When you buy a property in Australia, you will hear and see Form 1, so what exactly is Form 1 and what does it do?
Form1 is a detailed description of the property provided by the seller. Under part 7 of Act the Land and Business (Sale and Conveyancing) Act 1994, the buyer must hand over Form 1 to the buyer.
The cooling-off period is two working days after receiving the Form1 from the customer. Note that it is the working day and the weekend does not count, so the cooling-off period of receiving Form1, on Friday is until midnight on Monday next week. (except in the case of auctions) If the customer receives Form 1 prior to signing the contract, the cooling-off period begins when the contract is signed (except in the case of auctions).
So, what exactly is written in a thick Form 1? In general, Form 1 must contain the following:
- Introduction and role of Form 1;
- The details of the buyer and seller and the address of the property;
- The nature of the property right;
- The specific description of cooling-off period;
- Seller's statement;
- Tables of detailed information on loans and costs;
- A detailed description of the mortgage on the property;
- Whether there are common walls and other common buildings in the property, whether there are community-owned underground pipes, and whether there are special provisions for the use of the land, etc.
When reading From 1, be careful to see if there are leases on the easement (Easements), restricted contract (Restrictive Convenants), for the property, whether it is a restricted renovation for a national heritage building, and the last 12 months of trading history.
If you want to buy a property in Australia, you can ask for professional legal advice during the cooling-off period to help you understand all aspects of the property you are going to buy heavily.
