Buying a house in Brisbane? Contract review, cooling-off and settlement, handled.
Kelly Lawyers is an Ascot-based property law firm guiding first home buyers, upsizers, downsizers and investors alike across the Northside of Brisbane through seller disclosure, contract review, cooling-off, finance and building-and-pest clauses, stamp duty concessions and settlement.
Buying a home in Queensland should feel like progress, not a test of nerves and patience. In Queensland, the moment you sign a REIQ contract, you are legally bound, subject only to the specific conditions inside it and a five-business-day statutory cooling-off period for private treaty sales. That short window is where most of the work of a good conveyancing lawyer in Brisbane gets done. We are Kelly Lawyers, a law firm in the heart of Ascot. We act for first home buyers, upsizers, downsizers and investors alike across the Brisbane northside: Ascot, Hamilton, Clayfield, Nundah, Banyo, Nudgee, Virginia, Kedron, Stafford, Chermside and surrounding suburbs. We review your contract before you sign it, we handle every search and deadline, and we settle electronically through PEXA so you get the keys without the last-minute panic.
Who this page is for
We help a specific kind of Brisbane buyer. If you recognise yourself in one of these, you are in the right place.
First home buyers
Buying your first home on the northside and trying to decode finance clauses, building and pest conditions and stamp duty all at once.
Upgraders
Purchasing your next home, often while selling another property in the same window and needing the two settlements lined up.
Investors
Buying to hold, wanting the purchase structured correctly in your personal name, a trust or an SMSF before contracts are signed.
Strata buyers
Buying a unit, townhouse or apartment in a scheme and needing body corporate records read properly before settlement.
Auction buyers
Bidding at auction, going unconditional on the fall of the hammer with no cooling-off period and needing legal sign-off beforehand.
What we do for Brisbane property buyers
Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer. In Queensland, that process is governed mainly by the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld), the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) and, from 1 August 2025, the new seller disclosure regime under the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld).
For every Queensland purchase, we:
- Review the REIQ contract and any special conditions before you sign.
- Explain the Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 2) you should receive before contracts.
- Manage the cooling-off, finance and building and pest deadlines so nothing lapses.
- Order and read the title and statutory searches needed for your property type.
- Liaise with your bank and the seller’s representative.
- Calculate your adjustments, stamp duty and settlement figures.
- Settle the matter electronically via PEXA and confirm the keys can be released.
Because we are a law firm and not a licensed conveyancer, we can give you legal advice if something goes wrong: a missed deadline, a disputed deposit, or a defect the seller did not disclose. That distinction matters when a contract starts to wobble.
The Brisbane buying process, step-by-step
Every purchase is slightly different, but the Queensland residential process almost always moves through these stages. We walk you through each one and tell you what is happening and what is coming next.
1. Before you sign the contract
This is the single most valuable moment to involve a property solicitor in North Brisbane. Once you sign, you are locked into the contract’s terms. Before you sign, we can still negotiate them.
- Contract review: we read the REIQ contract, noting the purchase price, deposit, settlement date and any special conditions the agent or seller has added.
- Seller disclosure: from 1 August 2025, sellers of residential land in Queensland must give buyers a Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 2) and prescribed certificates before the contract is signed. We check that the disclosure is complete and flag anything that should concern you.
Special situations: auction buyers, off-the-plan buyers and investors buying via a trust or SMSF should get advice before bidding or signing. Once the hammer falls at auction, the statutory cooling-off period does not apply.
2. Cooling-off period (private treaty only)
For a standard private treaty residential contract in Queensland, the buyer has a statutory cooling-off period of five business days. It starts on the day the buyer (or their solicitor) receives a copy of the signed contract and excludes weekends and public holidays.
If you terminate during the cooling-off period, the seller is entitled to retain a termination penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price. The cooling-off period does not apply to auction contracts or to private treaty contracts entered into within two clear business days of an unsuccessful auction where you were a registered bidder.
3. Finance approval
Most contracts are “subject to finance” with a nominated finance date, typically fourteen to twenty-one days from the contract date. If your bank does not approve the loan by that date, you can terminate without penalty, provided you act on time and in writing, and your deposit is refunded.
We manage your finance deadline and work with you to lodge an extension request if approval is running tight. Missing a finance deadline is one of the most common and avoidable ways buyers lose their deposit.
