So you’ve been to a few auctions, missed out, and there’s another one coming up. Remember that first property you missed out on…now forget it. Sure you had a building and pest inspection done, had a lawyer look at the contract, maybe negotiated a few amendments and then were blown out of the water on the day. This time you think, why waste the money on the contract review and the building and pest inspection? Don’t do it. If it’s worth buying, it’s worth having the contract reviewed.

A commonly known trade secret for us lawyers is that auction contracts tend to be our precedent contracts. This means that they are very vendor friendly. After all, we need to look after our vendor clients (we will always act in their interests). They usually contain clauses such as a release of a deposit and other onerous clauses. That doesn’t mean that they can not be negotiated out before the auction but it does mean, if you don’t have the contract reviewed and amended prior to the auction you will be stuck with exactly what is in there.

For this reason, as part of the conveyancing process and certainly when involved in conveyancing in NSW, it really is imperative that you have the contract reviewed by an appropriately experienced lawyer prior to the auction. Your lawyer will pick up any nasties contained within the contract and provide you with advice as to the implications of certain clauses.

We here at ClickLaw have had many experiences whereby a client purchaser has instructed us to review a contract for them and as a result, they have not proceeded to bid at the auction. The very reasonable price for a comprehensive review of the contracts has potentially saved hundreds of thousands of dollars spent as a result of a bad purchase. If you are thinking of bidding at an auction, give us a call – it could be the best call you make.

John Kettle
Solicitor Director
ClickLaw Australia