Buyer’s Guide

Start with the suburbs you would happily live in, then look at what has actually sold there, not just what is advertised. Sites like ours, realestate.com.au and domain.com.au show records of recent sales in your area. You can start searching for properties and adding them to your watch list, you might even want to attend a few open inspections to get a feel for what properties are actually selling for, or you can talk directly with one of Our Team.

Your broker or lender tells you how much you can borrow, and pre-approval turns that into a budget you can offer with. By now, you should have a fair idea of how much money you need to be able to buy your ideal property, so talk to a broker to find out what your lending capability is and apply for pre-approval. Speak to Our Team for a contact in the industry.

When you are ready to make an offer, your KPR Sales Specialist will ask for your finance broker’s or lender’s details. This lets us confirm that your broker or lender believes you fit policy for a lender that suits you, and that the property fits policy too, so your offer goes to the seller in the best possible light. A usual time from acceptance to finance approval is 21 or 28 days, so check with your broker that the finance date in your offer leaves time for it.

Go with a checklist, so you can compare homes properly afterwards. With your pre-approval ready, you can start searching for properties within your budget and attending inspections with a more serious agenda, and a checklist makes it easy to reflect back on each home later.

Allow for transfer duty (stamp duty), building and pest inspections, settlement agent fees and moving costs. Work out your transfer duty with our stamp duty calculator. Land tax is not payable on the home you live in; it applies to investment property. Do this due diligence before you make any offer.

In WA you make a written offer by signing the Offer and Acceptance form, which sets out the price, the settlement date and any conditions, such as finance approval. When the seller signs to accept it, it becomes a binding contract and the property goes under offer. There is no cooling-off period for residential sales in WA, so make sure every condition you need is in your offer before you sign.

Almost all properties in WA are sold by private treaty, where you put forward a written offer through the agent. KPR does not sell by auction. On many of our campaigns we use Openn, an online platform that ranks offers transparently, so you always know where your offer stands, and we are happy to walk you through it before you offer.

The settlement date is agreed in your offer: you propose it, and it is set when the seller accepts. A usual time from finance approval to settlement is 21 or 28 days. At settlement the balance of the price is paid and ownership passes from the seller to you. A settlement agent handles the transfer of the property into your name. Many of our buyers choose Apple Settlements, and you are always free to use any settlement agent you prefer. Whoever you choose, we work closely with them so nothing is left to chance between offer and keys.