Property due diligence

Know what’s confirmed, what’s missing, and what to resolve before you commit

Identify your sale method, open a due-diligence file, verify the contract, title, planning, owners corporation, environmental and financial position, then decide whether to proceed, negotiate, protect the offer with legally reviewed conditions, investigate further, or walk away.

The eight-stage due-diligence pathway

Each stage opens its own guide, in the order a buyer actually needs to work through them — before an unconditional contract or an auction bid, not after.

Stage 1 of 8

Resolve conflicts and decide

Four evidence categories

Underneath the eight stages, every finding still sorts into one of four categories — no single document or professional covers them all.

Legal

Title, easements, covenants and the Section 32 vendor statement — reviewed by a conveyancer or solicitor.

Physical

Building and pest condition — see the Inspecting Properties hub.

Planning & environmental

Zoning, overlays, approved or unapproved works, and flood, bushfire or contamination risk affecting the land.

Financial

Owners corporation health, finance, insurance and any outstanding charges on the land.

All guides

Sale method and commitment point

Private treaty, auction, pre-auction offer — when each one legally binds you, and what has to be checked before then.

Building your due-diligence file

A document index, status labels and a representation log — how to organise evidence instead of relying on memory.

The complete due-diligence guide

Section 32, contract terms, title basics, planning and financial verification, and how to decide — the full reference guide.

Private-sale offers and conditions

How a private-sale offer becomes a binding contract, what conditions actually protect you, and where GST needs its own check.

Before-auction due diligence

Auction contracts can't be made conditional and carry no cooling-off — what to confirm before you bid.

The cooling-off period

The real length, start date, refund calculation and full exclusion list — not just "three days".

The risks of an unconditional offer

Why removing finance and inspection conditions doesn't remove the underlying risk — it just moves who carries it.

Planning verification

What a VicPlan planning property report actually shows, and what it doesn't.

Owners corporation due diligence

How an owners corporation is created, what its certificate discloses, and what a car space title actually means.

Environmental and location risk

Contamination, flood and bushfire risk — the official Victorian registers to check, and what they don't cover.

Finance, valuation and insurance checks

Why pre-approval, a lender valuation and an insurance quote are three separate checks a buyer still needs to run.

Who to involve, and how to decide

A professional-referral table, a framework for conflicting evidence, and five ways due diligence can end.

Check your Section 32

Section 32 checklist & red flags

What every clause means, the red flags to watch for, and the overlays a vendor statement can leave out — a self-serve checklist, not a legal review.

Already published, linked not duplicated

These already exist as their own real, sourced pages rather than being rebuilt here.

Legal explainer

Section 32 explained

What a Section 32 vendor statement is, the red flags, and how to read it before you sign.

Guide

Contracts & legal terms

The legal and conveyancing guide — contract terms, deposits and cooling-off.

Guide

Reading an Owners Corporation certificate

What the certificate actually discloses, and what it doesn't.

Hub

Inspecting properties

The physical-condition half of due diligence — inspections, specialist referrals and reading a building and pest report.

Related buying stages

Due diligence coordinates evidence from earlier stages and feeds straight into the offer and settlement stages that follow it.

Earlier stage

Preparing financially

Your budget, deposit and finance readiness — what due diligence needs to confirm against a specific property.

Earlier stage

Deciding what to buy

Property type and compromises — the brief your due-diligence findings get checked against.

Next stage

Making an offer

Once your due-diligence file is resolved, set your price limit and terms.

Later stage

Settlement

Carry any unresolved due-diligence items into settlement as tracked conditions.

What this hub does not do

Delora's due-diligence content does not produce a "safe to buy" or "passed due diligence" verdict, does not draft or recommend legal clauses, and does not replace a licensed conveyancer or solicitor's review of the actual contract and Section 32 for this specific property. Missing information means "not yet checked", not "no issue".