Offer on a house without seeing the section 32?

Judging by the question, you've probably already guessed that I drafted it. Are there some fundamental flaws?

I have a conveyancer lined up, she's just waiting for the S32. She hasn't seen the actual offer wording we put in, but I did briefly go through it on the phone with her. Once we have the elusive S32, whatever then goes down on paper for signing will be read/amended/re-written by her before we sign anything.
 
Once we have the elusive S32, whatever then goes down on paper for signing will be read/amended/re-written by her before we sign anything.

Excellent choice. I always get a little nervous at self-drafted clauses. Most don't get challenged, but the idea is to give you some leverage in negotiating or withdrawing from the offer. I figure a little extra in legal advice is probably worth the cost.

That said; I do particularly like the idea about requiring the bank val to stand up to the offer, as an addition to the finance clause. Nice one.

As an aside; I'm seeing quite a few properties lately with delayed 32's. I am starting to wonder if it is a deliberate tactic by agents to give them time to drum up interest in multiple parties rather than allowing the vendor to accept the first offer that comes in the door. Clever.
 
As an aside; I'm seeing quite a few properties lately with delayed 32's. I am starting to wonder if it is a deliberate tactic by agents to give them time to drum up interest in multiple parties rather than allowing the vendor to accept the first offer that comes in the door. Clever.

This seems a constant over a number of years that I have interacted with agents. Maybe they are playing a game, or maybe its just slackness from conveyancer/solicitor or vendor in getting the documentation together. :rolleyes: I suspect a lot of it is more of the latter IMO.
 
Perhaps a lot of vendors dont want to go to the trouble/expense of preparing a section 32 until they have a firm offer? Perhaps its the agents fault, trying to get them to sell before they are ready to commit to preparing the section 32.
 
Round where we live, it's almost all auctions - and it's very rare to go to the first open, four weeks before the actual auction day, and find an agent with a Section 32. In 12 years of buying and selling and snooping around property in Melbourne, I think I've encountered it once. Seems to me, it's standard practice to delay as long as possible with the section 32, especially if there might be an issue with it. Some times they're not available until a couple of days before the auction - so no private deal is possible.
 
Well, looks like this one may have passed us by.

I have just had a call from the agent, apparently they now have the S32 and she is about to send it through.

However, there has been another offer this morning. Surprise surprise.

The agent has told me that the other offer is $10k more than ours, so I was waiting for the old do you want to up your offer line.

What she said was that the vendor is still happy to proceed with our offer, but on the condition that we drop the finance clause. I said we'd sleep on it but want to see the S32 first.

I have no doubt the bank will lend the money, it is all approved in principle, we have 2 fairly high incomes, no kids, no debt, plenty of equity and are no where ear mortgaged up. My worry with the finance would be the valuation coming back low.

I really don't foresee a problem with finance, but being our first IP here, I'm very reluctant to drop the finance clause.

I think all we can do is take a look at the S32, re-word out offer via the conveyancer , leaving the finance clause in but expanding on the reasons why it shouldn't fall over. It looks to be a great property, but I guess we'll just have to walk away if he wont accept the finance clause.

What is so frustrating is that, assuming the agent is telling the truth, the other party only viewed the property this morning. If we'd had the S32 yesterday we could have had the offer sorted. Apparently, the other buyer is quite savvy - the agent tried to put them off viewing this morning as they were expect in the S32 this afternoon, but the buyer was adamant that he wanted a viewing as he knew without an S32 available that our offer was worthless.

Watch this space - we'll see what tomorrow brings, (or rather by the looks of things doesn't bring).

T.
 
Sorry, I had totally forgot about this thread.

Well, as we thought might happen, we lost the place. Apparently the other offer was from an estate agent who obviously knew that without an S32 our offer could not have been officially accepted. He put an offer in of 10k more than ours and no clauses, we weren't prepared to take out the finance clause, so we lost out. The cynic in me thought it may have been a ploy to extort another $10k onto our offer, but the next day a sold sign went p and we heared nothing since. So, chalk that one down to experience.

At the time, we had seen all the stock in that area and nothing else hit the spot. We got a bit lethargic about it all ove Christmas, so still havent looked at anything else yet. Not sure what to do now as we'd like to move oursleves, and we can't afford to both move and buy an IP. Bit of a pain, as the longer we take to decide, the more the price of an IP goes up!
 
I know the feeling. Im going through motions as we speak. Hopefully i dont get the same treatment today when i go in and make an offer. Luckly we(Perth) dont have a section 32. Although im probably going to find that it exists in some other form..

Best of luck with your hunting. Dont give up

RC
 
Just quietly, i know all's done and dusted now.

But for the record, offering $50k below asking atm isn't likely going to get you far.

I know legally an agent must present all offers to the vendors, but i also know that many agents will not present them with all offers if there are enough on the table. They will push back any below the asking price. Then again depends where you are buying really...

But goodluck, and hopefully you'll find something worthwhile at a price that matches the property. :)
 
Asking price was $349k, our accepted offer was $335k, (14k below asking). According to the selling agent, the last minute offer from the other party was $10k over ours, ($345k) but the vendor would still honour our offer of $335k as long as we took out the finance clause.
 
Asking price was $349k, our accepted offer was $335k, (14k below asking). According to the selling agent, the last minute offer from the other party was $10k over ours, ($345k) but the vendor would still honour our offer of $335k as long as we took out the finance clause.

Appologies, i must've looked over that part.
 
Asking price was $349k, our accepted offer was $335k, (14k below asking). According to the selling agent, the last minute offer from the other party was $10k over ours, ($345k) but the vendor would still honour our offer of $335k as long as we took out the finance clause.


In hindsight would you have paid 10K above(matching the other offer) with the financial clause??

Really silly question:

What is one liable for - if the finance clause is not included and finance falls over. (apart from the deposit of course which covers agents fees?)
Without a finance clause does it become like an auction where there is no wayout or to loose your deposit?
 
Even without a finance clause, you'd still have a cooling off period, as long as you didn't get legal advice before signing the contract.
 
Propagate

I am missing something here the vendor was going to accept your offer which was 10k less than the best offer if you took the clause out. Why would someone be so stupid as to have two offers on the table ( if hypothetically you took the clause out) and willing to accept the lower amount. Does the original vendor own any more properties that he is willing to sell, as long as he won't accept the best price I might put some offers in
Jezza
 
Propagate

I am missing something here the vendor was going to accept your offer which was 10k less than the best offer if you took the clause out. Why would someone be so stupid as to have two offers on the table ( if hypothetically you took the clause out) and willing to accept the lower amount. Does the original vendor own any more properties that he is willing to sell, as long as he won't accept the best price I might put some offers in
Jezza


Maybe the Vendors thought that the OP had better financial arrangements. Also it wasnt much difference in the bids so the Vendor might have thought of "honouring" the original deal they previously had with OP. or Maybe they just liked OP - I know it sounds silly but a good friend's dad sold his house to a couple for a slightly lesser bid -than a developer. There is a big human element to such dealings.
 
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