just wondering.... how long does it take to buy a house in adelaide (on average) for instance in the uk once you put your offer in you can on average expect to move in after about 3 months. Is it any quicker - on average in adelaide??

any thoughts appreciated
jax :)

It's a year since we did ours but from what I remember, you put in an offer (we just did this verbally through the agent on the phone), if that's accepted you have exactly 48 hours to change your mind. At the end of the 48 hours the house is yours and you have to get it insured at that point, and I think pay a deposit. You then negotiate a completion date - we asked for and got a 30 day completion, which meant that after 30 days, the old owners moved out and we moved in! I think perhaps a 60 day completion is more common, but we were in a hurry!!!

Far simpler process than in the UK, and I have to say the real estate agent does a LOT MORE work than his English counterpart too!

Someone who's done it more recently might be able to give you more info.

Diane
xx

We are currently going through the whole process so here's how things have progressed so far!

We put in an offer on the Sunday - the vendor now lives in Brisbane so by the time the agent contacted him and confirmed our offer it was the following Wednesday. we then had to sign the contract which was then faxed to him and he signed, after that we completed the "cooling off" forms and from that time on you have 48 working hours to change your mind. What actually happens is it's 48 hours from midnight on the day you sign the forms (we signed on Thursday so had until midnight on the next Monday to "cool off") Someone else had said this before but if you can leave the signing of contracts until a Thursday or a Friday you actually get the extra 2 days of the weekend too! During cooling off you have to get any inspections on the property completed - we had both a buildings inspection and a proper pest inspection too. Don't worry about this as the inspectors here are all geared up for this and are prepared to do this at short notice. After the inspections have been done and the 48 hours has passed officially you can't pull out (unless you have put any specifications into the contract such as subject to finance etc) . You then have to pay a deposit and take out buildings insurance.

from then on most of the work is done by either the estate agents or the conveyancers. From acceptance of offer to us finally getting the keys will have been about 4 weeks - we reach settlement on the 2nd September!!!!!!!!!! :clap: :yeehah:

Much more straight foward than the system used in the Uk and because you are pretty much tied after 48 hours it stops people putting in silly offers or pulling out at the last minute!

When my neighbours moved recently it was exactly 3 weeks from open inspection until my next set of lovely friendly neighours moved in!

Hi

We were 30 days..and thats with FIRB approval included. It could have been sooner if we wanted :)

Hi

We moved in in 3 weeks from making offer to settlement.

Its quicker but make sure you find out the full scale of fees when you start.

we paid $11,000 Stamp Duty
Our council rates, water rates for the year up front
Conveyancers fees were roughly $500

You don't have to have a solicitor and you can use the same conveyancer as the seller which saves you money.

Being a cash buyer helps and our seller was moving into rented so we didn't have to wait for her to buy something.

Most Real Estate agents are very helpful but its not the same as the UK where you go in and say i want a 3 bed house in this area what have you got.

You have to look in all the papers, go to open inspections and find the house first, then approach the agent. You can book a private inspection if you want also.Agents won't tell you what the buyer wants for the property or how much they will accept, you have to keep offering and offering until you hit the right price.

Its mindboggling but quite good fun.

Jo

Dont forget to apply for first owner grant or "fog" as the banks call it, it is worth $7000 :yeehah:
Available to all first time buyers in Oz, If you are paying cash, ask the conveyancer for the forms, they will need to countersign them if you are getting a mortgage the bank will arrange it for you

We have recently purchased a house in Sheidow Park. The process re coolling off period, costs etc was as already described above.

The house we have bought was empty as the owners had moved to Kadina for work plus we were cash buyers and so the process was really quick. We had our offer accepted on 23 July and actually moved in on 9th August.

It certainly makes you wonder why it has to take so long in the UK!

Best wishes

Pauline

From verbally saying 'Yes' to moving in approx 4 weeks :D