4. Building and pest inspection
Most REIQ contracts are also subject to a satisfactory building and pest inspection by a nominated date. If the report reveals significant issues, you can terminate, negotiate a price reduction or require the seller to rectify the defect.
We advise on whether the defects identified give you a legal right to terminate (the threshold is usually higher than buyers expect), and we draft the written notices and extensions required to protect your position.
5. Due diligence: searches and body corporate
Between contract and settlement, we order the searches appropriate to the property. At a minimum, that usually includes:
- Title search: from Titles Queensland, to confirm the registered owner, mortgages, easements and other encumbrances on the land.
- Local authority/council searches: with Brisbane City Council to check approved building work, rates, water and any outstanding notices.
- State searches: a Queensland State search to flag contaminated land, vegetation protection and main roads impacts.
- Body corporate search: for units, townhouses and apartments, a body corporate records search to reveal levies, special levies, sinking fund health, meeting minutes, insurance and any disputes. Buying into a scheme without reading the body corporate records is one of the riskiest things a buyer can do.
If a search reveals something material (for example, unapproved building work, a looming special levy, or an easement that stops you from building a pool), we tell you what it means in plain English and what your options are under the contract.
6. Deposit and trust account
The contract will specify a deposit amount, a due date and where the deposit is held. In Queensland, deposits are normally held in the real estate agent’s trust account until settlement, and they can only be released in line with the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld). We confirm the deposit is being held correctly and, if a relevant condition is not met, that it is refunded to you.
7. Stamp duty and first home buyer concessions
Stamp duty (transfer duty) is a Queensland state tax payable on most property purchases. The amount depends on the purchase price, your residency status and whether you qualify for a concession. We do not quote rates on our website because they change: we work from the current Queensland Revenue Office schedule for every matter.
There are two concessions most north Brisbane buyers ask about:
- The home concession: available where the home will be your principal place of residence. Conditions and rates are published by the Queensland Revenue Office.
- The first home concession: available to eligible first home buyers. For contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, the Queensland Revenue Office also provides a full concession for eligible first home buyers purchasing a new home, with no value cap on that concession. Eligibility, residency and occupancy rules apply.
We confirm which concession you qualify for, complete the OSR transfer duty forms correctly and build the duty into your settlement figures. If you get the eligibility wrong, the Queensland Revenue Office can claw back the concession later, so this is worth getting right at the contract stage.
8. Settlement day
Settlement is the day the balance purchase price changes hands, the transfer is registered and you become the legal owner. In Queensland, settlement for most residential purchases now takes place electronically on the PEXA platform.
On settlement day we:
- Confirm the final settlement figures and any last-minute adjustments.
- Attend the electronic workspace with your bank and the seller’s representative.
- Authorise the release of funds once all parties are in position.
- Notify the agent so keys can be released to you.
- Arrange registration of the transfer with Titles Queensland.
If settlement is delayed (a bank running late, an unforeseen title issue), we deal with it. You do not need to sit on hold chasing anybody.
Buying an investment property: structure before you sign
If you are buying an investment property, the structure of the purchase matters as much as the property itself. Buying in the wrong name is expensive to fix after the contract is signed because Queensland transfer duty can be payable again on a later transfer between related parties.
Common structures we help Brisbane investors consider, in conjunction with their accountant, include:
- Personal name or joint names: for straightforward investments where the buyer is in a stable tax position.
- Family or discretionary trust: for asset protection, flexibility in distributing rental income and capital gains, and estate planning.
- Self-managed super fund (SMSF): where the buyer wants the asset held inside superannuation. These have strict rules under the SIS Act and specific conveyancing requirements, particularly around the limited recourse borrowing arrangement.
We work with your accountant or financial adviser to make sure the contract is signed in the correct name and that any bare trust or custodian deed is in place before, not after, the contract date.
Common pitfalls we see across Brisbane northside purchases
- Auction contracts: once the hammer falls, you are unconditionally bound. No cooling-off, no subject-to-finance, no subject-to-building-and-pest. All due diligence, contract review and pre-approved finance must be done before you bid.
- Off-the-plan purchases: contracts can be subject to registration of a plan, with long sunset dates. The final product can differ from the marketing material and valuations can fall short on completion. We read the disclosure documents and flag the risk points before you sign.
