Western Australia: from offer and acceptance to settlement day

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Kooky

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

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A home sale in Western Australia turns on one signed form. The buyer writes an offer on a standard form, the seller accepts it, and from the moment that acceptance is communicated the two are bound. Everything that protects either side after that point has to be written into the document before it is signed, or comes from the printed general conditions that travel with it.

That makes the weeks between acceptance and settlement worth understanding in detail. This guide follows the sale in order, using what Consumer Protection, the state's fair trading regulator, the Department of Finance's transfer duty pages and Landgate, the land titles agency, publish: what the contract is made of, how the deposit is held, how a finance condition works, what a settlement agent is engaged to do and how the fee is quoted, when duty has to be lodged and paid, and what each side owes the other on and around settlement day.

Consumer Protection's property settlement page and fact sheet, and the Western Australian Government's "About transfer duty" page, read in October 2026.

Two documents make one contract

Consumer Protection explains that offers on Western Australian property are usually made on two documents used together. The first is the Contract for Sale of Land or Strata Title by Offer and Acceptance, which the regulator shortens to the O & A. The second is the Joint Form of General Conditions for the Sale of Land, known as the General Conditions.

The regulator's guide to sale by offer and acceptance says who stands behind each. The wording of the O & A is owned by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia. The General Conditions are owned jointly by the institute and the Law Society of Western Australia. The guide records that the General Conditions were amended in 2011 to reflect changes brought by the Duties Act 2008; it gives no later edition, so the edition attached to a particular contract is something to read on the document itself.

The O & A is the part that is filled in. According to Consumer Protection it carries the details of the property, the names of the seller and the buyer, the seller's agent if there is one, the legal practitioners or settlement agents acting for each side, the purchase price, the deposit paid, the balance owing at settlement and any special conditions.

The General Conditions are the standing rules behind it. Consumer Protection lists what they deal with: encumbrances or claims on the title, the deposit, settlement, delays and penalty interest, possession, the seller's representations, costs such as connection to underground power and sewerage, errors, risk, default, interpretation and strata disclosure.

How an offer becomes binding

The buyer's offer is made in writing on the O & A. The regulator's guide says a seller can answer with a counter-offer, or accept the offer and communicate that acceptance to the buyer. A signed O & A becomes a binding contract once the seller's acceptance has been communicated, and each party must receive a signed copy. Until the buyer and the seller agree on all of its terms, the guide says, the O & A is not binding.

A counter-offer is not a fresh form. It is made by amending the O & A itself: the guide says each change must be initialled and dated by both parties. The same discipline applies to any extra condition, which the regulator says should be signed and dated.

Two procedural points come from the same guide. An agent must pass every written offer to the seller as soon as practicable, and signatures are witnessed by the seller's agent or by an independent witness.

No cooling-off unless the contract adds one

One line of the regulator's guide shapes everything that follows: there is no mandatory cooling-off period for real estate contracts in the state. A cooling-off period exists only if the buyer and the seller agree to insert one into the contract.

The practical effect is that the conditions written into the contract carry the weight. The guide lists what a special condition must state: what action is required, by when, who is responsible for it, who pays, and what follows if it is not completed. Like every other change to the form, a special condition is initialled by both parties, signed and dated.

The deposit and who holds it

No law fixes the deposit. The guide puts it plainly: no deposit is required, but an amount can be negotiated. Where one is agreed, the guide says it is generally no more than 10 per cent of the price and can be much less. It can be paid in parts, with at least some paid on acceptance and, generally, all of it within 7 days of acceptance.

The deposit does not go to the seller. Where an agent is selling the property, the seller's agent holds it in a trust account as a stakeholder. The guide gives the only three ways it can be released: the consent of both parties, proper notice under the General Conditions, or a court order. In a private sale with no agent, the guide says the deposit goes into the trust account of the buyer's nominated settlement agent or solicitor, again not to the seller.

A larger or longer-held deposit can earn interest for the buyer. Where the deposit is more than A$20,000, or settlement is not due within 60 days, the guide says the buyer can ask in writing for it to be placed in a separate interest-bearing account. The interest belongs to the buyer, less bank fees and charges.

Paying late has a defined consequence. If the deposit is not paid as agreed, the contract is breached, and the guide says the seller can give written notice requiring payment within 48 hours, failing which the contract is cancelled. What happens to a deposit when a buyer defaults at a later stage is dealt with in the General Conditions; the regulator's pages read for this guide do not give a figure for it.

