Learn · Property due diligence
What to check before making an offer on a house
Cooling-off, conditions and vendor documents differ by state. No national rule. Checks before you sign.
Districts Research · ·
Before an offer
Turn every material unknown into a condition, or carry it knowingly.
- KnownSourced before you write the number
- UnknownCondition, or a risk you accept
Swipe the panels.
The question
What should I check before I put an offer on a house?
An offer is the moment research becomes a contract. There is no single Australian cooling-off rule. New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory each publish a different clock, trigger and exception. Western Australia and Tasmania do not give a statutory cooling-off period for a residential sale unless the contract inserts one.
Write three times on the file: before you sign, before the contract is unconditional, and after that. Cooling-off, where it exists, is a short statutory right with a penalty in some states. It is not a substitute for a building inspection or a finance clause. Auction rules are a different page. This page is private treaty.
Before signing, before unconditional, and later
The same check can sit in a different column depending on the state. In Western Australia a signed offer and acceptance is usually binding once acceptance is communicated, unless you inserted conditions. In New South Wales exchange starts a five-business-day cooling-off period for most residential contracts. Do not copy one state’s timetable onto another.
| When | What has to be true | What is still open |
|---|---|---|
| Before you sign | You know which cooling-off rule applies, if any. The contract has been read. Finance, inspection and other conditions you need are on the document or you have already done that work. | The seller may not have signed yet. In Victoria the buyer-side cooling-off clock is described as starting from the date you sign, not the date the seller signs. |
| Before the contract is unconditional | Every condition you bargained for has been satisfied or waived in writing. Statutory cooling-off, if it applied, has ended or been waived under that state’s method. | Insurance, final lender valuation and settlement adjustments can still move. |
| Later, through settlement | Title, adjustments and any remaining searches your conveyancer named for that jurisdiction. | Building defects that only appear after you occupy. Those were never guaranteed by a cooling-off clock. |
Cooling-off by state, as official pages stood on 11 September 2026
Read the row for the land you are buying. If a 2026 fee, day count or form cannot be confirmed on the live official page, this table says so. Your conveyancer applies the current instrument to the contract in front of them.
| Jurisdiction | Clock on the official page | Usual cost of withdrawing | Common exceptions named in official material |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Five business days after exchange, ending at 5pm on the fifth business day. Off-the-plan: ten business days. Can be reduced or extended by written agreement. Waived with a s66W certificate from your solicitor or conveyancer. | 0.25 per cent of the purchase price ($250 per $100,000 on the NSW Government worked figure). | No cooling-off if the property is sold by public auction, or if the contract is made on the same day the property was offered at public auction but passed in. Also none if a s66W certificate is given at or before the contract is made. |
| Victoria | Three clear business days for private sales of residential property and rural property under 20 hectares. Consumer Affairs Victoria: the period begins from the date you sign, not the date the seller signs. Give written notice to the seller or the seller’s agent. | The greater of $100 or 0.2 per cent of the purchase price, deducted from money already paid. | No cooling-off at a public auction, or within three clear business days before or after a public auction. Also none if the buyer is a company or an estate agent, if the property is mainly industrial or commercial, if it is more than 20 hectares and mainly farming, or if you previously signed a contract for the same property on the same terms. |
| Queensland | Five business days, starting the day the buyer receives a copy signed by both parties (next business day if that copy arrives on a weekend or public holiday). Ends at 5pm on the fifth day. Written signed notice to the seller or agent. Can be waived or shortened in writing. | The seller may deduct a termination penalty of 0.25 per cent of the purchase price and must refund the rest of the deposit within 14 days on the housing-advice page. | No cooling-off for a sale by auction; for a follow-up sale after an unsuccessful auction before 5pm on the second business day if the buyer was a registered bidder; for an option (or a sale formed from an option); if the buyer is a listed corporation or the State; or if the buyer is buying at least three lots at the same time. |
