The Victorian conveyancing process: step by step from Section 32 to settlement
Conveyancing in Victoria runs in a noticeably different order from New South Wales, and the difference shows up right at the start. In Victoria the seller must give you a signed Section 32 vendor statement before you sign the contract, not after, so the key disclosure lands while you can still walk away. This guide follows a standard Victorian purchase from that statement through to settlement, flagging where the private sale and auction paths part.
What makes the Victorian process different
The defining feature of Victorian conveyancing is the timing of disclosure. Under the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), before you sign the contract the vendor must give you a signed Section 32 vendor statement. It discloses the property's title, easements and covenants, mortgages and charges, planning zone and overlays, building permits from the past seven years, owners corporation details, connected services, outgoings and bushfire prone area status. Because it comes first, you and your conveyancer read the most important facts about the property while you are still free to say no. Each of those disclosures is broken down in the Section 32 vendor statement guide.
In practice this shifts the centre of gravity of a Victorian purchase to the moment before signing. Once you sign, your protections narrow to a short cooling-off period (on a private sale) and to your rescission rights if the Section 32 turns out to be false or incomplete. So the work that matters most, reviewing the statement and the contract, happens up front.
Private sale versus auction
Victorian residential property sells two ways, and the process diverges between them at the point of commitment:
- Private sale (private treaty): you negotiate with the seller through the agent, then sign the contract. A private sale carries a statutory cooling-off period of 3 clear business days.
- Auction: if you are the successful bidder you sign the contract on the spot and there is no cooling-off period, and none in the three clear business days before or after the auction either. Everything, including reviewing the Section 32 and arranging finance and inspections, must be done before you bid.
The steps below describe a private sale, which is the more common path and the one where the cooling-off period applies. Where an auction changes a step, it is called out.
Step 1: Section 32 and contract review, before you sign
The first substantive step is obtaining the Section 32 vendor statement and the proposed contract from the agent, and having your conveyancer or lawyer review both. This is where problems surface: an easement across the land, an owners corporation with a large special levy, an overlay that limits what you can build, or outgoings you had not budgeted for. On a private sale you can use what you find to negotiate or to walk away; at an auction you must have done this review before bidding, because there is no window afterwards.
Engage your conveyancer at this stage, not after signing. Their review of the Section 32 is the single most valuable thing they do for a buyer, and it only has full effect while you are still free to act on it.
Step 2: Signing the contract
When you and the seller agree, you sign the contract of sale. In Victoria signing the contract is the point of commitment (subject to the cooling-off period on a private sale), unlike the separate exchange step used in New South Wales. You pay the deposit as required by the contract, commonly up to 10% of the price, usually held in the agent's or conveyancer's trust account until settlement.
Step 3: The cooling-off period
On a private sale you then have 3 clear business days to cool off. Two timing points matter:
- The clock starts when you sign, not when the seller signs and returns the contract.
- "Clear" business days exclude the day you sign, weekends and public holidays. As Consumer Affairs Victoria puts it, a cooling-off period of three clear business days applies to private sales of residential and small rural property.
If you withdraw within the period, the penalty is $100 or 0.2% of the purchase price, whichever is greater, and the rest of any money paid is refunded. There is no cooling-off period at an auction. The mechanics, the full list of exceptions and the penalty worked through at real prices are in the cooling-off period Victoria guide.
Step 4: Between contract and settlement
Once the cooling-off period passes, both sides prepare for settlement. In this phase your conveyancer typically:
- Assesses land transfer duty: Victoria's land transfer duty (its name for stamp duty) is calculated on the greater of the price or market value, along with any first home buyer exemption or concession you are entitled to. Duty is administered by the State Revenue Office Victoria and is payable at settlement. See the stamp duty Victoria guide.
- Runs final searches: confirming title is clear and nothing new has been registered against the property since the Section 32 was prepared.
- Coordinates finance and figures: liaising with your lender so the loan funds are ready, and calculating settlement adjustments for council rates, water and owners corporation fees paid in advance or arrears.
- Books settlement: agreeing the date and time in the electronic settlement workspace.
You should also arrange a pre-settlement inspection to confirm the property is in the condition it was in when you signed.
Step 5: Settlement day
Settlement is the day ownership passes to you. Most Victorian settlements now complete electronically through the PEXA platform, rather than parties meeting in person. On the day, both conveyancers are in the PEXA workspace with the agreed figures and documents, your lender releases the loan funds, and at the settlement time the platform simultaneously transfers the price to the seller (after discharging their mortgage), pays the land transfer duty and other amounts, and lodges the transfer of title with Land Services Victoria. When settlement confirms, the agent releases the keys.
After settlement
After settlement, Land Services Victoria registers the transfer and the title is updated to show you as owner, the State Revenue Office records the duty as paid, and your lender registers its mortgage if you borrowed. Your conveyancer confirms completion and you arrange to transfer utility and council accounts into your name.
How long the Victorian conveyancing process takes
There is no fixed statutory settlement period in Victoria; the timeframe is whatever the contract specifies, negotiated between buyer and seller. A settlement period of one to a few months is common for an established home, with the exact date written into the contract, while off-the-plan purchases can run much longer because settlement waits on the building being completed. Because the period is set by agreement rather than by a legal default, confirm the date in your own contract with your conveyancer rather than assuming a standard length.
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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.