First-time buyer checklist: nine documents before you sign

Ask for nine things before paying any earnest deposit: the individual or strata title, the latest assessment receipt, three months of maintenance receipts, the house plan, the sale & purchase agreement draft, loan pre-approval, a land search, an bankruptcy search on the seller, and the stamp duty estimate. If the seller hesitates on the land search, walk away — it is a five-minute job at the land office and the only way to confirm the person selling actually owns the property.