Cooling-off and contracts in Western Australia

None. Western Australia has no statutory cooling-off period. Consumer Protection WA puts it plainly: once the contract has been signed there is no time option to reconsider the offer. A WA offer is the contract, so any protection has to be written into it as conditions before it is signed.

The cooling-off period

WA's standard contract is two documents. One is the Contract for Sale of Land or Strata Title by Offer and Acceptance, the O&A. The other is the Joint Form of General Conditions for the Sale of Land. The buyer fills in and signs the O&A for a private treaty sale; at that point it is an offer. It binds only when buyer and seller agree on all of its terms, including any change the seller writes in.

A cooling-off clause exists only if both parties agree to insert one; the regulator's guidance says exactly that. Its length, cost and mechanics are whatever the clause says, and an off-the-plan strata purchase is no different.

When there is no cooling-off

Every sale. There is no auction exclusion or day-of-auction rule because there is nothing to exclude. At auction the point is sharper. The highest bidder must sign the contract immediately, the purchase cannot be conditional on finance, and about 10 per cent is paid on the day. Nor is there a waiver form.

The standard conditions do the protecting instead. A buyer who needs a loan completes and signs the O&A's box marked "Finance Clause Is Applicable". If the lender declines the loan, the contract is not binding on the buyer. Consumer Protection warns that the clause is not self-executing. Even where finance has not been obtained, the contract may still be enforceable until the buyer or seller gives proper notice to void it. Other special conditions, such as a building and pest inspection, go into the O&A the same way.

What the seller must give you

WA has no mandatory seller disclosure statement of the kind Victoria's Section 32 or South Australia's Form 1 provide. What it has is a duty on material facts. Sellers are expected to disclose them to their agent, and agents have to pass them on. If a buyer asks a direct question, the agent has to answer honestly and either say what they know or make every effort to find out. The Commissioner describes a material fact as anything that would matter to a reasonable person deciding whether to buy, or how much to offer. The examples given are unapproved structures, hidden structural damage, asbestos, a past use such as a drug lab, and access issues. Significant changes planned nearby count too: major road projects, high-rise developments or an airport expansion.

If a withheld material fact causes loss, the remedy is civil: the buyer may be able to take action or ask to terminate the contract.

Strata title is the exception. The seller has to give the buyer a precontractual disclosure statement and, after signing, notify any notifiable variation, meaning a material change to what was disclosed.

The contract, the deposit and settlement

No deposit is required by law. The amount is negotiated in the offer, and generally all of it is paid within seven days after the offer. If it is late, the seller can give written notice requiring the money within 48 hours, failing which the contract is cancelled.

The General Conditions are owned jointly by REIWA and the Law Society of Western Australia. They cover encumbrances on the title such as mortgages, leases and rights of way, who pays for underground power and sewerage, and errors, risk, default and strata disclosure.

Settlement is set in the contract and is usually 30 to 90 days; after an auction it is usually 30 days. Landgate describes electronic conveyancing through an approved electronic lodgement network as the standard settlement process in WA, run by the buyer's settlement agent or lawyer.

Before you sign

1. Give the O&A and the General Conditions to a licensed settlement agent or a lawyer before signing.
2. Complete the finance clause if a loan is needed, and diarise its approval date.
3. Write in any other condition that matters, such as a building and pest inspection, with a date.
4. Questions to the agent about material facts can be put in writing, and the answer kept.
5. Read the encumbrances on the title and who pays for power and sewer connections.
6. Check the deposit amount and its due date.
7. Check the settlement date against the finance timeline and any move-in dates a grant or duty concession requires.
8. For a strata lot, read the precontractual disclosure statement before the offer goes in.

None of these checks says what to offer.