Settlement and early ownership
Complete settlement, collect the keys and start ownership with nothing important missed
Track contract conditions, confirm insurance, understand your settlement adjustments, complete the final inspection, protect your payment from fraud, and organise the first weeks of ownership — all for one property.
What Delora will and won't do here
Helps you
Track contract conditions and deadlines, estimate funds required to complete, prepare for the final inspection, protect your settlement payment, and organise the first weeks of ownership.
Won't do
Guarantee settlement will occur, calculate legal deadlines as authoritative, transfer funds, collect bank details, or confirm title registration has completed without your own verification.
The eight-stage settlement pathway
Each stage opens its own guide, in the order a buyer actually needs to work through them — from a signed contract through to your first week of ownership.
Understand what the binding contract starts
Stage 2 of 8Confirm insurance is on track
Stage 3 of 8Understand settlement adjustments
Stage 4 of 8Complete the final inspection
Stage 5 of 8Register the transfer and pay duty
Stage 6 of 8Protect your settlement payment
Stage 7 of 8Know what happens on settlement day
Stage 8 of 8Start the first week of ownership
All guides
The complete settlement guide
What actually happens at settlement, the pre-settlement inspection, adjustments, insurance timing, and taking possession.
Understanding settlement adjustments
A worked adjustment statement — council rates, water charges, owners-corporation fees and rent, split between buyer and seller at settlement.
The final inspection: complete checklist
What to check against your contract and original inspection notes in the week before settlement — and exactly what to do if you find a problem.
Land transfer duty and registering the transfer
When duty is actually due — reconciling Consumer Affairs Victoria's general description against the State Revenue Office's own payment deadline — plus the Digital Duties Form and how the transfer of land is registered.
Insurance before and at settlement
Confirming your building-insurance start date, what it does and doesn't cover, and how to avoid underinsurance.
How to transfer settlement funds safely
Why an emailed bank detail can never be trusted on its own, and how to verify payment instructions before you send a cent.
Settlement day and key handover
What actually happens on the day, why you wait for professional confirmation, and when you can collect the keys.
Your first week as a homeowner
Locks, safety checks, utilities, records and the first repayment — an organised first 48 hours and first week.
Building problems found after settlement
Statutory building warranties, Domestic Building Insurance vs the new Home Warranty scheme, and how a building dispute is actually resolved.
What happens if you can't settle on time
Why a buyer's liability on default isn't capped at the deposit, how the standard default-notice and resale process works, and what to do immediately if settlement is at risk.
Dividing fences in Victoria
Who pays for a shared fence, the Fencing Notice process most people skip, why a boundary retaining wall isn't covered by fencing law, and free mediation if you can't agree.
Already published, linked not duplicated
These already exist as their own real, sourced pages rather than being rebuilt here.
Ongoing costs of home ownership
Council rates, insurance, owners corporation fees and a maintenance contingency for the years after settlement.
GuideOwners corporations explained
What you're taking on if the property has an owners corporation — relevant again at handover.
Related buying stages
Making an offer
Where the contract conditions and price you're now settling on were agreed.
Earlier stageProperty due diligence
Unresolved due-diligence items should be tracked as settlement conditions, not forgotten.
Earlier stagePreparing financially
Confirming your finance and funds for settlement builds directly on your original budget.