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• Cooling-off rights

The first big decision you will need to make is where you want to build your home. It will help if you know where you want to build, and what size and type of home you want to build. These factors will affect the price of building, which in turn will affect the amount of deposit you will need.

Make a list of the locations that appeal to you and that are in your price range. Think about the facilities you need now – and in the future. For example, does the area have good transport nearby? How far is it from your workplace? What about shops and parks, schools and child care facilities? Finally, take in the bigger picture. For example, does the area have a lot of commercial properties that may affect your quality of life in the future?

Before buying land, consider the availability and cost of connecting and maintaining services such as:
• water
• electricity
• gas
• telephone
• sewerage
• fire control.

Look at lots of different blocks of land before you make a final decision. Critically evaluate each one. Compare prices, size of the land, views and location. Try not to let emotion get in the way of a sensible and well thought out purchase.

There are a number of considerations that need to be included in your decision making process. For example:
• building and zoning regulations
• existence of trees and whether they can remain or will have to be removed (usually with council permission) prior to building
• the slope of the land as steep sites tend to increase building costs
• soil stability
• any creeks, dams or watercourses on or near the site
• flood restrictions, which may affect finance and insurance
• site access for heavy machinery such as bulldozers, bobcats, concrete trucks and construction equipment
• exact boundaries of the land. A registered surveyor should be employed to check and peg these out
• easements which may restrict what/where you can build
• the position of any pre-laid services, such as underground power
• quality of views.

Cooling-off rights

If you buy land in South Australia you are entitled to a cooling-off period. A cooling-off period allows you to reconsider the purchase, conduct further inspections, or just change your mind if you feel you have made a hasty decision. However, this does not apply if the land was bought at auction.

The Land & Business (Sale & Conveyancing) Act 1994 Form 1 details your right to cool off and how you must go about serving a cooling-off notice.

The cooling-off period expires at the end of the second clear business day after the contract was signed (if you received the Form 1 prior to making the contract); or at the end of the second clear business day after the Form 1 was served on you
(if you received the Form 1 after making the contract).

The cooling-off notice must be in writing and must be served on the vendor or the vendor's agent, either personally, by certified mail or by facsimile. Precise details of how the notice is to be served are set
out in the Form 1. There is no special wording for the notice and no reason has
to be given.

If a property is to be offered for sale by auction but you make a successful offer before the auction, a cooling-off period does apply unless you waive that right after obtaining independent legal advice.

You also have no right to cool off if you buy:
• after the auction but on the same day the auction was held
• in the name of a company
• by assignment, or
• by tender or option to purchase.

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