Ready to dive into the housing market with your first land purchase? Now that you’ve got your heart set on that dream block – what comes next? Loans, contracts and regulations can make buying a block of land quite complex.
Fortunately, we’ve compiled a quick crash course on the process to buy land. We’ll take you from getting your ducks in a row to officially owning your own patch of soil.
Before you even make an offer on a block of land, it’s worth having your finances in order. Having pre-approval for a home loan provides an indication of your borrowing power. On top of this, it means you can put down an offer on a block with added financial confidence. Since pre-approval is based on your current circumstances, it will typically only be valid for three months from when it’s granted.
You may opt for a land only home loan and sort out the construction loan later. But there are specific criteria for a land loan, best to check with your bank or broker.
Before you venture too much further, we suggest engaging a property lawyer or conveyancer. They’ll oversee your property transaction and ensure everything flows smoothly – and of course, legally.
Let’s make an offer. This will require you to sign a written agreement detailing your offer price and settlement period. This contract of sale will be either unconditional or conditional. Unconditional offers usually occur when you’ve got the cash ready to go. Conditional offers will make the sale reliant on certain factors, such as securing finances or the sale of another property you own.
Once you and the seller are happy with the conditions in the contract – including the purchase price – you’ll both sign the contract of sale. It’s at this point that the block is taken off the market.
Once the exchange of contract has taken place, it’s time to lay down the deposit.
Rest assured, this amount will be held in a trust account that the developer or vendor can only access once settlement is reached.
Following signing the contract there is typically a ‘cooling off period’ of 2-5 business days, unless you waived this as a condition of your contract. This is essentially a change of mind period. If you decide to back out, you will forfeit your vendor fee but reclaim your deposit and be free to walk away.
There will be a downtime of varying duration between your deposit payment and settlement, most commonly referred to as 'waiting to title'. During this time, there are a few things you can chip away at so you have everything ready come the big settlement day.
Most importantly, you’ll need to get your mortgage documents finalised and signed. It’s during this time that a conveyancer and solicitor will walk you through the bulk of the paperwork in your contract to ensure every box is ticked.
Hooray, your block is titled! And you’ve reached settlement day – the day when ownership of the block passes from the seller to you. On this day, your legal representative and lender will register a mortgage against your new land. Unless, of course, you have the funds to transfer the full amount. Your legal rep will also ensure the land title reflects the change of land ownership.
And there you have it – your very own slice of land! Now to find the perfect home to build upon it.