The contract is the whole transaction. Everything that happens afterwards — what you can inspect, when you can walk away, who pays for what if settlement is late — was decided the moment you signed.
Most buyers see a thick document, skim the front page for the price, and sign. Here's what's actually in there and which parts decide your outcome.
The structure
NSW uses a standard form contract for sale of land, published jointly by the Law Society of NSW and the Real Estate Institute of NSW. Nearly every residential sale in the state uses it. The current version is the 2026 edition — if you're handed something on an older form, that's worth asking about.
It comes in three parts:
- The front page — the particulars. Parties, price, deposit, settlement period, inclusions, and whether a cooling-off period applies.
- The standard conditions — the printed clauses covering how the transaction runs.
- Attached documents and special conditions — the disclosure documents the vendor is legally required to attach, plus any clauses the vendor's representative has added.
Part 3 is where the negotiating happens, and where most of the risk lives.
What the vendor must attach by law
A NSW vendor can't offer a property for sale without attaching certain prescribed documents. If one is missing, you generally have 14 days from exchange to rescind — with your full deposit returned, and none of the 0.25% forfeit that applies during cooling-off. It's a genuinely useful protection, and one reason the contract should be reviewed before you sign rather than after.
The core set includes the title search, the plan of the land, a planning certificate from the local council, and drainage information showing the sewer lines. Depending on the property there's more — swimming pool compliance certification if there's a pool, and additional documents for strata schemes relating to the owners corporation.
Two of these deserve particular attention.
The planning certificate tells you what the land can be used for, what zoning applies, and — importantly — whether the property is affected by flooding, bushfire, land contamination, road widening proposals or heritage listing. It's a short document that answers questions people otherwise assume nobody can answer.
The drainage diagram shows where the sewer runs. A main sewer line running under the spot where you were planning an extension is the kind of thing better discovered now than after the architect's invoice.
The special conditions are where the risk is
The standard conditions are balanced and well-understood. The special conditions are drafted by the vendor's representative, in the vendor's interest, and they vary enormously.
Common ones worth knowing about:
- Reduced or removed cooling-off. Sometimes negotiated, sometimes assumed.
- Interest on late settlement, and at what rate.
- Limits on your right to make requisitions — the formal questions a buyer asks about the title.
- Clauses making the property "as is", restricting what you can claim if something turns out to be wrong.
- Vendor's right to rescind in defined circumstances, which can be broader than you'd expect.
None of these are unreasonable in themselves. All of them are negotiable before you sign, and almost none of them are afterwards. That asymmetry is the entire argument for a contract review.
What's included in the sale
The inclusions list on the front page determines what stays. Dishwasher, light fittings, blinds, the shed, the pot plants you liked at the inspection.
If it isn't listed, it doesn't come with the property. Arguments about a missing dishwasher are tedious, avoidable, and surprisingly common.
The withholding rule that now applies to every sale
Since 1 January 2025, a buyer must withhold 15% of the purchase price and pay it to the ATO unless the vendor provides a clearance certificate. There is no longer any price threshold — it applies to every NSW sale, not only the expensive ones.
In practice the vendor obtains the certificate and nothing changes. When they don't, the money comes out of the settlement figures and the vendor chases the ATO for it later. Either way it's dealt with before settlement, not on the day.
The settlement period
Standard is 42 days in NSW, but it's negotiable and often negotiated. Shorter suits a vendor who has already bought. Longer suits a buyer who needs to sell first or is waiting on finance.
Pick a date you can actually meet. Late settlement generally attracts interest, and in some circumstances gives the other side rights you don't want them to have.
When to get it reviewed
Before you sign. Before you bid at auction. Before you make an offer you'd be embarrassed to withdraw.
The contract is available from the agent as soon as the property is listed, and there's no cost or obligation in asking for it. We review contracts for buyers regularly who ultimately buy something else — that's a normal part of the process, not a wasted exercise.
At auction it matters even more, because there's no cooling-off period on an auction purchase. The hammer falls and you're bound.
How we review contracts at Malko Conveyancing
Malko Conveyancing reviews the contract before you commit, and tells you plainly what's in it: what the disclosure documents reveal, which special conditions are unusual, and what we'd want changed before you sign.
Where something needs negotiating, we deal with the vendor's representative directly. Most amendments are agreed without drama — but only if they're raised at the right moment.
Send us a contract and we'll come back to you the same business day. Or book a free 15-minute call before you start looking, so you know what to expect.
Tanya Kats is the Director of Malko Conveyancing and a Licensed Conveyancer in NSW. This article is general information and not legal advice for any specific matter.