Key takeaways for sellers
- You don't get a cooling-off period — the buyer does. You're bound as soon as the contract is signed. The buyer isn't, quite, until their window closes.
- No cooling-off at auction. Not in any state. Sell under the hammer and the buyer is committed on the spot — which is a large part of why sellers choose auction.
- If a buyer cools off, they forfeit a penalty. 0.25% of the price in New South Wales and Queensland, the greater of $100 or 0.2% in Victoria. You keep it, and you're back on the market.
What is a cooling-off period?
A short window after signing where the buyer can change their mind and walk, giving up a small penalty for the privilege.
It's the buyer's right, not yours. You're committed from signing; they get a few days' grace. That asymmetry is worth knowing before you start booking removalists.
How long is cooling-off, and what does it cost the buyer?
| Cooling-off period | Penalty if they walk | Starts from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 3 business days | The greater of $100 or 0.2% of the price | When the buyer signs |
| New South Wales | 5 business days | 0.25% of the price | Exchange of contracts |
| Queensland | 5 business days | 0.25% of the price | When the buyer receives the signed contract |
None of it applies at auction — not in any state. Victoria also excludes a private sale within three clear business days either side of a scheduled auction, and in Queensland cooling-off is gone if a registered bidder buys within two business days after one.
The buyer can also give it up voluntarily. In New South Wales that's a section 66W certificate, signed by their solicitor or conveyancer, which makes the contract binding straight away — common in competitive sales.
How does a buyer actually cool off?
Written notice, delivered to you or your conveyancer before the deadline. Not a phone call, not a text to the agent. There's usually a cut-off time on the final day — commonly 5pm — so a notice that arrives that evening is late.
Their deposit comes back, less the penalty. You keep the penalty.
What does cooling-off mean for your timeline?
For those few days, the sale is real but not certain. If the buyer walks you're back on the market, holding a few thousand dollars and having lost a week or two of momentum.
Once the window closes without notice, that's it. The buyer is in, and the only remaining question is whether any conditions in the contract still have to be met.
Is cooling-off the same as a contract condition?
Worth keeping straight, particularly in Victoria and Queensland where conditions sit inside a signed contract.
Cooling-off is a short no-reasons-needed exit that costs the buyer a penalty. A condition — finance, building and pest, the sale of their own place — is a separate right that runs on its own timeline and usually costs them nothing to use.
A buyer can be well past cooling-off and still walk away lawfully under a condition. The sale is properly locked in once both have gone: the window has closed and every condition is satisfied or waived.
Your conveyancer will tell you the exact date and time the window closes in your state, and whether anything in the contract changes it. Worth knowing before you commit to anything on the strength of the sale.