Usually 10% of the purchase price paid on exchange of contracts for purchase of land. An exchange is not valid unless a deposit is held.

A formal legal process that creates a binding contract for the sale of real estate on agreed terms. The vendor and purchaser each sign a copy of the sale contract and then “exchange” these documents, at which time the contract becomes legally binding on the parties. The parties are then bound to proceed to settlement, subject to any cooling off per [..]

Under legislation, most purchasers of residential property are granted a “Cooling Off Period”. This period commences on the day of exchange and expires at 5:00pm on the fifth working day after exchange. Within this period you are able to withdraw from the contract with a small penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price.

A “development application” is a request for permission from Council to carry out proposed development – e.g. Construction of new building or structure or the sub division of land.

A “linen plan” is drawn up by a surveyor for the land subdivision. This is approved by the council and then the Land Titles Office in order to create a legal title to a piece of land. It contains information for all of the land in that subdivision, dimensions of lots, roads, easements, covenants, etc. Once finalised it becomes known as the Deposite [..]

Once all the development works are completed and the linen plan has been approved and signed off by the local Council, it is sent to the Land Titles Office in Sydney for registration. This process generally takes between 6-8 weeks, although sometimes it is quicker.

When the Land Titles Office approves the linen plan, the land is registered and returned to the Vendor’s solicitors so settlement can be processed.

(LTO) The Land Titles Office maintains a secure, efficient and guaranteed system of land ownership for NSW. The land title registry defines the legal ownership and boundaries of land parcels throughout the State, both private and public, and records ownership changes as they occur.

is a section of land registered on your property title, which gives an entity the right to use the land for a specific purpose even though they are not the land owner. An example is drainage easements for sewer or water. An easement gives the authority to enter your property to maintain the infrastructure.

A covenant is a restriction on the use of the land imposed by a Council and/or developer to ensure that development on each lot meets the specific design and land use guidelines. The wording of the covenant(s) is shown on a separate legal document (sometimes called an “88B Instrument”) attached to the Deposited Plan. Covenants may include but are n [..]