From Contract to Settlement: What Happens Next

The short answer

Once your offer is accepted or you win at auction, there are a few key steps before you get the keys: exchanging contracts, formal approval, signing your loan documents, and settlement.

You won’t be doing it alone. Our team, including a dedicated settlement officer, coordinates with your lender and conveyancer right through to settlement day.

Step 1: Make an offer or bid

Before you make an offer or bid at auction, make sure you have a current pre-approval, and that we’ve verified your target area and property type. Let us know as soon as you’re serious about a property, so we can check it with your lender early.

Step 2: Exchange of contracts

Exchange is when you and the seller sign the contract and it becomes binding.

• The deposit: you usually pay a deposit at exchange, often 10% of the price. This can sometimes be negotiated down to 5%, or covered by a deposit bond.
• Cooling-off: in NSW, private sales usually come with a five business day cooling-off period. If you pull out during it, you generally forfeit 0.25% of the price. Rules differ in other states.
• Finance clauses: in some states, contracts are commonly made “subject to finance”, giving you time to get formal approval.
• Private sales are negotiable: outside of auctions, almost everything can be negotiated, including the settlement timeframe, when the cooling-off period ends, and other conditions of the contract. Your conveyancer or solicitor can help you ask for terms that suit your timing.
• Auctions: there’s no cooling-off period and no finance clause. If you win, you’re committed.

Step 3: Formal approval

We submit the contract to your lender to turn your pre-approval into formal, or unconditional, approval. The lender values the property and confirms your final documents and circumstances.

Once you’re formally approved, the lender issues your loan documents.

Step 4: Loan documents

We check your loan documents match what was approved. Then you sign them, either electronically or on paper with a witness, depending on the lender.

Return them promptly. Late documents are one of the most common causes of settlement delays.

Step 5: The settlement period

The time between exchange and settlement is set in your contract, commonly around six weeks, though it can be negotiated. During this time:

• Your conveyancer prepares for settlement: including calculating adjustments for rates, water and strata levies.
• You get ready: arrange building insurance if you’re buying a house, and have any remaining funds ready to transfer.
• Pre-settlement inspection: a final walk-through, usually in the days before settlement, to check the property is in the condition agreed.

Step 6: Settlement day

• It happens online: most settlements are now electronic. Your lender, your conveyancer and the seller’s representatives transfer funds and ownership, and you don’t usually need to attend.
• The keys: once settlement is complete, the agent releases the keys. Congratulations, it’s yours.

Who does what

Who	Their role
You	Sign and return documents, arrange insurance and funds, and attend the pre-settlement inspection
Your broker	Manages your loan from pre-approval to formal approval, and checks your loan documents
Our settlement officer	Keeps you updated, and coordinates with your lender and conveyancer through to settlement
Your lender	Values the property, issues formal approval and loan documents, and releases the funds
Your conveyancer or solicitor	Reviews the contract, handles searches and adjustments, and manages settlement
The agent	Represents the seller, holds the deposit, and hands over the keys

Ready for the next step?

From your first offer to settlement day and beyond, our team of lending specialists and our dedicated settlement officer are with you every step of the way.

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General information only. This article does not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs and is not credit, financial or legal advice. Contract terms, cooling-off rules and settlement processes vary by state and transaction. Seek advice from a licensed credit adviser and a conveyancer or solicitor before acting. Insight Property Finance.