Don’t Lose Ya Lollie

Don’t lose ya lollie as soon as your house goes under offer…

WA has always been a little more laid-back when it comes to doing property contracts of sale. I have many times referred to us as the Wild West when my East Coast clients clutch their pearls at the mere mention of no cooling-off period.

Here in WA, we don’t need to be lawyered up to the teeth and have the property examined while we sweat out the process in our therapist’s office, rocking in a corner and deliberating over whether the price is right or if we should knock $50k off for the water ingress the inspector discovered behind the ensuite shower.

To be fair to them, their median house price is around $1.7m. I’d be a little sweaty too! All jokes aside, here in the West, we are trigger-pullers. We don’t like a long contract, we certainly don’t want to pay lawyers’ fees and, at our core, we believe everyone is going into this transaction with the right intentions. We apply a bit of “she’ll be right” logic, we shake hands, and we are on our way. Our two-page contract of sale (with attached annexures) and no cooling-off period system is, however, heavily reliant on everyone BEING COOL.

And unfortunately, sometimes one or both parties can fast become very un-cool.

Despite all the bells and whistles, I’m not convinced the way the slick Sydney folk do it is all it’s cracked up to be either.. Everyone has to get a lawyer involved from the start, the negotiation can be more extensive, and the price and contract terms can go back and forth for longer. While the extra time before exchange can benefit the buyer from a due-diligence standpoint, it can also bite them in the ass if another offer comes along that is better than theirs.

Before contracts are formally exchanged, the deal generally isn’t locked in, and this is when gazumping can occur. You think you’ve agreed on the house, only for another buyer to swoop in with a better offer before exchange and snatch it away. By this stage you have likely already put down money for your solicitor and building inspector so say bye bye to that.

At least once we “shake hands” on a deal here in the Wild West, that deal is on and no other bugger can come in and steal it away.

The problem comes when issues arise and both parties need to work together on the solve- and I am starting to see some very uncool tactics from sellers.

Let’s face it: in this market, the seller has the upper hand.

Sure, the buyer can get access to the property for a building and pest inspection. Sure, the seller may be “warranting” the good working order of the gas, plumbing and electrical items, but depending on the wording of the contract, those protections can sometimes feel like they mean next to nothing when something actually goes wrong.

Structural defect comes back? Depending on the clause, the seller may simply refuse to repair it. Don’t like it? You may have the option to leave the contract. Doesn't bother them, they have buyers lined up to fill your shoes.

Hot water system isn’t working at the final inspection? Well, now we have an argument about warranties, contractual obligations, remedies and whether settlement should proceed. And suddenly that beautifully simple two-page contract doesn’t feel quite so simple anymore.

If the seller decides to be an asshole, then we are all in for a rough settlement.

Once again, I find myself hunched over my desk late at night assembling yet another voodoo doll to spend six months isolated in the back of my freezer with pins in its eyes.

I joke. Kinda…

I just don’t think it’s in good spirits to become an unreasonable flog because you’re selling your house. And here’s the real kicker: in this market, many sellers are making double or more what they originally paid for the property, but some still don’t want to play fair when an issue arises.

So what’s the answer? Should we complicate the f*ck out of everything and adopt an East Coast way of transacting on property?

Or maybe, just maybe, everyone can calm the f*ck down for five minutes and think:

If I was in their shoes, what would I consider fair?