Most people make the biggest purchase of their life by texting a number to a stranger.
The agent then has a contract drawn up, you sign what they wrote, and every date and condition in it was chosen by the seller’s representative. Not by you.
There is a better way, and it takes one email.
This covers private sale only. Auctions are a different animal, because there is no cooling off and conditions do not apply once the hammer falls. Everything below assumes you are negotiating before a contract exists.
What should happen instead
You email the agent your number and your conditions. The contract gets drafted around them. Your conveyancer reads it before you sign anything.
That is the whole shift. You are not asking for favours, you are setting the terms of your own purchase while you still have the leverage to do it.
Once you have signed, every one of those terms is locked.
The 4 conditions that protect you
Leave one out and you carry that risk yourself.
Subject to finance. Pre-approval is not approval. The valuation on this particular house can still come in short, and the bank can still say no.
Subject to building and pest. A professional under the house before you are committed, not after.
Your conveyancer reviews it. Easements, overlays and owners corporation surprises live in the title, not in the listing photos.
A pre-settlement inspection. You walk through and confirm it is empty and undamaged before you hand over the money.
The one people leave out is the finance clause. Without it, you are bound to buy the house whether or not the bank says yes.
The clock you are starting
Every date in the contract is a date you chose. Choose them on purpose.
Cooling off runs in business days. Everything else below runs in calendar days unless your contract says otherwise.
Day 0, contract signed. The initial deposit is due now. The balance of the deposit follows when the contract goes unconditional, not at settlement. In Victoria the full deposit is often payable earlier, so confirm the split with your conveyancer.
Days 1 to 3, cooling off, if your state has it. 2 states do not.
Day 7 or 10, building and pest. This is your first clean exit.
Day 14 or 21, finance approval. Miss it and you are exposed.
Day 45 to 90, settlement. Inspect the day before, not the day of.
What changes in your state
Private sale only, and correct as at October 2026.
| State | Cooling off | Disclosure document to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| VIC | 3 clear business days | Section 32 Vendor Statement |
| NSW | 5 business days | Contract with the prescribed documents attached |
| QLD | 5 business days | Form 2 seller disclosure statement |
| SA | 2 clear business days | Form 1 Vendor’s Statement |
| WA | None at all | No standard statutory statement. Ask for the agent’s material facts disclosure and, if strata, the strata information |
| TAS | None at all | No standard statutory statement |
| ACT | 5 business days | Contract with the required reports attached |
| NT | 4 business days, conditional* | No standard statutory statement |
*In the Northern Territory the cooling off period does not apply where a legal practitioner or conveyancer handled the exchange of signed contracts. Do not assume you have it.
Cooling off is a last resort, not a plan. What it costs you depends on your state, from nothing in the Northern Territory to 0.25% of the price in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT. In Western Australia and Tasmania it does not exist at all. Ask your conveyancer how long you have, what using it costs, and whether signing this particular document starts the clock.
The 4 blanks people guess at
Finance days: 14 or 21. Ask for 21. Never take fewer than 14.
Deposit: 5 to 10%. Usually only a small part is paid when you sign, often 0.25% of the price or around $2,000, with the balance due when the contract goes unconditional. Not at settlement. Victoria often works differently, so confirm it.
Settlement: 45 to 90 days. Longer suits you. Shorter is a bargaining chip you can offer.
Price: your 3 comparable sales. Not the price guide. The guide is marketing.
The email
Copy this. Everything in square brackets is yours to fill in.
Before you use it: this is general information prepared by a credit representative, not a lawyer or conveyancer. It is not legal advice and it does not take your circumstances into account. Property law differs in every state. Your own conveyancer or solicitor must review and adapt this wording before you sign anything.
Subject: Offer for [full property address]
Hi [agent name],
Please see our offer below for [full property address]. Before we go any further, could you send through a draft contract, the vendor disclosure statement and a copy of the title so our conveyancer can review them? We will not be signing until our conveyancer has been through those documents and anything they raise is resolved.
Buyer names: [full legal names of everyone going on the title]
Email and phone: [email] / [mobile]
Current address: [where you live now]Purchase price: [amount]
Deposit: [amount], being [%] of the price, with [$2,000] payable on signing and the balance when the contract becomes unconditional, held in your trust account
Finance: [14 or 21] days from the date the contract is signed
Building and pest: [7 or 10] days from the date the contract is signed
Settlement: [45 to 90] days from the date the contract is signed
Conveyancer or settlement agent: [firm, contact, phone, email]
Inclusions: [built-in oven, ducted heating unit, light fittings, window furnishings, garden shed]Conditions
- Subject to finance. This contract is subject to the Buyer obtaining unconditional written approval for a loan of [amount] on terms acceptable to the Buyer within [14 or 21] days of the date of this contract. If that approval is not obtained by that date, the Buyer may end this contract by written notice and all deposit money paid is to be refunded in full without deduction.
- Subject to building and pest inspection. This contract is subject to the Buyer obtaining, within [7 or 10] days of the date of this contract, a building and pest inspection report satisfactory to the Buyer. If the report is not satisfactory, the Buyer may end this contract by written notice and all deposit money paid is to be refunded in full without deduction.
- Deposit held in trust. All deposit money is to be held in the agent’s trust account and is not to be released to the Seller before settlement.
- Pre-settlement inspection. The Buyer is to have access to the property for an inspection within [3] days before settlement. The property is to be handed over in the same condition as at the date of this contract, fair wear and tear excepted, with all of the Seller’s belongings and all rubbish removed.
- Power connected for that inspection. Electricity is to be connected at the pre-settlement inspection so that the appliances, the heating and cooling, the hot water system and any garage door can be tested.
- Anything specific to this property. [A repair, a survey, an owners corporation certificate, a pool safety certificate, or the removal of something the seller has left behind.]
This offer is open until [date and time]. We are ready to move quickly once our conveyancer has seen the contract.
Thanks,
[your name]
Notice that the legal review sits in the body of the email, not in the conditions. It cannot be a contract condition, because signing the contract is the very thing it is meant to come before. It belongs in the conversation with the agent instead.
The conditions themselves are numbered on purpose. It makes it easy for the agent to lift them straight into the contract, which makes it more likely they survive.
P.S. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is not a shopping list either. Every condition you add makes your offer less attractive to the seller. An offer with 7 conditions is a much harder yes than one with 2, and if another buyer is sitting next to you with a cleaner offer, that is how you lose the house. Work out with your conveyancer which conditions you actually need on this particular property, and leave the rest out.
Before you hit send
Check all 3 of these.
- Every name going on the title is listed, spelled exactly as it appears on their ID.
- Your conveyancer is named and knows the offer is coming.
- Your broker has confirmed the finance days are achievable. 14 days is not enough at every lender, and some are currently taking longer than that just to pick the file up.
Send me the address before the agent gets this
10 minutes tells you 2 things. Whether this particular property changes what you can borrow, which happens more often than people expect with apartments, small blocks and anything unusual. And how many days your finance clause actually needs, based on where your loan is going.
Send me the address and your number before the email goes out.
Karan Kapoor is a Melbourne mortgage broker specialising in first home buyers and SMSF lending. Australian Credit Representative No. 553497 of Sklupple Pty Ltd (ACN 676 755 990), Credit Representative No. 569266 of Australian Finance Group Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 389087. Member of the FBAA.
General information only. Prepared by a credit representative, not a lawyer or conveyancer. Nothing here is legal advice or takes your circumstances into account. This wording is a starting point for a conversation with your own conveyancer or solicitor, who must review and adapt it before you sign anything. Property law differs in every state and changes over time.