What are the steps to buying a house in WA?

In seven steps: (1) work out your budget and total cost, (2) engage a settlement agent before you make an offer, (3) decide your conditions and submit an Offer and Acceptance, (4) the contract becomes binding once signed and acceptance is communicated, (5) satisfy your finance and inspection conditions, (6) prepare for settlement, and (7) settle, usually through PEXA, when ownership and the keys pass to you.

Do you get a cooling-off period when buying a house in WA?

No. WA has no statutory cooling-off period at all. Instead, buyers negotiate conditions such as subject to finance and subject to a building and pest inspection into the offer before signing, which is the only way to get a right to withdraw.

How much does it cost to buy a house in WA?

The largest added cost is transfer duty: on a $700,000 home the general rate duty is $27,265, though first home buyers usually pay much less (nil up to $500,000). Add your settlement agent's fee and disbursements, the Landgate lodgement fee, inspections and loan costs. See the conveyancing cost WA guide for a full breakdown.

Does the seller have to disclose anything when you buy a house in WA?

There is no mandatory vendor disclosure statement in WA, unlike Victoria or South Australia. The selling agent must disclose relevant facts if directly asked, but nothing is handed to you automatically, so your own settlement agent's title searches and your own inspections do the checking instead.

Buying a house in WA: a 7-step guide with no cooling-off period

Buying a home in WA has its own rhythm, set by the Offer and Acceptance contract and by the fact that there is no cooling-off period once you sign it. This guide walks through the whole purchase in seven steps, from working out what you can afford to getting the keys, and links to the detailed WA guides on cost, duty and the no-cooling-off position rather than repeating them.

Step 1: Work out your budget and total cost

Before inspecting, get a realistic picture of what a purchase costs beyond the price. The largest added cost for most buyers is transfer duty (WA's transfer duty, its name for stamp duty): on a $700,000 home the general rate duty is $27,265, though a first home buyer usually pays much less. On top of duty, budget for your settlement agent's fee and disbursements, the Landgate lodgement fee, a building and pest inspection, and loan costs. The full breakdown at several prices is in the conveyancing cost WA guide.

If this is your first home, check your duty savings early: an eligible first home buyer pays no transfer duty up to $500,000, with a flat concessional rate to a $700,000 cap, and a new home can attract a $10,000 grant. See the first home buyer WA guide.

Step 2: Engage a settlement agent

Do this before you make an offer, not after. In WA, the professional who handles your property transfer is a settlement agent (see the settlement agent versus conveyancer guide if you are unsure what the title means). Because there is no cooling-off period once you sign, your settlement agent's most valuable input, advising on which conditions to put in your offer, only has full effect while you are still free to negotiate them.

Step 3: Decide your conditions and make an offer

Most WA sales use the standard REIWA Offer and Acceptance form. Decide with your settlement agent whether to make your offer subject to:

Finance: your lender must formally approve your loan by a set date.
Building and pest inspection: a satisfactory report by a set date.

An unconditional offer skips both protections and is more attractive to a seller, which is a genuine trade-off to weigh, especially in a competitive market or at auction. WA has no mandatory vendor disclosure statement either, so there is no document handed to you automatically the way there is in Victoria or South Australia; your settlement agent's own searches do that checking work.

Step 4: Offer and acceptance becomes binding

When the seller signs your offer (or you sign their counter-offer) and that acceptance is communicated back to you, the contract is binding immediately. There is no cooling-off period afterwards in WA at all, so from this point you are committed unless one of your negotiated conditions is not met. The mechanics and the full reasoning are in the cooling-off period WA guide.

Step 5: Satisfy your conditions

If your offer was conditional, this is when your lender formally approves finance and your inspector completes the building and pest report, both by the deadlines written into the offer. If a condition is not met, it typically lets you withdraw without penalty, exactly as worded in the contract. Track your deadlines closely: WA condition periods are usually short, and missing one can mean losing the right it was meant to protect.

Step 6: Prepare for settlement

Once your conditions are satisfied (or immediately, if your offer was unconditional), your settlement agent works through the run-up to settlement:

Assessing transfer duty and lodging any first home owner rate you are entitled to.
Running title searches through Landgate to confirm nothing new is registered against the property.
Coordinating your lender so loan funds are ready, and calculating rates and water adjustments.
Booking the settlement date and time in the electronic settlement workspace.

Arrange a pre-settlement inspection in the days before settlement to confirm the property is in the condition it was in when you made your offer.

Step 7: Settlement day and the keys

Settlement is the day ownership passes to you. Most WA settlements complete electronically through the PEXA platform: the settlement agents transfer the price to the seller after discharging their mortgage, the transfer duty is paid, and the transfer of title is lodged with Landgate. When settlement confirms, the agent releases the keys. Afterwards, the title is updated to your name, your lender registers its mortgage if you borrowed, and you transfer utility and council accounts across.

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Conveyancing Explained provides general information about property transactions in Australia. It is not legal advice and does not create a client relationship. For advice on your situation, engage a licensed conveyancer, settlement agent, or property solicitor in your state or territory.