Latest / Your Local Real Estate Expert - The Schultz Realty Podcast / EP22: Understanding Queensland’s New Disclosure Laws
Transcript
- Hi, I'm Sarah Schultz, and welcome to your local real estate expert, the Schultz Realty Podcast As the award-winning number one agent and agency for Mount Warren Park Bahrs Scrub and Windaroo I've been helping buyers find their dream homes and exceeding sellers expectations on price and service in our area for over 10 years known as The Property Matchmaker. I'm here to share stats. Facts and insights to make your real estate journey in the local area Seamless and successful. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Sarah Schultz from Schultz Realty. Situated in sunny Queensland in the Bean Lee Mount Warren Park Wind Brew to Northern Gold Coast area. And today we're tackling one of the biggest legal shakeups the Queensland Property Market has seen in years since the brand new disclosure laws came into effect. Now whether you're selling your home or about to buy one, this episode could help you immensely. From the 1st of August, 2025. New rules requires sellers to hand over a seller's disclosure statement before a contract is signed. For decades, Queensland has been very buyer aware, but that's all changed. And from August one, it's all different now. Now what's actually changed? So sellers now must give a buyer's, buyers, uh, compulsory information on what's called a form two disclosure statement before contracts are signed. It's including things like zoning, incumbents, government notices, drainage, and even environmental tree protection orders. This bring Queensland's almost into line with states like New South Wales and Victoria. It's actually been quite a big shift. Previously, sellers would just rely on, um, the buyer to uncover these issues with a conveyancer in searches, and now failure to disclose correctly could actually allow the buyer to walk away even very late in the deal. So why sellers should care? If you are selling, start gathering your paperwork early, title searches, building approvals, pool certificates, any council notices, anything that will help. Accuracy is the key. One. Missing document could store, or even void a contract. We encourage you to work with your agent and conveyancer to prepare the pack before listing. Be sure you've already, you are all ready to go before your first open house. Think of disclosure as like an insurance policy against last minute chaos. Having everything ready, builds trust and speeds up settlement. Now why should buyers care? Well, buyers actually get more transparency, um, but they still do need to do their due diligence. And when I say due diligence, I just mean the disclosure. Disclosure doesn't cover absolutely everything. You will still need your conveyancer to do things like flood maps or neighborhood disputes and things that might not show up on that form too. Buyers should read through it thoroughly and then arrange what other things they want to independently get searches on. And also ask questions. If something is not on the disclosure that you want an answer for, always best to ask and ask the agent first and see if they can find out the answer from the sellers, because knowing is better than having to pay for searches if you don't need to. So common mistakes, sellers leave the disclosure till the last minute, uh, and it's not ready before, um, a open house or a contract is ready to sign. And unfortunately, you can't sign a contract without it. So just make sure you're onto ordering it and your conveyance as soon as you can. Some can take 24 hours, but if you've got a body corporate, it can take five to 10 business days. Buyers assume the new law makes it risk free. It's not entirely that way because not everything is included. So just like I said before, just make sure you are checking and actually doing your other searches as well with your conveyance, in my opinion. Just make sure your disclosure in your disclosure has no mistakes and make sure you're checking your own work as a seller, even though you are relying on the conveyancer. This reform in Queensland does allow transparency and raise the bar, and if you're selling, get your documents sorted as soon as you can. If you're buying, read every page, knowledge really is power in this market. Invite questions or suggest contacting your office for guidance. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Sarah Schultz from Schultz Realty, and we will see you in the next episode. Thank you for tuning in with me, your local real estate expert, the Schultz Realty podcast. I'm proud to serve Mount Warren Park Bahrs Scrub and Windoo as a knowledgeable, caring, and reliable resource for all your real estate needs. Whether you are buying, selling, or just exploring your options, I'm here to help you exceed expectations and make that perfect match. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an update and share it with another local who might find it helpful. Until next time, take care. And remember, the perfect property is just around the corner.