Sell my house: the step-by-step process in Queensland

Before the property goes on the market

Two things need to happen before a buyer ever sees the listing. First, if you use an agent, you sign a Form 6 appointment setting the commission, the marketing spend and the term of the appointment. Read the commission rate and the term — both are negotiable, and an open-ended sole agency is not in your interests.

Second, since 1 August 2025 you must give every buyer a seller disclosure statement (Form 2) with the prescribed certificates attached, before they sign the contract. This is the biggest change to Queensland selling in decades and getting it wrong gives the buyer a right to terminate right up to settlement.

• Form 6 agent appointment — commission, term, marketing budget
• Form 2 seller disclosure plus title search, registered plan and any body corporate certificate
• Locate your rates notice, water notice and any building approvals for works you have done
• If the property is tenanted, the lease and the tenant's details

Contract signed: what happens next

Once both parties sign, the contract is on foot and the clock starts. The buyer usually has a five-business-day cooling off period, plus finance and building and pest conditions with their own dates. You cannot relax until those dates pass.

Your solicitor takes over the file at this point: checking the contract is properly completed, diarising every date, dealing with the buyer's solicitor on extensions and requests, and preparing the transfer documents.

Between contract and settlement

The buyer will inspect and may raise issues from the building and pest report. You are not obliged to fix anything, but you may negotiate rather than lose the sale.

You must keep the property in essentially the same condition and hand it over with vacant possession (unless the contract says otherwise). Your solicitor obtains a payout figure from your bank, adjusts rates and water to the settlement date, and books the electronic settlement.

What it costs to sell

Our fixed fee for a residential sale with Coastside Law is $990 including GST. On top of that sit the agent's commission and marketing, the searches and certificates for the Form 2, and your bank's discharge fee.

Sellers do not pay transfer duty — that is the buyer's cost.

• Legal fee — fixed, quoted before we start
• Agent commission and marketing — typically the largest cost
• Form 2 disclosure searches and certificates
• Mortgage discharge fee to your lender

Selling a house in Queensland — common questions