Don’t Get Caught Out: The #1 Contract Mistake Buyers Make
Watch this short video to understand why verbal assurances aren’t enough, and the critical step you should always take before signing any contract.
Before signing a contract, please send it to us for review. It could save you from a very expensive mistake.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ross Millen:
Hi. There's something that has happened a bit in the last couple of weeks that I've noticed, and that is people, in this case, buying properties and having relied on some sort of verbal assurance that they've been given, but that verbal assurance never got into the contract, never got into any emails, never got into any written form. And when people have come to me and said, "Oh, I purchased this property and I relied on what I was told by the vendor or the agent about this," I said, "Well, how are we going to prove that? It's not in the contract. You don't have any emails. You don't have any text messages. You've got nothing in writing." So what it is, is going to be your word against the agent or the vendor about what was said.
And contracts, and these are like land contracts or most other contracts always have a clause that says, "This is the entire agreement. This is the entire contract. You can't rely on anything outside. There's no representations, no warranties, unless they're actually in the contract." So one of the lessons here is that before you sign anything, have the written document given to us to have a look, and then we can discuss with you and say, "Is there any important promises or warranties or representations or things that you are relying on that aren't actually in the contract?" Because this is what happened in one case. We had a client who'd already signed up, had taken their contract to a conveyancer and asked the conveyancer to review the contract. And the conveyancer saw nothing wrong with the planning requirements. However, when they went to go and build a building on the property later, they found that they needed a permit, and they couldn't get the permit. So they had relied on what they'd been told by the agent, but they couldn't prove it.
So this is just a reminder. Before you sign anything, send it to us. We're happy to review things before you sign. And also to make sure if there are any special promises, representations, anything you are relying on to enter into a commercial deal or to buy anything, make sure it's written in the contract and you're not just relying on what someone said that you can't prove later. So I'm Ross Millen from Millens here to help. Contact us if you've got any queries. Thank you.
