Agent – A person who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate

Caveat – Is a written warning to anyone who checks the Certificate of Title of the property that the person who lodged the caveat (known as the “caveator”) has an interest in it.

Certificate of Occupancy – a document which authorises that a home is fit enough to be lived in

Certificate of Title – A Certificate of Title is a record of all current information relevant to a parcel of land, including current ownership details

Cooling-off Period – The right most purchasers have to get out of the Contract of Sale in certain circumstances.

Contract of Sale – is a legal contract defining property to be exchanged from seller (or vendor) to buyer (or purchaser) for an agreed upon value in money (or money equivalent) paid or the promise to pay same.

Conveyancing – Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring the title of a property from one entity to another.

Covenant – is a restriction against the land that limits the proprietor in what they can and can’t do with the land

Deposit – A payment made by the purchaser at the commencement of a transaction to indicate that the purchaser proposes to complete the purchase

Deposit Bond – is an insurance policy, where no money changes hands, and all purchase funds are paid at settlement rather than a cash deposit being paid

Easement – the right to use a property without possessing it.

Encumbrances – Is anything that burdens or limits the title to a property

Finance Approval Date – The date the purchaser’s finance approval application is due to be formally approved for funds to complete purchase.

First Home Owners Grant – This is a one off grant from the government aimed to assist buyers in affording their first home.

Goods (Chattels) – any chattel which has been affixed to land or a building so as to become part of it.

Mortgage – is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan.

Off-the-Plan – Buying land before it is subdivided, with the promise the vendor will subdivide in the near future

Penalty Interest – interest charged when a party does not complete a specific task by the due date

Plan of Subdivision – means the division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into two or more lots, for the purpose of sale or development

Principal Place of Residence –  a document stating that you intend on residing in the property as your Stat Dec (PPR Stat Dec) principal place of residence in relation to the property that you are purchasing which may make you eligible for a concession on stamp duty.

Purchase price – An agreed price between all parties concerned.

Purchaser – The party that is buying the property

Rescind – To cancel a contractual agreement.

Section 27 Statement – establishes a procedure allowing for release of the deposit to the vendor prior to settlement.

Section 32 Statement – is a disclosure document provided by the seller of real estate (vendor) to an (also known as Vendors intending purchaser.  Its name comes from Section 32 of the Sale of Land Act Statement) which requires a vendor to provide certain information to a purchaser BEFORE a contract of sale is signed.

Settlement date – Settlement date is the day when buyer, having paid the balance (or full amount) of monies of the purchase price, receives the ownership to the property.

Statement of Adjustments – the document that sets out the rates and any other charges that have to be apportioned as between the vendor and the purchaser.

Unconditional Contract – An absolute contract without conditions.

Vendor – The party selling the property