Finance and other conditions

Finance is handled on the face of the form. The guide says a buyer who needs a loan ticks "Finance Clause Is Applicable" on the first page and checks the conditions under "1. Subject to finance" on the second; a buyer who does not need one ticks "Finance Clause Is Not Applicable".

The condition asks something of the buyer in return. Unless the buyer amends it, Consumer Protection lists these duties:

1. Use best endeavours to obtain finance, applying to at least one financial institution.
2. Provide written evidence of a loan application if asked for it in writing.
3. Give notice immediately if the loan is approved.
4. Give notice immediately if the loan is refused, with written evidence of the rejection.

A buyer can name a preferred lender. If that lender does not grant the loan, the guide says the O & A is no longer binding on the buyer. It also notes that finance counts as approved only when all of the lender's conditions have been met.

What happens at the deadline is less automatic than it sounds. Consumer Protection says that if finance is not obtained in time the contract may be terminated, and that the term can be extended if both parties agree and amend the contract. But it adds that even without finance the contract may still be enforceable: it becomes voidable rather than void, and either party must give the appropriate notice to bring it to an end. The latest time for approval is whatever the parties wrote on the form; the regulator's pages do not state a default.

Other conditions follow the same pattern. For a building inspection, the guide refers to Australian Standard AS 4349.1-2007. For a timber pest inspection it refers to AS 4349.3-1998.

A buyer whose purchase depends on selling another property may meet the "48-hour clause". The guide explains that it is used where the offer depends on that other sale, and the name is not literal: it gives the buyer the equivalent of two business days to make the offer unconditional if the seller receives another unconditional offer.

Insurance becomes a question on the day of signing. The guide says the seller must minimise the risk of damage before settlement, and that once both parties have signed the O & A the buyer has an insurable interest in the property and can arrange insurance from that point.

Appointing a settlement agent

Consumer Protection defines property settlement as the process of transferring a property from a seller to a buyer. The work is done, on each side, by a settlement agent or by a lawyer. The regulator's advice is that a person who is not a suitably qualified lawyer should use a licensed settlement agent or a lawyer, and it states that settlement agents must be licensed to operate in the state. Its fact sheet acknowledges that a party may conduct their own settlement, and Landgate confirms that a self-represented buyer or seller can lodge the Transfer of Land form directly, and publishes a Simple Transfer of Land Guide for them.

The engagement itself is formal. The agent provides a Form 1, "Appointment to act as Settlement Agent", for the client to sign. Where a relationship could cause a conflict of interest, the agent must also give a Form 2 disclosure notice before the appointment is signed.

One agent acting for both sides is the exception. Consumer Protection says a settlement agent cannot act for both the buyer and the seller unless both give permission on the appointment form, and that if a conflict arises the agent must withdraw from acting for all parties. A client can choose or change their settlement agent at any time, though work already done may have to be paid for.

The regulator lists what the agent is engaged to do:

• complete and lodge the documents that transfer the certificate of title;
• make enquiries about the title, rates and zoning;
• confirm that inspections and special conditions have been completed before settlement;
• request the funds needed to proceed;
• keep the client informed of progress;
• attend settlement on the client's behalf.

Identity is part of the job. Consumer Protection says agents must carry out their own identity checks. Landgate, for its part, states that the identity of the persons signing as transferors and transferees must be verified.

Settlement agents' fees were once capped by a scale of maximum fees. Consumer Protection's guidance on deregulation records that fee regulation ended on 3 February 2016, since when an agent sets its own fee. In its place came a disclosure rule in the Settlement Agents' Code of Conduct 1982: before the client signs the Form 1, the agent must give a written quote stating the maximum amount it will charge.

That maximum, which the guidance calls the service amount, has to cover all fees, commissions, charges and general office disbursements for the transaction. The guidance also places the single transaction fee of the electronic settlement platform it names, PEXA, among general office disbursements.

Left outside the service amount are costs the agent pays on the client's behalf: duty under the Duties Act 2008, other statutory charges such as Landgate or council search fees, financial institution fees and third-party commissions.

The quote binds the agent. Consumer Protection says an agent cannot charge more than the disclosed amount unless there is a significant change in the scope of the work, the client is notified in writing and agrees, and the extra charge is reasonable.

Transfer duty: lodged within two months, paid before settlement

Duty runs on its own clock, which starts well before settlement day. The Western Australian Government's "About transfer duty" page says the instrument, here the contract, must be self-assessed or lodged within two months after the date that liability for duty on the transaction arises. The page does not define that date itself. It says the party responsible for payment, usually the purchaser, must make sure the transaction is lodged, and that a land purchase must include a completed Form FDA41 for each person acquiring.

