However, the cooling off period will not apply in certain circumstances such as the vendor receiving before the Contract is entered into a s66W certificate from the purchaser removing the cooling off period (which is often the case) or the property is purchased at a public auction.
The cooling off period can be extended by agreement in the Contract or by the vendor in writing before the cooling off period expires but this can lead to a number of issues.
One issue is that most Contracts have a 6 week settlement period and if the cooling off period is extended too far, for instance for 3 weeks, then the whole matter is on hold until the purchaser makes a decision leaving little time for all the matters that need to be addressed in a normal conveyancing transaction. Therefore, it is recommended that the maximum cooling off period be 10 business days unless the settlement period itself is extended.
Another issue which applies to cooling off periods, whether extended or not, is the payment of the deposit. A purchaser taking advantage of a cooling off period usually only pays the 0.25% rather than the whole 10%. When they decide to proceed with the purchase and not rescind the Contract (often only a few minutes before the deadline!) they only then turn their mind to payment of the deposit. If they cannot provide a cheque to the agent immediately and want to rely on a bank transfer, it may not hit the agent’s account for a day or two putting the purchaser in breach of Contract. Care needs to be taken in this regard.