What Happens If a Property Falls Over After You’ve Signed?

Signing a contract on a property often feels like crossing the finish line.

Relief. Excitement. Maybe a quiet glass of wine that night.

But for many buyers, there is still a nagging question that won’t quite go away.
“What happens if this falls over?”

It is a fair question. And one we deal with far more often than people realise.

Here is the reality.
Property contracts can fall over after signing. When they do, it is rarely because someone intended things to go wrong. 

It usually happens because legal risk was misunderstood, underestimated, or not properly managed at the time the contract was entered into.

In Victoria, once a contract is signed, it becomes a legally binding agreement. Your rights and obligations are not determined by good intentions or verbal assurances. They are determined by what is written in the contract and the Section 32 Vendor’s Statement.

Some of the most common reasons a contract falls over include:

• Finance not being approved within the agreed timeframe
• Building and pest inspections revealing serious defects
• A buyer exercising cooling off rights
• Errors, omissions or adverse disclosures in the Section 32
• Special conditions being poorly drafted or missing altogether

What most buyers do not realise is that the outcome of any of these situations depends almost entirely on how the contract was drafted before it was signed.

For example, a finance clause is not just a safety net by default. Its wording matters. Timeframes matter. Notice requirements matter. If a buyer misses a deadline or fails to give notice correctly, they may lose the right to exit the contract, even if finance is genuinely declined.

The same applies to building and pest conditions. If the clause is vague or poorly structured, disputes can arise over whether defects are serious enough to justify termination. In some cases, buyers find themselves legally committed to a property with significant issues, simply because the clause did not give them sufficient protection.

Cooling off rights are another area commonly misunderstood. Cooling off is not automatic in every situation. It does not apply to auction purchases, properties bought within three business days of an auction, or certain other circumstances. Even when cooling off applies, there are strict time limits and financial consequences, including forfeiture of part of the deposit.

Then there are Section 32 issues. Missing approvals, undisclosed easements, Owners Corporation liabilities or planning overlays can materially affect the value and use of a property. If these are not identified and addressed early, buyers may find themselves locked into a contract they would never have agreed to had they understood the full picture.

If the right conditions are in place and properly exercised, a buyer may be able to exit the contract with minimal cost and stress.
If they are not, deposits can be forfeited, damages claimed, and legal disputes can follow.

This is why we consistently say the most important work a conveyancer does is before you sign, not after.

Once a contract is unconditional, your options narrow significantly. At that point, a conveyancer is often managing consequences rather than preventing them.

At Skilled Conveyancing, our role is to identify legal risk early, explain it in plain English, and ensure the contract protects you if something unexpected happens. That means reviewing contracts before signing, tailoring special conditions to your circumstances, and making sure you understand not just what can go wrong, but how the law responds if it does.

Peace of mind in property transactions does not come from hoping nothing goes wrong.
It comes from knowing that if it does, you are legally protected.

That confidence starts before you sign.