All real estate transactions are governed by the "Offer & Acceptance Contract" together with the Joint Form of General Conditions (as amended from time to time.)

All buyers and sellers are required to receive a copy of the Joint Form of General Conditions at the time the contract is entered into.

To protect the interest of the seller, the Joint Form of General Conditions requires that the buyer is required to provide the seller, or their representative, with a stamped, signed copy of the Transfer of Land document in sufficient time to allow the seller to sign and return the document to their representative prior to the due settlement date. Failure to do this results in the buyer being in breach of their contractual obligations under the Joint Form.

This is because the Transfer of Land is the principle document that changes the ownership of the property from one party to another. Once it is stamped, and signed by all parties, it is ready for lodging at the Department of Land Information to enable the change of ownership to be recorded.

Thus, the Joint Form requires the signed, stamped Transfer to be held by the seller, or their representative, pending settlement, to protect the interest of the seller.

To enable sufficient time for the Transfer to be received by the seller's representative, forwarded to the seller for signing, and then be returned to the seller's representative in sufficient time for them to then arrange and attend settlement, it is generally accepted that the stamp duty should be available a minimum of 5 working days, (metropolitan area) or 10 working days, (country areas) prior to the due settlement date, or ideally, by the time the Offer becomes unconditional. (For further information on this matter, see Stamp Duty)