Price $1,310,000, deposit $81,000, balance $1,179,000. Those last two make $1,260,000. The balance is exactly 90% of the price, so it was worked out from a $131,000 deposit that was never written on the page. Clause 9.1 lets the vendor recover the deposit up to 10% of the price, so on a default you forfeit the $81,000 you paid and they can still come after the other $50,000.

“Price $1,310,000 Deposit $81,000 Balance $1,179,000”Contract, front page, p.1

Four words deleted from clause 8.1 and three from 8.2. Normally a vendor can only rescind where they are on reasonable grounds unable to meet a requisition, and the notice has to state those grounds. Both requirements are gone, and special condition 30(f) extends the clause to claims as well as requisitions. It is the most one-sided change in the annexure.

“Clause 8.1 is amended by deleting the words 'on reasonable grounds'”Special condition 30(g), p.15

Special condition 54 has you irrevocably authorise the agent to release the deposit so the vendor can put it down on their own next purchase. There is no cap, no security, and no requirement that they are able to complete. If the sale falls over on their default, getting it back is an unsecured chase against them personally.

“irrevocably authorise the vendor's agent to release to the vendors such part of the deposit moneys as the vendors shall require”Special condition 54, p.19

Special condition 30(e) moves the clause 7.1.1 threshold from 5% to 1%. At this price the vendor can rescind once your claims pass $13,100 instead of $65,500. Clause 6.1 is narrowed in the same breath and 6.2 is deleted, so you also have to prove you relied on whatever was misdescribed.

“Clause 7.1.1 is amended by the deletion of 5% and the inclusion of 1% in its place.”Special condition 30(e), p.15

It says 14 March 2014. The title search is dated 14 May and the council certificate 15 May. Completion is the 42nd day after the date of the contract, which lands on 25 April, a date already gone. On its face you are in default the moment you sign, and special condition 43 charges 10% a year on the unpaid balance while 44 and 50 add fixed fees on top.

“Contract date: 14th March 2014”Contract, front page, p.1

Special condition 33 takes the property with every defect, patent or latent, and bars any objection or claim about its condition. 45 blocks claims on anything a survey would have shown and discloses the original will not be produced. 53 says the contract is not conditional on a building certificate and you cannot require the vendor to get one. Clause 11.1 then makes you comply with any work order issued after the contract date.

“the purchaser will accept the property in its present state of repair and condition, subject to all defects whether patent or latent”Special condition 33, p.15

DP22959 shows a five foot drainage easement, and Sydney Water's service diagram draws it along the boundary of number 28 itself. The title's second schedule records one notification only, a Crown minerals reservation. No easement document is attached and item 10 of the list of documents is not ticked. It governs where you can build.

“Drainage Easement 5 Feet Wide”Deposited plan DP22959, p.21

The field reads a first name, the words mother in law, and a phone number. Under clause 20.6, service on the solicitor named in the contract is good service, and that is how a notice to complete reaches you. As written there is no one properly nominated to receive one.

“Purchaser's solicitor: Stacy mother in law ph: 9984 1292”Contract, front page, p.1

Both purchasers are named, but none of joint tenants, tenants in common or unequal shares is ticked. It decides what happens to the property if one of you dies, and changing it after exchange can attract duty.

“[ ] JOINT TENANTS [ ] tenants in common [ ] in unequal shares”Contract, front page, p.1

Ku-ring-gai requires 929 square metres and an 18.3 metre frontage for a new dwelling in this zone. The plan puts these lots at 36 and three quarter perches, which is 929 square metres. It builds, but there is no subdivision in it and no margin either way.

“a minimum area of 929 square metres”Section 149 certificate, item 6, p.24

A Tree Preservation Order covers the whole Ku-ring-gai area. Nothing over five metres tall, or with a canopy wider than four metres, can be pruned or removed without council consent. On a block like this one that shapes both the garden and where an extension can go.

“A Tree Preservation Order applies to all land in the Ku-ring-gai Local Government Area.”Section 149 certificate, item 37, p.33

One notification on the second schedule, and it is the standard Crown minerals reservation that sits on most old NSW titles. No mortgage, no caveat, no unregistered dealings, and the registered proprietor matches the vendor named on the front page.

“SECOND SCHEDULE (1 NOTIFICATION)”Title search, folio D/22959, p.20

Not bushfire prone, not flood affected, not heritage listed, not in a conservation area. No road widening, no acquisition reservation, and nothing on council's contamination record. Complying development is available under every code.

“IS THE PROPERTY BUSH FIRE PRONE LAND? No.”Section 149 certificate, item 24, p.29

Land tax is not adjustable, so you are not picking up a share of the vendor's bill at settlement, and the sale is input taxed rather than a taxable supply, so there is no GST buried in the price. Vacant possession, with no tenancies to inherit.

“Land tax is adjustable: NO GST: Taxable supply: NO”Contract, front page, p.1