Hope Island is one of the Gold Coast’s most exclusive suburbs. Home to an enclave of exclusive housing estates, such as Sanctuary Cove and Hope Island Resort, with several world class golf courses meandering in between.
The property website Domain are currently running a series of articles on selling a property, covering aspects from presentation and market advise, to sales tactics and the conveyancing process itself.
Brisbane came alive this weekend for the annual Teneriffe Festival. The streets were lined with a festival of food, markets and entertainment.
So you’ve spent countless weekends scouring the suburbs of Brisbane, or the Gold Coast for that perfect property and you think you’ve finally found ‘the one’ and are ready to put in an offer and sign a contract of sale. It’s right about now that you need to tap the brakes every so slightly. There’s no point rushing in and signing your name, as the entire conveyancing process will be dictated by this contract, so you want to make sure you’ve got it right before signing.
So you’ve had your property on the market for a while and have now signed a contract of sale and sold your property. First of all congratulations on the sale! While getting that offer may be exciting at first, we’re sure that a bit of stress is beginning to creep into your mind as you start to consider the long list of things you now have to take care.
Since changes to superannuation legislation in 2007, which allowed for self-managed super funds (SMSFs) to borrow money for property assets, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people setting up a SMSF in order to purchase an investment property. Whilst there are many benefits to this, there are strict rules which must be followed.
An Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document that ensures that if the worse happens and you lose your mental capacity through injury or through the onset of a medical condition, such as Dementia or Alzheimer’s, then there is a person in place, whom you trust, to protect your assets and to take care of you and your affairs.
While a lot of people don’t see the importance of a Will; especially younger people, having an up to date Will is extremely important, because as the old saying goes ‘accidents do happen’. It may sound a bit morbid, but unfortunately you never know what’s around the corner; you may be in an accident, or struck by a serious medical condition and the last thing you want is for your family not to be taken care of.
If you believe that you were left out of a loved one’s Will, or that they did not make adequate provision for you then there are steps you can take to challenge it. The first step to would be to bring a ‘Family Provision Application’ (“FPA”), which is a challenge against the estate disputing the distribution of the contents of the Will. Usually an FPA is filed when due to certain circumstances a family member has decided not to leave anything to a person, or leaves them with too little.
The standard contract of sale includes terms that specify that a property must be delivered to the buyer on the day of settlement in the same condition it was in on the day the contract was signed (save for ordinary wear and tear). As a buyer this means you should do your due diligence to ensure that this is the case for the property you purchase.
