Bidding on a home in Western Australia: no conditions, no cooling-off

In this article

Written by

Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →

A buyer who makes a written offer on a house in Western Australia can attach conditions to it: a loan approval, a building report, the sale of another home. A buyer who raises a hand at an auction cannot. Consumer Protection, the state's fair trading regulator, says an offer made at auction cannot be subject to any condition, finance included, and that the highest bidder signs the contract straight away. The same regulator says Western Australia has no cooling-off period for real estate contracts. Put together, those two statements mean that everything a private buyer would normally check after signing has to be checked before the bidding starts.

This guide reads the auction from the bidder's side. It sets out what Consumer Protection publishes for buyers, what the Auction Sales Act 1973 adds, and where both are silent. It covers the work to do before auction day, the papers that become the contract, the reserve and vendor bids, the deposit, settlement, and what happens when a property is passed in. How auctioneers themselves are licensed is a separate subject and is left out here.

Consumer Protection (WA) guidance on real estate auctions; Auction Sales Act 1973 (WA), section 29, in the consolidated text last amended on 5 April 2023.

What the regulator publishes for bidders

Consumer Protection has three texts on the subject, and they do not carry the same dates. Its page on buying property at an auction was last updated on 14 April 2025. An older page titled Real estate auctions carries no modification date. A printable publication with the same title shows no date either. The three agree on the main rules and differ in small ways of wording, which this guide points out where it matters.

Two further Consumer Protection pages fill in the background. The page on buying property by private sale, last updated on 25 November 2024, describes the conditions a buyer can negotiate outside an auction. The home buyers glossary, last updated on 19 November 2024, defines the terms that appear in a contract. A page on property inspections, also last updated on 25 November 2024, explains building and timber pest reports.

The statute is the Auction Sales Act 1973. Its consolidated text on the Western Australian Legislation site was last amended by the Directors' Liability Reform Act 2023, which commenced on 5 April 2023. The Act is short on buyer rights. It says nothing about cooling-off, the reserve price, the deposit or the registration of bidders. What it does contain for a bidder is a rule on seller bids and two offences about dishonest selling, covered below.

The regulator describes a real estate auction as a public sale run by a licensed auctioneer, who may be the agent or someone the agent brings in. It is plain about loyalties: the agent and the auctioneer mainly act for the seller.

No conditions and no cooling-off

Two rules shape everything else. The first is that an auction bid is unconditional. Consumer Protection's publication says that, unlike a sale by private treaty, an offer at auction cannot be made subject to conditions such as repairs, or building or termite inspections, and cannot be made subject to finance approval. The 2025 page repeats it: offers at auction cannot be subject to conditions, including finance approval.

The second rule comes from the regulator's general pages, not from its auction pages. The page on private sales says there is no mandatory cooling-off period for real estate contracts made in Western Australia. The glossary puts it the same way: the state has none once a contract is signed, so the contract is binding at signing, and a cooling-off period applies only if the parties add one as a clause. None of the three auction texts mentions cooling-off at all.

The regulator also notes, on its private sale page, that Western Australia has no mandatory seller disclosure statement. The agent must disclose relevant facts, especially when asked directly. For a bidder, that makes questions put before the auction part of the preparation, a point the auction publication returns to.

How an auction differs from a private sale

Consumer Protection describes private treaty, where a buyer inspects and then makes a written offer, as the more common way to sell a home in Western Australia. Its account of that method shows what a bidder gives up by buying at auction.

In a private sale, the regulator says, the offer and acceptance document is not binding until buyer and seller agree on all terms, and counter offers are made by amending it, with each change initialled and dated. A deposit is not required there, and the page says that it would generally not exceed 10 per cent of the purchase price and is often considerably less. At an auction the negotiation is the bidding itself, and it lasts minutes.

The glossary's cooling-off entry also explains why a private buyer can sometimes create a way out: the parties may write one into the contract. The auction guidance offers a narrower route. A buyer who wants to change the conditions of sale, the 2025 page says, should get legal advice before the auction.

Finance and the deposit come first

Because a bid cannot depend on a loan, Consumer Protection tells buyers to have finance approved in advance. The glossary defines pre-approval as written, in-principle approval from a lender for a home loan up to a specific amount. The 2025 page asks buyers to arrange pre-approved finance and not to bid above their limit. The publication adds that the deposit is due at the close of the auction, so that money has to be available on the day as well.

A worked example shows the arithmetic. Assume a property sells for A$750,000 and the conditions of sale require a 10 per cent deposit. The deposit is A$75,000, payable when the contract is signed. The balance at settlement is A$750,000 less A$75,000, which is A$675,000. Assume also that the buyer's written pre-approval is for a loan of up to A$600,000. The gap between A$675,000 and A$600,000 is A$75,000, which the buyer would need in addition to the deposit. In this example the buyer has to find A$150,000 of their own money, before any other cost. These are illustrative figures. The actual deposit is the one the auctioneer announces and the conditions of sale record.

