For Home Sellers

Oct

What is the legal Date of a Sale

Most transactions whether for the sale of property or a business include at least two or three important dates. These dates are:

1. The date that the contract is signed by the parties to that contract

2. The date that special conditions are satisfied

3. The date that the contract reaches settlement or completion. The completion date and the settlement date are different words, used to describe the same thing.

Which of these dates do authorities rely upon when determining the date of the sale? Read more

Sep

When is Land Tax Payable?

Land Tax Thresholds Change regularly.

You should contact Riba Business Lawyers to ensure that the rates have not changed since the date of this Post.

For Individual who are resident in Queensland.

Taxable value	Rate of tax
$0–$599,999	$0
$600,000–$999,999	$500 plus 1 cent for each $ more than $600,000
$1,000,000–$2,999,999	$4,500 plus 1.65 cents for each $ more than $1,000,000
$3,000,000–$4,999,999	$37,500 plus 1.25 cents for each $ more than $3,000,000
$5,000,000 and over	$62,500 plus 1.75 cents for each $ more than $5,000,000

For Trust and Companies

Taxable value	Rate of tax
$0–$349,999	$0
$350,000–$2,249,999	$1,450 plus 1.7 cents for each $ more than $350,000
$2,250,000–$4,999,999	$33,750 plus 1.5 cents for each $ more than $2,250,000
$5,000,000 and over	$75,000 plus 2.0 cents for each $ more than $5,000,000

Land Tax valuations do not normally include the value of the building. For advice please contact us.

Riba Business Lawyers

Strength Through Knowledge

Franchising, Leasing, Acquisitions

Head office: 34 Duporth Avenue, Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Maroochydore: 07 54791488

Brisbane: 31032115

Jul

Sale of Owner Builder House in Queensland

An owner builder should provide you with a notice in relation to the work carried out on the property under an owner builder permit if the sale is within six years of the completion date of the owner builder work. An owner builder should provide you with a notice in relation to the work carried out on the property under an owner builder permit if the sale is within six years of the completion date of the owner builder work.

When should the notice be given and what should it contain? The notice should be given PRIOR to the contract of sale being signed. The notice should contain:

Details of the domestic building work performed

The name of the person (permit holder) who performed the work

A statement confirming the work was performed under an owner builder permit

Provide the following notice – “Warning – The building work to which this notice relates is NOT covered by insurance under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991″. Read more

Jun

Duty – How to save thousands when you buy a House!

The Queensland Budget handed down in June will make it cost many thousands more to buy an existing home, if you are not a first home buyer. There is a big incentive to buy or sell now, before the changes come into effect.

If you are planning to build a home you can receive a grant for $10,000 if you get your timing right.

There are winners and losers in this Queensland Budget and if you are thinking of selling or buying you must pay careful attention, because, everything will change on 1 August 2010.

Queenslanders do not pay duty on FIRST HOME purchases up to the value of $500,000.00 and this is not changing. The rest of us are in a different situation.

Existing home owners hoping to upgrade or downsize to another property face stamp duty hikes of up to $7175.00. These changes come into effect on 1 August 2011 so there is an incentive if you are looking to buy at the moment. If possible sign the contract before 1 August 2011!

Sellers should also take notice as they may find that buyers are more motivated to purchase before 1 August, before they get hit with the additional duty!

If you are thinking of buying a newly constructed home or considering signing a building contract you may wish to wait until the governments $10,000 grant is on offer. The building grant is restricted to properties under $600,000.00. The contract will need to be signed between August 2011 and January 2012. Six months will be allowed after signing, to commence construction and, then another 12 months is allowed to complete the construction. To be eligible it is essential that the time frames are complied with.

Obviously the winners from this budget are those buying a new home as they will receive $10,000 which was not previously on offer.

First home buyers of existing properties may be unaffected.

Buyers and sellers of existing homes should take advantage of the time lag before introduction as they will be worse off after August. The cost of the transaction may increase by as much as $7175.00 if they cannot sign a contract before 1 August 2011.

If you have any questions please contact Riba Business Lawyers.

Jan

Queensland Floods

Some of the houses that were damaged in the Queensland floods were under contract to be sold.Have you been wondering what will happen to the buyer and seller of a house that was damaged in the Queensland floods? Can a buyer escape if the building has been destroyed or damaged?

Most people buy and sell property using the Real Estate Institute of Queensland contract. The contract sets out the rules of the transaction. There is also another form of contract. The ADL contract. The contracts are similar but not the same.

Once a contract is signed then in equity the property is owned by the buyer. Keeping things simple, this means that in some sense, after you sign a contract to buy a property, you then own that property. Of course there are more steps that need to be taken to register a buyer as an owner and the ultimate step is or course the registration of the title in the buyers name. Upon registration the buyer becomes the legal owner.

Clause 8.1 of standard REIQ house and land contract says –

“RISK – the property is at the buyers risk from 5pm on the first Business Day after the contract date.” The ADL contract has a similar clause.

It seems clear therefore that damage resulting from flood is the responsibility of the buyer not the seller. This has always been the case in relation to fire, and flood should be no different. The unhappy part about a flood, is that while almost everyone is insured for fire, some onwers and buyers are not insured for flood.

The ADL contract makes the situation more complicated. This contract still provides that the buyer has the risk but then includes a little clause that swings things in the buyers favour. Clause 8.1 of the ADL contract provides that - the seller must hand over the property in the same condition as it was in at the date the contract was signed. This clause may allow the buyer of a property that has been damaged by flood a way out of the contract. But then what is the meaning of the risk clause? What was the risk that the buyer accepted?

Furthermore a contract between two parties is often not the end of the matter. There will be legislation that will affect the outcome.

s 64 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) states that a buyer may terminate a contract before completion or possession but only in the most extreme cases, if the property is unfit for occupation. The extent of damage must be sufficient to render the property “unfit for occupation”. We are unsure what extent of damage is required and court decisions will need to be examined to know what kind of damage allows a termination. ADL standard contract repeats the statutory provision at clause 8.7.

If you have any questions about a realestate conveyancing please contact us

Posts from the ‘For Home Sellers’ Category

What is the legal Date of a Sale

When is Land Tax Payable?

For Individual who are resident in Queensland.