Purchase 'To-Do' List
Congratulations on your unconditional purchase! The next steps you need to take are as follows:
o The estate agent will provide you with instructions for payment of the deposit to their trust account (if they have not already done so). This should be paid as soon as possible but does not need to be on the day the contract becomes unconditional. If the agent emails you the bank account details, we strongly urge you to phone their office before payment to verify their account details as there have been instances lately of emails being hacked and fraudulent account details provided. [Please note, the contract can not be cancelled just because the deposit has not been paid immediately. You would have to be given notice of intention to cancel first.]
o Confirm to your bank contact person that the agreement is unconditional so that they proceed with preparation of the loan documents and please make sure that they contact us so that we can liaise directly with them to sort everything out.
o If you are applying for a Kiwisaver withdrawal and/or Homestart grant, please complete your application form as soon as possible. Your application will need to be witnessed by a solicitor or Justice of the Peace (this does not need to be us, but if you would like us to witness it please let us know. Please note, our fee estimate would not have included time in relation to witnessing this form). Once completed, please forward the form to us so that we can complete the ‘solicitor’s undertaking’ section and we will send it off with our trust account deposit slip as required.
o You will also need arrange for house insurance for the property as soon as possible commencing from the day of settlement and noting your bank as first mortgagee/interested party. Please get your insurer to email/fax us a copy of the insurance policy for our records as soon as possible.
o If you have not done so already, please email us as soon as possible: 1. a verified copy of either your driver’s license or passport; and 2. a letter from a government agency or utility provider (such as a rates or power bill) evidencing your address (no older than 6 months).
o You will need to sign a form prior to settlement which enables us to transfer the property to you on settlement. This form is called an ‘Authority and Instruction Form’ (A & I Form). Your signature on this form must be witnessed by a solicitor or justice of the peace. We will contact you again to make arrangements for signing once this form is prepared and we have received and checked the loan documentation and instructions from the bank.
o We will notify you of the amount you need to deposit into our trust account to complete settlement once we have received the settlement statement from the vendors’ lawyer and will discuss these matters with you at the same time as signing up the bank documentation and A & I form. As per 1 above, if you receive our account details via email, If the agent emails you the bank account details, we strongly urge you to phone us before payment to verify our account details in case emails are hacked and fraudulent account details provided.
o We will ensure the Council rates are apportioned correctly on settlement so that the vendors pay the rates up to settlement and you pay going forward, and we will notify the Council of the change of ownership. If the property has a water meter, we will also notify the water authority of the change of ownership. You do not need to contact the Council or the water authority.
o You need to make arrangements for your new power and phones connection closer to settlement date.
o You are entitled to undertake a pre-settlement inspection of the property. This should be arranged through the agent (or directly with the seller if there is no agent). The inspection should be undertaken close to settlement, but no later than the morning of the day before settlement. At this inspection, you should check that the property is as it was when you agreed to purchase it and all chattels included in the sale have been left in the property. If there are any issues, please let us know no later than the day before settlement so that we can raise these issues with the seller’s lawyer prior to settlement. Please note, we cannot hold back funds on settlement if we have not raised these issues by the day before settlement.
If you are to receive a Master Build Guarantee (or the like) on settlement, we also recommend that you arrange with the seller for the necessary paperwork for this to be signed during the final inspection too.
There is certain information that we need you to confirm to us so that we can prepare the necessary documents as per below as soon as possible. The easiest way for you to confirm these details to us is to complete the “My Information” form here:
o Please confirm to us the name in which you wish to purchase the property. If you would like to discuss with us the best purchasing structure, and any other relevant considerations such as relationship property matters, your Will and the like, please do not hesitate to contact us.
o Please confirm the address you would like your rates invoices posted to following settlement.
o Since October 2015 it is now required that we complete a tax declaration on transferring the title of the property. For this purpose, please confirm to me the following information for each of you:
o Are you or your immediate family a NZ citizen or holder of either a resident, work or student visa?
o Do you intend to live on the land?
o Please provide your NZ IRD numbers.
o Please confirm which country you are a resident of for tax purposes.