In a private sale, prospective buyers make offers to buy a property. This is often done through the seller’s real estate agent.

Before making an offer, carefully consider its terms. Ask about any concerns you have about the property. In WA, there is no mandatory seller disclosure statement. The agent must disclose any relevant facts about the property, especially if they have been directly asked.

Buying by offer and acceptance contracts

This page covers the process for buying a property by private sale. The property contracts page has more information about contract terms and conditions.

Making an offer

Through an agent

If an agent is managing the sale you will:

• Have to  submit your offer through the agent in most cases
• be asked to sign an Offer & Acceptance (O & A) form

The agent must communicate all written offers to the seller. The seller is free to accept or decline all offers, regardless of the order in which they were received.

No Agent

If no agent is involved:

• submit your offer directly to the seller
• negotiate the price and terms of the contract with the seller.

As is offers

An "as is" sale means the property is sold in the condition the buyer viewed it. It means the seller will not agree to meet any special conditions of sale, such as building and pest inspections. This type of sale may occur when a seller wants a quick sale or the buyer wants early access to the property (pre-settlement).

Conditional offers

In a private sale, you can negotiate with the seller to make the sale subject to certain conditions, such as:

• loan approval ('subject to finance')
• sale of an existing property
• completion of a building or pest inspection
• the seller must fix or replace something that has been broken

Be mindful there is no mandatory ‘cooling off’ period for real estate contracts made in WA.

Counter offers

A seller may want to negotiate a special condition, or the price on an offer. Sellers can make a counter offer by amending the O & A.

The counter offer is then presented back to the buyer. The buyer can either accept or reject the seller’s counter offer, or make another counter offer.

For any changes to the O & A to be binding, the buyer and seller must:

• initial and date each change
• sign and date the document in full 

The O & A will not be a legally binding contract until the buyer and seller agree on all the terms in the O & A.

Offer acceptance

If the seller decides to accept your offer, they will need to sign the O & A. The signed O & A becomes a binding contract of sale. A signed copy of the contract must be given to each party.

Paying the deposit

No deposit is required; but an amount can be negotiated. Generally, the deposit would not be more than 10 per cent of the purchase price, but is often considerably less.

Through an agent

The buyer pays the seller’s agent. The agent can either:

• hold the deposit in a trust account until settlement, or
• transfer the deposit it to the seller’s legal practitioner’s or settlement agent’s trust account.

No agent

The deposit should be paid:

• to the trust account of the buyer’s nominated settlement agent or solicitor.
• not directly to the seller

Under offer

A property is “under offer” when the offer has been accepted and the sale contract has conditions which need to be met.

Taking other offers

A seller can consider other offers if:

• the contract uses the standard REIWA conditions; and
• is conditional upon sale of the buyer’s existing property.

If the seller wants to accept a new offer, they must notify the original buyer. The original buyer has 48 hours to make their offer unconditional, otherwise the contract is terminated. The seller cannot accept the new offer if the original buyer agrees to make the current contract unconditional.

When is the property sold?

The sale is finalised at settlement when the:

• final checks of the contract conditions are made,
• title and transfer documents are exchanged
• balance of the purchase price is paid.

For more information see the Sale by offer and acceptance guide.