| Western Australia | No mandatory cooling-off. Consumer Protection: a signed offer and acceptance becomes the contract once acceptance is communicated, unless the parties insert a cooling-off term. | None as a statutory cooling-off cost, because there is no statutory right. Walking away after acceptance is a contract question for your lawyer. | Auction is not a special statutory exception here, because there is no statutory cooling-off to lose. Conditions exist only if you put them in the offer. |
| South Australia | SA Government: in many cases two business days, starting when you receive the vendor’s statement (Form 1) or from the date the contract was signed, whichever happens last. Form 1 states the exceptions and how to serve the notice. Read the current form. Do not reconstruct the Form 1 schedule from memory. | The official consumer page describes withdrawal during the period without treating you as legally responsible for the sale. Confirm any deduction on the current Form 1. This page does not invent one. | No cooling-off if you buy at auction. Other exceptions are on Form 1. Sometimes a vendor will ask you to waive cooling-off on a pre-auction offer. That waiver is a legal step, not a casual tick. |
| Tasmania | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services: cooling-off periods for residential property sales are not a requirement under the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016. The standard Law Society / institute contract may include an optional cooling-off clause. Read the contract you are given. Do not assume a three-day statutory right. | Only if the contract you signed created one. The Act does not set a statutory penalty for a residential sale cooling-off, because it does not require the period. | Auction: CBOS says there is no cooling-off. Do not confuse a residential sale with a residential building work contract, which has a separate statutory cooling-off under building law. |
| ACT | Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 s12: the period begins when the contract is made and ends at 5pm on the fifth working day after that day. Waiver or shortening needs legal advice and a lawyer’s certificate that complies with s17. | If you rescind under s14, you forfeit 0.25 per cent of the purchase price to the seller, recoverable from the deposit. | No cooling-off if the buyer is a corporation; if the sale is by tender or auction; if the contract is made on the same day the property was passed in at auction and you were recorded in the bidders record; or if you waived under s13. |
| Northern Territory | NT.GOV.AU contract-of-sale page: contracts not sold by auction must give the buyer four business days. The period starts the day the contract is last signed by either party and exchanged. It may be waived, reduced or extended by agreement with the seller. | The same official page says the buyer can cancel without penalty or explanation. That is the current NT Government wording. Confirm it on the day you act. | No cooling-off for a sale by auction. NT.GOV.AU auctions page: a successful bid is an unconditional contract and a deposit is due. Pre-auction accepted offers are usually signed as unconditional too. |
NSW cooling-off notices on contracts exchanged from 1 June 2026 must use the updated prescribed form. A transitional rule allowed the old or new form until 31 May 2026. That is a form change, not a change to the five-day count.
Vendor documents that are not a national certificate
The cooling-off clock and the disclosure pack are different objects. NSW attaches a s10.7(2) planning certificate to the contract. Victoria requires a s32 vendor statement before the buyer signs. South Australia requires Form 1. Tasmania issues a s337 Council Land Information Certificate on application; CBOS also says the Property Agents Act does not require defect disclosure. Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT and the Northern Territory do not use one statewide “10.7” name. The ACT Act does require certain documents to be available for inspection with the proposed contract. Ask the conveyancer which pack that jurisdiction actually uses. See zoning.
Conditions you may need, without drafted wording
A private-treaty contract can carry finance, building and pest, and other conditions if the seller agrees. This page will not draft those clauses. Tell your conveyancer what is still unknown: flood information, a missing DA register, an uninspected roof, a lender that has not seen the property. They will put the unknown on the contract or tell you the work has to be finished before you sign.
Vendors can refuse conditions. That is a negotiation. It is not a reason to pretend the check is closed. In a state with no statutory cooling-off, a condition you did not insert is work you have already given away.
Traps that treat cooling-off as a national right
These mistakes import one state’s clock into another.
- Assuming every Australian private sale has five days. Western Australia and Tasmania do not give a statutory period. Victoria’s period is three clear business days and does not apply near an auction.
- Using cooling-off as the building inspection. In NSW you still pay 0.25 per cent if you walk away. In WA you may have no walk-away right at all.
- Signing in Victoria within three clear business days of an advertised auction and expecting a private-sale cooling-off.