- Unapproved building work: renovations or extensions that do not have council approval can become the buyer’s problem after settlement. Our searches are designed to uncover this before you are committed.
- Dodgy special conditions: some contracts contain unusual special conditions drafted to favour the seller, for example short finance dates, tight building and pest windows or clauses shifting risk to the buyer. We rewrite these before you sign wherever possible.
- Unread body corporate records: a strong unit scheme with healthy sinking fund and no disputes is a different proposition to one with a pending special levy for building rectification. The body corporate records tell the real story.
Conveyancing across Brisbane's Northside
Our office is located in Ascot, and our conveyancing team acts for buyers across Queensland and Brisbane’s Northside, including Ascot, Clayfield, Hamilton, Nundah, Banyo, Nudgee, Virginia, Kedron, Stafford and Chermside.
Why Brisbane Northside buyers choose Kelly Lawyers
- Local and long-standing reputation: founded in 1984 and based at our Ascot office on Racecourse Road since 1999.
- One trusted team: One team from contract review to settlement.
- PEXA settlements: We settle electronically through PEXA, which is the standard in Queensland for most residential conveyances.
- Clear pricing: We explain fees upfront. You will know what the legal costs are, what the government fees and searches cost, and when each is payable.
- Proactive communication: You get updates at every milestone so you are never left guessing: contract signed, cooling-off expired, finance approved, building and pest cleared, settlement booked, keys released.
Common questions answered
How long is the cooling-off period in Queensland?
For a standard private treaty residential contract, the buyer has a statutory cooling-off period of five business days. It starts on the day you or your solicitor receives the signed contract and excludes weekends and public holidays. If you terminate during the cooling-off period, the seller can retain 0.25% of the purchase price. The cooling-off period does not apply to auction contracts.
Should a buyer use a conveyancer or a property lawyer?
Both can handle a conveyance in Queensland, but only a law firm can give you legal advice if something goes wrong, for example a disputed deposit, a missed deadline, a seller who defaults or a defect that should have been disclosed. Kelly Lawyers is a law firm, so your conveyance and any legal issue that arises from it stay with the same team.
How much is stamp duty in Queensland?
Transfer duty (stamp duty) is calculated on a sliding scale by the Queensland Revenue Office and depends on the purchase price, your residency status and whether you qualify for a concession such as the home concession or the first home concession. We calculate the exact figure for your contract using the current Queensland Revenue Office rates rather than quoting a figure that could be out of date.
Am I eligible for the first home buyer concession?
The Queensland Revenue Office sets the rules. In general you must be buying your first residential property in Australia, be at least 18, intend to live in the home within a set period and meet residency requirements. For contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, a full concession also applies for eligible first home buyers purchasing a new home, with no value cap on that concession. We check your eligibility before contracts and complete the forms correctly.
What is a finance clause and what happens if I do not get approval in time?
A finance clause makes the contract conditional on your lender approving your loan by a specific date, often fourteen to twenty-one days from the contract date. If finance is not approved by that date and you have acted in time and in writing, you can terminate and have your deposit refunded. If the deadline lapses, the contract becomes unconditional on finance, so the date matters.
What happens on settlement day?
Settlement is the day the balance purchase price is paid, the transfer is registered and you become the legal owner. In Queensland most residential settlements take place electronically on the PEXA platform. We attend the electronic workspace with your bank and the seller’s representative, authorise release of funds, arrange registration of the transfer with Titles Queensland and notify the agent to release the keys.
What is the seller disclosure statement and does it apply to my purchase?
From 1 August 2025, sellers of residential land in Queensland must give buyers a Seller Disclosure Statement (Form 2) and prescribed certificates before the contract is signed. The statement is designed to give buyers a clearer view of the property before they commit. We review the disclosure for completeness and flag anything that should concern you.
How much does conveyancing cost in north Brisbane?
Yes. We provide a clear written quote covering our legal fees and the expected government fees, searches and disbursements before you engage us, so you know the cost of buying your Brisbane property before we start.
Book a call with our property & conveyancing team
Before you sign a REIQ contract, send a draft to us. We will read it, call you back in plain English and tell you whether it is safe to sign, what to change, and what to watch for. If you have already signed, we can still step in within the cooling-off period, finance date or building and pest date and protect your position.