Over the weekend, the newspaper reported that the NSW government is backing an “UberX” of property industry to help buyers save money when it comes to obtaining pre-purchase inspection reports. A link to that article is here: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-government-backs-uberx-of-property-industry-to-help-home-buyers-save-money-20160331-gnvqba.html.

Under the new regime, from July this year, property buyers will be able to experience significant savings when carrying out due diligence on a potential purchase. From July 2016, it will be mandatory for real estate agents to maintain a disclosure log of any building and pest, strata or contract review reports that have been prepared for the property that they are marketing. When handing out a copy of the contract for sale to potential buyers, the agent must also provide this information, including the company that did the report and their contact details.

This represents a significant shift in the industry and an exciting development for purchasers. A new level of transparency will likely be achieved through this scheme. We often talk to purchasers who are fed up with paying for these crucial reports, particularly in cases where they have missed out on properties at a number of auctions. A number of companies operating in this area do offer innovative pricing to reduce the cost of a report where one has already been prepared on a property. We expect that this will see a lot more companies adopting these cost saving initiatives.

What is your experience with pre-purchase due diligence? Did you find that the reports represented good value for money? We strongly recommend to our clients to carry out as much due diligence on the property as possible before committing to purchase. Given this new development, we are very excited about the streamlining and increased efficiencies this is likely to mean for conveyancing. At ClickLaw we focus on efficient processes to minimise expenditure and consider this new move towards increased disclosure will mean that purchasers looking to save money will be able to do so under this scheme.

If you have any questions at all about the conveyancing process in NSW please call one of the expert property lawyers here at ClickLaw who would be happy to address your queries.

John Kettle
Solicitor Director
ClickLaw Australia

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