I’m Thinking of Selling My House in NSW. Where Do I Start?
Call your conveyancer before you call an agent. Here is what to do first, in plain English, the way I would explain it over a coffee.
Where do you start when you are selling a house in NSW? Start with your conveyancer, not your agent, because the contract for sale has to be ready before your property goes on the market, and it usually takes around a week to put together. If a friend asked me over coffee, this is what I would tell them.
At a glance
- Where do I start? With a call to your conveyancer, before you sign with an agent or book the photographer.
- Why so early? The contract takes around a week to prepare, and your agent needs it to market the property.
- What paperwork do I need? Approvals and certificates for any work you have done to the house, plus your photo ID.
- What do sellers forget? Pools and inclusions. Both can hold up a sale or start an argument at settlement.
- Is there an easy hack? Yes. Set up one free email address just for the sale so everything lives in one inbox.
The short answer
An agent can sell your house, but they cannot start until the contract exists. If you only call us once you have signed with an agent, the whole campaign waits on paperwork. If you call us first, the contract is ready when they are.
The good news is that most of what we need is already in your cupboards and your inbox. You just have to go looking for it before you list, not after.
In plain English
The contract for sale is the document everything else hangs off. Buyers read it, their conveyancers check it, and the agent sells from it. If it is wrong or late, everything behind it is wrong or late too.
Four things to do this week
None of these take long. All of them save you time later.
Get us involved as early as you can
The contract usually takes around a week to prepare, so the earlier you tell us, the sooner your agent can launch. Complete our Seller Instructions form and we will get started. You do not need to have an agent signed up first.
Find the paperwork for any alterations
Extension, deck, pergola, granny flat, new bathroom, a pool. If you have changed the house, the contract needs to be accurate about it, and that means the council approvals and completion certificates. Check old folders, emails from your builder and letters from council.
If you cannot find something, tell us anyway. Unapproved work will not necessarily stop a sale, but it has to be handled before you list. Our guide on selling with unapproved building works explains how. If a builder did major work recently, we also need the insurance certificate that came with it, which is covered in the Home Building Compensation Fund guide.
Find your ID documents
We have to verify your identity before we can act for you. It is the same for every client, and having your photo ID such as a driver licence or passport handy saves days. Our quick guide to verifying your identity shows how it works.
Set up one email address just for the sale
There will be a lot of emails. The agent, the photographer, the bank, your conveyancer, council. Here is a little hack that makes it all easier. Create a free Gmail address and call it something like housestuff1. Use it for everything to do with the sale and tell your agent and us to use it as well.
Everything ends up in one inbox, nothing gets buried in your personal email, and you know exactly where to look when someone asks “did you get that certificate?”
Call the conveyancer first. The agent can start the moment the contract is ready.
The two things people miss when selling a house in NSW
These two catch out sellers and agents all the time, so it is worth a few minutes before you list.
Pools
If you have a pool or an outdoor spa that can hold 30cm or more of water, the contract needs a pool certificate attached. If it is missing, the buyer can rescind within 14 days of exchange unless settlement has already happened.
Most pools fail the first inspection. The fixes are usually cheap, such as a gate that does not self close, a gap under the fence or a pot plant the kids can climb on, but they take time to organise. Allow four to six weeks, and register the pool on the NSW Swimming Pool Register first. It is free. Our full guide, selling a property with a pool in NSW, covers the lot.
Inclusions
Anything fixed to the house or land generally goes with it unless the contract says otherwise. Loose items stay with you unless they are listed. The front page of the contract has an inclusions list with tick boxes and room to write in anything else, and that list is what counts. What was said at the open home does not.
The 2026 contract added a separate tick box for solar batteries, so if you have one, it needs a deliberate decision. We cover the other changes in the 2026 contract guide.
| Item | What usually happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed air conditioning, light fittings, built in wardrobes | Treated as fixtures and go with the house | Exclude in writing anything you want to keep, such as a feature light |
| Curtains and blinds | Tick box on the contract | Tick if they stay, exclude if they go |
| Pool pump, filter and chlorinator | Pool equipment tick box | Check it is ticked |
| Pool cover, robot cleaner, loose pool furniture | Not fixed, so they are yours unless listed | Write them in if they stay, or take them with you |
| Solar panels and solar battery | Separate tick boxes | Tell us if either is leased or on finance |
| Freestanding fridge, washing machine, TV | Yours unless listed | List them if you are leaving them |
| Garden shed, water tank | Usually fixtures if fixed to the ground | Say so now if you plan to take them |
If you are unsure whether something is a fixture, ask us before the contract goes out, not at the final inspection.
The contract wins over the conversation every time.
Four mistakes we see
Calling the agent first and the conveyancer second. The agent is then waiting on a contract that has not been started.
Hunting for paperwork after the contract is drafted. It is faster to find it first, and a missing approval can hold up the whole campaign.
Forgetting the pool. The inspection runs to the inspector’s diary, not yours.
Letting the listing promise more than the contract. If the ad says the solar battery or the pool cover is included and the contract does not, the argument lands at settlement.
Thinking of selling in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland or Port Stephens?
Talk to Justin, Julie, Amanda or Nicole before you list. We will get your contract started so it is ready when your agent is.