In practice the buyer's representative lodges. The Government's lodgment page says Duties Lodgments is for licensed Western Australian settlement agents or lawyers registered for Online Duties, and that anyone else uses the Duties Online Services Portal. Lodgments that are not self-assessed are assessed in date order of receipt.

On payment, the same page gives two tests that both have to be met: duty is payable by the due date on the individual assessment notice, and it must be paid prior to settlement. A certificate of duty can be printed only after the payment has been processed and the transaction shows as endorsed. Consumer Protection's fact sheet shows why that matters on the day, since one of the things the representatives confirm at settlement is that duty has been paid.

Working out the duty on a home

The Department of Finance explains that duty is the relevant rate applied to the dutiable value of the transaction, which is generally the consideration, meaning the price. Where the unencumbered value of the property is greater than the price, that value is used instead, and where GST is payable the dutiable value includes it.

A worked example, assuming a home bought for A$650,000 at the general rate with no concession: the price is A$290,000 above A$360,000, which is 2,900 units of A$100. At A$4.75 each that is A$13,775, and adding the A$11,115 base gives duty of A$24,890.

The department's page also sets out a first home owner rate. For a home, in the period its table dates from 7 May 2026, no duty is charged up to A$600,000, and between A$600,001 and A$800,000 the duty is A$16.15 per A$100 above A$600,000, with the general rate applying above A$800,000. As a worked example on those figures, an eligible first home bought for A$700,000 would carry duty of A$16,150, which is 1,000 units at A$16.15, against A$27,265 at the general rate for the same price.

The final inspection and settlement day

The settlement date is the one the buyer wrote into the O & A and the seller accepted. Consumer Protection gives two reference points for it that do not quite match. Its property settlement page says the settlement period is usually 30 to 90 days. Its fact sheet suggests setting settlement 28 days after the offer becomes unconditional or finance approval is received. The contract decides.

Before the day, the buyer gets a last look. The fact sheet says the seller must give the buyer the opportunity of a final inspection within the five business days before the settlement date or the possession date.

The fact sheet describes settlement as a meeting of the two representatives, at the office of the buyer's mortgagee or at Landgate. They confirm that the obligations and conditions of the contract have been met, that duty has been paid, that the title is clear, and that the documents are correctly signed and can be registered. The seller's representative then receives the balance of the purchase price, and the buyer's representative registers the documents. The representatives notify their clients and the real estate agents, and arrangements are made for the keys. The fact sheet does not describe a settlement completed electronically.

The result, in Consumer Protection's words on its settlement page, is that the buyer pays the balance of the price, receives the title, becomes the registered owner and takes possession. Rates are split by the same date: the seller is responsible for rates up to and including the day of settlement, and the buyer from the day after.

Possession, keys and tenants

Possession comes with settlement, but the fact sheet records one allowance. A seller who has been living in the home may stay until noon on the day after settlement, and is liable for any damage during that time. On leaving, the seller must remove vehicles, rubbish and any chattels that were not sold with the property, and hand over all keys and access devices.

A tenanted property brings the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 into the sale. For a periodic tenancy, the fact sheet says the seller must give the tenant at least 30 days' notice, on Form 1C. A tenant on a fixed term may stay until the term expires, and the buyer becomes the new landlord.

When settlement runs late

The General Conditions allow a short margin and then put a price on delay. According to the fact sheet, if the seller is ready and the buyer does not settle within three business days of the agreed date, the buyer pays penalty interest on the balance of the price, calculated daily from the original date and not from the end of the three days. The rule runs the other way too: if the buyer is ready and the seller delays beyond three business days, the seller pays compensation calculated in the same manner, which the buyer may deduct from the money owed.

The fact sheet leaves the rate to the General Conditions. The regulator's guide to sale by offer and acceptance gives it as 9 per cent a year, calculated daily; that guide carries no publication date, so the figure is to be checked against the edition of the General Conditions attached to the contract. A worked example on the guide's figure, assuming a price of A$650,000, a deposit of A$20,000 and so a balance of A$630,000, a 365-day year and a settlement completed 10 days after the agreed date: a year's interest on the balance would be A$56,700, which is A$155.34 a day, or A$1,553.42 for the 10 days.

In Western Australia the contract is final when acceptance is communicated, so the protection a buyer has is the protection written on the form.

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.

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