The regulator's sources do not say what follows when a winning bidder's loan is later refused. They say only that the bid was not conditional on it. The glossary does say that failing to pay a deposit as agreed is a breach of contract.

Inspections and questions before bidding

A building report or a timber pest report is something a private buyer can make the contract depend on. Consumer Protection's page on property inspections says both can be requested as a special condition, and that such a contract should cover who pays for inspections, who pays for repairs or treatment, and the ability to cancel the sale if there is substantial structural damage. None of that is open to a bidder, since an auction offer carries no conditions. The inspections page itself does not discuss auctions.

What the auction guidance says is that a bidder should inspect the property, and should ask before the auction starts whether a timber pest or building inspection has been done. The publication says to raise any unresolved question before bidding begins.

The inspections page describes what each report contains. A building inspection is carried out by a qualified person such as a building inspector, surveyor or architect, hired and paid by the buyer. The written report lists faults, says whether they can be repaired and notes any unsafe renovations or extensions. The page recommends an inspection service with full professional indemnity insurance. A timber pest inspection looks for termites, European house borers and other infestations in timber structures such as the roof, floor, outbuildings and fencing, and should follow AS 4349.3, the national standard for timber pest inspections and reports. Its report covers current activity, previous damage, areas likely to be infested in future and recommended maintenance.

The page makes one further point that applies where a seller has already commissioned a report: a seller may offer to pay for an inspection, but the report may then serve the seller's interests, while a buyer who hires an inspector sets the terms.

Beyond the building, the auction publication tells buyers to check with the local council and other authorities, and to form their own view of the property's value. The 2025 page lists future developments, restrictions, and strata rules and costs among the things to understand. Strata-titled lots such as units have special rules and may carry ongoing costs, the publication says.

The papers that become the contract

The contract at a Western Australian property auction is a form that exists before the auction begins. Consumer Protection names it the Auction Particulars and Conditions of Sale of Freehold Property. According to the 2025 page, it sets out:

• the auction date;
• the certificate of title and the location of the property;
• the chattels included;
• encumbrances and restrictions;
• zoning and use;
• any tenancies;
• the payment arrangements;
• the number of vendor bids.

The auctioneer reads the form out before bidding, and a buyer can ask for a copy beforehand. If the property sells, this form becomes the sales contract. A second document, the Joint Form of General Conditions for the Sale of Land, is generally attached and forms part of it. The glossary describes the Joint Form as the standard general conditions included in any property sale contract, covering deposit handling, settlement, the adjustment of outgoings and other payment responsibilities, and says changes to it need the agreement of both buyer and seller.

Several words in the particulars have defined meanings in the glossary. A certificate of title is a record of who owns a defined area of land and of any registered interests or claims against it. An encumbrance is a lodged or registered interest in land held by someone who is not the registered owner. An easement is a right for someone other than the owner to use another's land, such as a right of way. A restrictive covenant limits how land can be used, for instance by requiring particular building materials, and can be lifted only with the consent of the party named in it or by court order.

The glossary also separates what stays from what goes. Fixtures, such as carpets, downlights or built-in robes, are included in a sale unless a special condition excludes them. Chattels, such as a dishwasher, rugs or pot plants, are movable and are included only if a special condition says so. For a bidder, the chattels line of the particulars is where that question is answered.

Consumer Protection advises reading both documents carefully before the auction and taking legal advice if anything in them is unclear. A separate preparation step sits beside the paperwork: choosing who will handle the transfer. The publication says a winning bidder must nominate a conveyancer, settlement agent or lawyer immediately, unless they intend to settle themselves, and suggests choosing someone not connected to the seller or the agent to avoid a conflict of interest.

The reserve and the seller's bids

The reserve is the seller's minimum price. Consumer Protection says it is the minimum the seller will accept and that it is not disclosed to bidders. A bidder therefore does not know, when bidding opens, how far the price has to travel. The publication says bidding usually opens below the reserve.

Western Australia lets a seller bid, within limits set by statute. Section 29 of the Auction Sales Act 1973 says a sale may be notified in the conditions of sale as subject to the right of the seller, or of a person acting for the seller or the auctioneer, to make a bid or a specified number of bids. It is an offence for such a person to bid when no right was notified, or to make more bids than the number specified, and an offence for an auctioneer knowingly to take such a bid. The penalty is a fine of A$25,000. The Act does not define the conditions of sale and does not use the term dummy bidding.

Consumer Protection translates that for property. The seller or the agent may bid up to the reserve price, and the intended number of vendor bids must be stated in the conditions of sale. The undated page says sellers often reserve the right to make ten bids.

