I'm a little confused, having never purchased a house in Queensland. Am I correct in assuming that the seller signs the contract, then the purchaser puts the price they want and also signs?
No, this is not normal with my dealings. I think it is a way for the RE agents to try and speed up the sale of the property.
Generally, when I buy property, I download the corect forms from the internet, fill out the contract to the best of my knowledge, incl the purchase price I am willing to pay for the property, (include any additional special terms and conditions) and present this to the agent. By doing this, the agent and seller knows you are serious and not wanting to waste their time.
This also gives the impression to the seller.....'wow, I have a contract in front of me', and they sometimes get excited and sign the contract.....other times, you might need to negotiate on price and / or terms.
Surely that is a crazy way of doing it, and open to this kind of mess? If you have already signed, and they change the price then sign, could that not make it a legally binding contract at whatever price the vendor wanted.
No, if it was done this way, I don't think they can legitimately change the price. Any change to the price (or for that matter a change to anything in the contract) must be signed / initialled by each party, confirming acceptance and the old figure to be lined out. (In saying this, I think a way around it would be to forge initials, but that is unlawful......and no agents would do this would they??
MissMuffit,
I agree with Wylie and Ozperp......
Quickly chase up status of original contract, and put it to rest.
Good Luck
Cheers,
F.