The Contract for Sale will define the conditional due date for the completion of the settlement, which can be defined as a fixed date (e.g. 1st of January) or a calculated date (e.g. 30 days from acceptance of the offer by the Seller).
Other key dates contained in the Contract for Sale can be one or more of the following:

Finance approval
When a Buyer is seeking finance to purchase the property, the Contract for Sale will define terms and conditions for the date that their finance approval (or non-approval) is due. The Contract for Sale may also state the amount of funds needing to be financed and the Buyer’s preferred lender.

Building and timber pest inspections
It is common for a Contract for Sale to contain conditions allowing the Buyer to arrange a building and/or timber pest inspection of the property, and the Buyer will need to arrange for these inspections to be completed before the specified due date. The Buyer can liaise with the real estate agent to arrange a suitable date and time for their inspector to attend the property and make these inspections.

Due Diligence
Whilst this is more common in settlements in the eastern states, some settlements in Western Australia will contain terms and conditions for the Buyer to carry out due diligence investigations and enquiries on the property before being satisfied and proceeding with the settlement. It is important that the Buyer notifies the Seller once they are satisfied before the due date, otherwise under the standard due diligence conditions the Contract for Sale may automatically terminate on the due date.

Final Pre-Settlement Inspection
If the Contract for Sale contains a Seller’s working order warranty or defines conditions to be carried out by the Seller prior to settlement, then the Buyer may wish to carry out an inspection of the property before settlement to check that these have been completed.
This is called a pre-settlement inspection, or a final inspection, and is completed within 7 days before the settlement.

Other Special Conditional Dates
Occasionally, Buyers and Sellers will agree for other special conditional dates to be entered into the Contract for Sale. These can be for things like the Buyer needing to delay the settlement to coincide with a linked sale of their property, or the Seller needing to delay settlement until after a tenant has vacated the property.

In summary, it is important that Buyers and Sellers carefully review the Contract for Sale and remain aware of any key conditional dates that may affect the settlement process.

THE ABOVE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. RWS SETTLEMENTS STRONGLY RECOMMENDS SEEKING PROFESSIONAL ADVICE ON THE SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR SETTLEMENT.