Your First Home: From Open Inspection to Settlement
Melbourne property lawyer Melly Shute explains what first home buyers can expect, what to look out for and who you want on your side.
Buying your first home is a strange experience.
One minute you’re scrolling property listings from the couch. The next, you’re standing in a crowded kitchen at an open for inspection, mentally arranging your furniture while an agent casually mentions there’s “quite a bit of interest”.
Then someone sends you a 70 page contract. Welcome to buying property.
For first home buyers, it can feel like everyone else knows something you don’t. Agents talk about settlement dates. Brokers want documents. Lawyers start talking about Section 32s and special conditions. Your parents have opinions. Your group chat has even more.
We asked Melly Shute of MLS LEGAL what first home buyers should expect when they decide they’re ready to buy.
Build your team before you find the property
Melly’s first piece of advice is simple: get the right people around you early.
“A good broker understands your numbers. Your property lawyer protects your legal position. The selling agent represents the vendor. And if you’re busy or want someone negotiating for you, a buyer’s advocate can be incredibly useful.”
Understanding those roles matters.
“The selling agent can be fantastic, but they act for the vendor. That’s their job. Your lawyer is the person sitting on your side of the transaction.”
Particularly when the agent says: “There’s another offer.”
“You can move quickly. But quickly and recklessly are not the same thing.”
Get the Contract reviewed before you sign
This is the big one.
Before making an offer, send the Contract and Section 32 to your property lawyer. Not once you’ve signed it. Before.
“We review the Contract, Section 32, title and supporting documents and explain what the purchaser is actually agreeing to.”
That review can uncover Owners Corporation issues, restrictions affecting the property, special levies, unusual contract terms, finance provisions or building and pest conditions that may not offer the protection a buyer assumes they do.
Sometimes the questions are surprisingly basic.
“Is the car park actually on title? Does the storage cage belong to the apartment? Buyers naturally make assumptions based on what they’ve been shown. Our job is to turn those assumptions into answers.”
Importantly, a lawyer identifying an issue does not necessarily mean you shouldn’t buy the property.
“We’re not there to talk people out of buying a home they love. We’re there to explain the risk so they can make an informed decision.”
Finance needs to be more than a pre approval
A pre approval is a great start, but it isn’t necessarily unconditional approval for the particular property you are buying.
Once you find a property, get your broker involved immediately.
And if your offer is subject to finance, understand the condition before signing.
“Your finance clause is legal protection. It’s not just another box on the Contract.”
The same goes for building and pest conditions.
“It isn’t enough to know you have a building inspection condition. You need to understand what that condition actually allows you to do if the inspector finds something.”
Buying an apartment? Meet your Owners Corporation
For apartment buyers, the apartment itself is only part of the picture.
The Owners Corporation can affect both your experience of living there and what the property costs you
over time.
Look at fees, budgets, meeting minutes, maintenance, proposed works and special levies. Then check the practical things. Where exactly is the car park? Where is the storage cage? Is there a car stacker? Are there additional maintenance costs?
“The beautiful kitchen matters. But so does knowing exactly what you’re buying.”
From sold to settled
Once the Contract is signed, your property lawyer guides the legal transaction through to settlement.
There will be identity and authority requirements, stamp duty documents, settlement adjustments, electronic conveyancing and plenty of communication between your lawyer, lender and the vendor’s representatives.
Your broker gets the loan ready. You organise insurance where required, make sure your settlement funds are available and complete your final inspection.
Then comes the good part.
Settled
“For a first home buyer, getting to say ‘Congratulations, you own it’ never really gets old.”
The best advice? Ask questions
You are not expected to understand property law because you have decided to buy a property.
So ask questions. Ask your broker. Ask your building inspector. Ask your lawyer. And never feel silly asking what something means.
“You don’t need to know everything,” Melly says. “You just need the right people around you who do.”
Because buying your first home should be exciting. And with a good team around you, it can be.
Melly Shute is a property lawyer at MLS LEGAL, based in East Melbourne. MLS LEGAL assists first home buyers and property purchasers across Victoria with Contract and Section 32 reviews, conveyancing and off the plan purchases.
GOOD PEOPLE. GOOD SERVICE. PROPERTY LAW.
Share This Blog