On how a bidder learns that a particular bid is the seller's, the three texts differ slightly. The 2025 page says the number of vendor bids is usually declared by the auctioneer at the start. The undated page says vendor bidding is legal and ethical when properly declared at the start of the auction and at the time of the bid. The publication suggests asking the auctioneer how vendor bids will be announced. The step common to all three is to read the vendor bid line of the particulars form before the auction.

A worked example, with assumed figures: the particulars allow ten vendor bids and the seller's reserve, unknown to the room, is A$800,000. A vendor bid of A$780,000 is within the regulator's description, because it is below the reserve and within the declared number. An eleventh vendor bid would exceed the number specified, which section 29 makes an offence. Because some of the bids may be the seller's, the publication tells buyers not to rely on other bidders to judge what a property is worth.

From the first bid to the signature

Consumer Protection's 2025 page sets out the order of events on the day.

The third step matters to a bidder because it is the only public signal about the reserve. Until the auctioneer says so, a bid may still be below the seller's minimum; after it, the highest bid buys the property. The auctioneer is able to sign for the seller because the seller's written instructions to the agent allow it once the highest bid meets or exceeds the reserve, the regulator explains.

Consumer Protection's pages do not describe a registration step for bidders, and the Auction Sales Act 1973 does not mention one.

Deposit and settlement

The wording on the deposit varies between the regulator's texts. The undated page says a deposit of 10 per cent of the purchase price is generally paid when the sales contract is signed at the close of the auction. The publication says only that the deposit is due at the close. The 2025 page says a deposit of about 10 per cent is due when the auction closes. In each version the figure is a general practice, and the amount for a given auction is the one in its conditions.

The balance is paid at settlement, which the regulator says is usually 30 days after the auction. The settlement date is written in the conditions of sale and must be initialled by the buyer and by the seller or the agent acting. As a worked example, an auction held on 1 March with settlement 30 days later gives a settlement date of 31 March. Settlement itself, the publication says, works the same way as for a private treaty sale. The glossary defines it as the date the sale is finalised and ownership transfers.

The glossary also describes what happens to a deposit in a dispute. If the seller wants to keep the deposit, the seller must notify the buyer and the agent holding it, and the buyer then has five business days to dispute the claim. On where the money sits meanwhile, the private sale page says a deposit paid through an agent is held in trust until settlement, or transferred to the trust account of the seller's legal practitioner or settlement agent. The auction texts do not describe the handling of an auction deposit separately.

When the property is passed in

If bidding stops below the reserve, the property is passed in and does not sell. Consumer Protection says the auctioneer or agent may then negotiate privately with the highest bidder or with other bidders. The regulator's wording gives the highest bidder no exclusive or first right: the talks may be with any of the bidders. Its texts do not say whether a sale agreed in those talks is made on the auction conditions or as an ordinary conditional offer, and none of them addresses a sale agreed before auction day.

The publication mentions one consequence for sellers that a negotiating bidder may find useful to know: an auction that fails to sell may affect the eventual price, because buyers will know the property was passed in.

At a Western Australian auction the loan, the inspection and the legal reading all come before the bid, because nothing can be made conditional once the bidding has started.

What the Act adds, and where it stops

Two offences in the Auction Sales Act 1973 concern what a bidder is told. Under section 24, it is an offence knowingly to make or publish, in the course of business as an auctioneer, a statement about a lot that is false or misleading in a material particular, whether about its value, description, character, quality or anything else. The penalty is a fine of A$25,000, and it is a defence to prove a belief on reasonable grounds that the statement was not false or misleading.

Section 25 prohibits mock auctions, with a fine of A$50,000 or imprisonment for 12 months. A sale may be a mock auction if a lot is sold to a person for less than their highest bid or with part of the price repaid or credited, if the right to bid is restricted to people who have already bought, if money or articles are given away with lots, or if a sale is obtained by deception. Refreshments, transport and catalogues provided free of charge do not count. Section 36 allows a police officer to enter, without a warrant, premises where an auction or mock auction is reasonably believed to be under way, and section 35 requires a prosecution to begin within two years of the alleged offence.

The Act is less helpful on bidding for someone else. Its only provisions on a successful bidder who was acting for another person, and on agreements between bidders to abstain from bidding, are in section 31 and apply to livestock and farm produce. For land, the Act is silent, and Consumer Protection's auction texts do not address a person who bids on behalf of a relative, a company or a client. That question is left to the conditions of sale and to legal advice taken before the day.

The framework may change. Consumer Protection's page on auction sales reform, last updated on 23 April 2026, reports that a review of the Act drew 42 submissions and 12 survey responses, and that the decision paper that followed recommends keeping the Act to regulate conduct through current and additional standards. The page does not describe those standards and does not mention real estate auctions specifically. Until Parliament amends the Act, a bidder's protections remain the ones set out above: the declared vendor bid, the two offences, and the preparation done before the auctioneer starts.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →