Settlement

Settlement is the day ownership legally changes hands. The moment the buyer's money reaches you, the title transfers into their name and the property stops being yours. For sellers it's the finish line. It's also the point where four separate things have to line up at once: your loan has to be paid out, the property's running costs have to be squared up, any tax the buyer must withhold has to be dealt with, and the property itself handed over in the state you promised.

Settlement happens electronically. In New South Wales and Victoria that's mandatory for standard dealings, and Queensland has been moving the same way since 2023 with paper now reserved for specific cases.

In practice that means PEXA. There is a second approved network, Sympli, but it handles well under 1% of settlements because most lenders won't accept its workspaces. Your conveyancer and your lender meet in an online workspace on the agreed date, and the money moves through the Reserve Bank's settlement system.

You don't attend. But what you do in the weeks beforehand decides whether the day runs cleanly or slips.

Timeframes, fees and the exact steps differ between VIC, NSW and QLD, so treat this as the map and your conveyancer's advice as the detail for your state.

Key takeaways for sellers

• You don't attend. Your conveyancer and your lender settle electronically in an online workspace on the agreed date. There's no meeting, no cheques, and nothing for you to sign on the day — your job is all in the weeks beforehand.
• Your money arrives at settlement. Your loan is paid out, the agent's commission and sale costs come off, and the balance is transferred to your nominated account. Ask your conveyancer when it will actually clear — that depends on your bank, not on settlement.
• Start your mortgage discharge early. Lodge your lender's discharge authority as soon as you're under contract. Banks work to their own timetable, and this is the step most likely to hold up your settlement date.

What has to happen for settlement to complete?

1. Discharging your mortgage. If you still owe money on the property, your lender has to be paid out and its mortgage removed from the title before settlement can complete. It takes longer than most sellers expect, so it needs to start early. How to discharge your mortgage when selling →

2. Settling the adjustments. Council rates, water charges and any body corporate or strata fees are apportioned between you and the buyer at settlement, so each side pays only for the days they owned the property. How settlement adjustments work →

3. Foreign resident CGT withholding. A federal ATO rule can require the buyer to withhold part of the price and pay it to the ATO unless you provide a clearance certificate. It can even reach Australian-resident sellers, not just foreign ones. What foreign resident CGT withholding means for you →

4. Handing over at settlement. Vacant possession, keys, remotes and the final inspection — what you're required to leave, and in what condition. What you hand over at settlement →

What should you do before settlement day?

Settlement runs smoothly when the preparation is done early, and most of that preparation is in your hands. Lodge your lender's discharge authority as soon as you can rather than waiting for the final week, sign all your conveyancing and verification-of-identity (VOI) documents promptly, and confirm the final adjustment figures your conveyancer calculates. Closer to the day, make sure you can meet the vacant-possession and condition requirements in your contract, and arrange the handover of keys and remotes with your agent.

The delays that do happen usually come from third parties. A lender that is slow to process the discharge is the most common one, which is why lodging early matters so much. A buyer's final inspection can flag an issue, so resolve any agreed repairs before the day; unmatched figures or a missing bank approval in the online workspace can hold things up, so approve your adjustments early; and if the property is tenanted, confirm the vacant-possession terms so belongings are cleared in time.

Sellers often wonder where their deposit sits in the meantime. It stays in a trust account — usually the agent's — and is applied at settlement, so it forms part of the money that squares up on the day rather than arriving separately.

Victoria is the exception worth knowing about: a section 27 process can release the deposit to you before settlement if the contract is unconditional. See how the deposit works when selling.

What if settlement doesn't happen on the day?

Get these four right and settlement is a formality: the money lands, the title moves, and you're done.

Get one wrong and it slips — though a missed date isn't instantly a disaster. In Queensland either party can push settlement out by up to five business days by giving notice by 4pm on the day, so a short delay may be no default at all. In New South Wales and Victoria the buyer has to serve you a notice giving roughly 14 further days before they can terminate.

What you can be liable for in the meantime is the buyer's default interest and costs, if the delay was your side. And there's a risk the contract can't protect you from: if you're buying somewhere else on the same day, a late settlement here puts that purchase in trouble too.

A licensed conveyancer or solicitor runs all four on your behalf and holds the deadlines together. Zettle does it on a fixed fee, known before you start. Just Zettle it.

This is general information, not legal advice; confirm the specifics for your property and state.