Selling a home without an agent in Australia

Sheet 1 · The work list

The jobs that become yours

NSW sets out the steps of a private sale in order, and Victoria and Western Australia give similar lists. The ticked boxes are the legal work, which the state pages still hand to a professional.

Hire a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. NSW, step 1
Have the contract of sale prepared; in NSW, before you advertise. In Victoria, a conveyancer or legal practitioner prepares the Section 32 statement and the contract. NSW, VIC
Work out what the property is worth. Victoria suggests considering a qualified valuer. NSW, VIC
Set a price, and advertise it accurately. NSW
Advertise, with online listings, signs and other methods. NSW, VIC, WA
Negotiate with buyers. Without an agent, the buyer makes their offer directly to you. VIC, WA
Take the deposit, and put it where the rules say. VIC, WA
Exchange or sign the contracts. NSW, VIC, WA
Handle settlement; in Western Australia, you can do this with a settlement agent. NSW, VIC, WA

Sheet 2 · State by state

What each state adds for a private seller

NSW

Doing your own conveyancing

You can do your own conveyancing, but you remain personally liable if something goes wrong with the sale, even if you followed a kit’s instructions, and it may be hard to buy the insurance a licensed conveyancer or solicitor carries.
Conveyancers must be licensed with NSW Fair Trading; check a licence before you choose one.

VIC

The deposit and the checklist

Without an agent, the buyer pays the deposit to you, and you must either hand it to your solicitor, legal practitioner or conveyancer, or deposit it in a special purpose account, held in both your name and the buyer’s, with an authorised deposit-taking institution in Victoria.
The buyer may let you have the deposit before settlement only if the contract is unconditional, at least 28 days have passed since it was signed, and you give evidence that debts secured on the property are nil or no more than 80% of the price.
Every seller must have a due diligence checklist on hand for prospective buyers at open for inspections.
Doing your own conveyancing means going without a professional’s indemnity insurance if something goes wrong.

QLD

The warning statement and the pool

The state advises having a solicitor look over the sale contract before you sign it.
You must include the cooling-off warning statement set out in the Property Occupations Act 2014, immediately above and on the same page as where the buyer signs.
The seller disclosure statement and prescribed certificates go to the buyer before they sign.
With a swimming pool, you must have a licensed inspector check that it is safe. A building and pest inspector should hold a current licence from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

SA

The Form 1 is on you

If the buyer has an agent, their agent certifies the Form 1 you provide. If neither of you has an agent, you are responsible for the legal requirements and for the statement being complete and accurate.
For a private treaty sale, the Form 1 must reach the buyer at least 10 clear days before settlement.

WA

The settlement agent

A settlement agent must be licensed in Western Australia and give you a written quote setting out the maximum they will charge before you sign their appointment to act.
Selling without an agent, you can get the General Conditions from REIWA or the Law Society of Western Australia.
For a strata titled lot, the buyer must first receive Form 28, Form 29, the strata plan and the by-laws.

TAS

The cost of a mistake

In its advice to buyers, Consumer Affairs Tasmania calls doing your own conveyancing risky: you cannot get the insurance a licensed conveyancer or solicitor has, and if you make a mistake and suffer a loss you will be unable to get financial compensation.

Sheet 3 · Opening the doors yourself

Open homes, and the people who come through them

In Victoria, it is not a legal requirement for visitors to leave their details at an open house, but you can make it a condition of entry to your property. South Australia’s page notes that, as a security precaution, you or your agent can take down the contact details of each person who comes in. Both suggest locking valuables away and hiding from view anything you would rather the public did not see.

Scams, in Western Australia

Consumer Protection warns that scammers have pretended to be both sellers and buyers. Settlement agents are legally required to run their own identity checks on owners and the people acting for them, rather than rely on a referral.

From here the paper trail is the same as any sale: the buyer’s cooling-off period, then settlement day.

Elsewhere in the file

Selling without an agent: what changes, and what does not