to do this, I am here in perth; deposit is not pais yet. Please tell me the details of the steps of withdrawing the offer with a view of either a. to withdrawq completely from these purchase. b. to making changes to the contract with the intent of going ahead with the purchase if all is positive. Can you tell me the possible pro and cons of either options 1 or 2?
I asked the WA consumer protection office, their advising officer told me that there are only two ways I can get out of this purchase: 1. that there is no contract legally 2. a court order. I am now looking around for legal advice. I have not received any documents yet from the agent and therefore does not the exact details of the offer document and its conditions that we have signed.
Propertybee, without being rude it is time that you talked to a solicitor. You probably should have done this before signing anything. Posting on these forums will not solve your problem, I think you need to go and pay for quality advice in order to get this mess sorted out.
Cheers,
LukePropertyBee.. did you manage to get out of the deal?
propertybee wrote:TerryW, how can withdraw the offer? please tell me the steps to do this, I am here in perth; deposit is not pais yet. Please tell me the details of the steps of withdrawing the offer with a view of either a. to withdrawq completely from these purchase. b. to making changes to the contract with the intent of going ahead with the purchase if all is positive. Can you tell me the possible pro and cons of either options 1 or 2?I asked the WA consumer protection office, their advising officer told me that there are only two ways I can get out of this purchase: 1. that there is no contract legally 2. a court order. I am now looking around for legal advice. I have not received any documents yet from the agent and therefore does not the exact details of the offer document and its conditions that we have signed.
Sorry for the late reply
To withdraw an offer you just notify the other party and tell them you withdraw your offer. This should be done in writing and preferably by some method in which you can prove the communication such as via fax.
BTW you can only withdraw an offer until it is accepted. Once it is accepted you have a contract.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
<BTW you can only withdraw an offer until it is accepted. Once it is accepted you have a contract.>
This is why its so important to have special condtions in your offer whichwill allow you to get out the deal once both parties have signed the contract, Some which spring to mind are:
1: This contract is subject to the purchaser ontaining suitable finance within 15 working days of both parties signing – This will allow you to get out the deal at any stage. i.e if you dont get finance within 15 days, the deal is off or if you not happy with the rate offered by the bank, the deal is off.
2: This contract is subject to the purchaser obtaining a suitable inspection report, within 15 working days, which satifies the purchaser – If you want the deal off, go to the property, find something wrong with the property, pull out of the deal.
I have the correct wording on these clauses somewhere at home, but i just wanted to give you idea of escape clauses used to get out of deals.
Hope this will work in Aus too
ALF1 is completely correct with his summary of consideration and withdrawing.
Consideration is 1 part of what indicates that a contract has been established.
1. Offer – a good or a service needs to be offered.
2. Acceptance – the buyer must be willing to have what is being offered
3. Consideration – as mentioned above (usually in this case would be a deposit, but could also be something else like title to land or something, depends on the nature of the agreement).Note that acceptance doesn't always have to be a written/signed agreement – sometimes verbal can be just as good – but I believe in Queensland (atleast) it is required for Land deals. My contract Law is a bit rusty!
At the end of the day, if you are worried about your legal obligations consult a legal professional!!
good luck, hope it works out for you
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