- Waiving NSW rights with a s66W certificate, or ACT rights with a s17 certificate, without understanding that the contract is then unconditional from that moment.
- Treating a friendly agent’s summary of “the usual five days” as the law of the land you are buying.
What cooling-off does not establish
It does not establish that the price is fair, that the building is sound, or that finance will be approved. It does not replace a condition you failed to bargain for. Districts does not compute a cooling-off end date and does not hold the contract. Where a planning or flood field is unknown, cooling-off is not a substitute for that source.
How Districts is used before an offer
Read the property page and mark the ten checks. Unknown slots are the list you take to the conveyancer as conditions or as work to finish before you sign. Districts will not tell you the cooling-off rule for that state. Use the official consumer or legislation page in the sources, then your conveyancer.
How to confirm the clock on the day you sign
Open the official consumer or legislation page for that state. Ask your conveyancer which trigger applies to this contract: exchange, buyer signature, receipt of a fully signed copy, or Form 1 service. Ask whether an auction, a passed-in sale, a company buyer or a waiver certificate has already removed the right. If the live page and this table disagree, the live page and your conveyancer win.
Common questions
Is there one Australian cooling-off period?
No. The length, the start trigger, the penalty and the auction exceptions are set by each state and territory. Western Australia and Tasmania have no statutory residential-sale cooling-off unless the contract creates one.
Can I use cooling-off instead of a building inspection?
Cooling-off, where it exists, is a short statutory right and some states charge a percentage if you use it. It is not an inspection. Book the inspection before you sign, or have your conveyancer put a condition on the contract if the seller will accept one.
How Districts derives it
Explore using Districts
Sources
Official material this page used. Dates are when Districts checked the page, not the life of the instrument.
NSW Government
Contracts and deposits when buying property in NSW
Five business days from exchange to 5pm on day five; 10 days off the plan; 0.25 per cent; s66W waiver.
Checked
NSW legislation
Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2022, Schedule 5 cooling-off statement
No cooling-off if sold by public auction, or if the contract is made on the same day as a passed-in public auction, or if a s66W certificate is given.
Checked
NSW Government
Off-the-plan cooling-off is 10 business days; 0.25 per cent if the buyer pulls out.
Checked
Consumer Affairs Victoria
Buying property by private sale
Three clear business days from the date the buyer signs; greater of $100 or 0.2 per cent; listed exceptions including auction proximity.
Checked
Queensland Government
Cooling-off period for residential property contracts (for buyers only)
Five business days from receipt of a fully signed copy; auction and registered-bidder follow-up exemptions; written waiver.
Checked
Queensland Government
Cooling-off period (housing advice)
Notice mechanics; deposit refund within 14 days less up to 0.25 per cent.
Checked
WA Consumer Protection
Buying property by private sale
No mandatory cooling-off for real estate contracts made in Western Australia.
Checked
Government of Western Australia
Commissioner’s blog: considerations before making an offer on a property
Restates that WA has no mandatory cooling-off, so research belongs before a written offer.
Checked
SA Government
Rules for offers, auctions and buying off the plan
Two-business-day cooling-off in many cases; clock from Form 1 or contract, whichever is last; Form 1 carries the exceptions.
Checked
Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (Tasmania)
Advice when buying or selling property
No statutory residential-sale cooling-off under the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016; optional contract clause only.
Checked
ACT legislation
Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, current, ss12 to 15
Five working days from the day the contract is made; 0.25 per cent forfeit; auction, tender, corporation and same-day passed-in exceptions; s17 certificate to waive.
Checked
Northern Territory Government
Four business days on contracts not sold by auction; starts on the day last signed and exchanged; cancel without penalty on the current NT.GOV.AU wording.
Checked
Related guides
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Sort recorded sales into strong, reasonable, weak and false comps. Adjust directionally. Thin evidence is a finding, not a valuation.
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Move each finding from a research page to the document or person who can resolve it. Zone, flood, title, works.
Research purposes only. Not personal financial advice, a valuation, or a planning certificate. Always speak to a licensed financial adviser before you act.