A simultaneous settlement is when you sell your current home and buy the next one on the same day, so the proceeds of the sale fund the purchase. In NSW it is done by lining up the two contracts and settling both electronically on the day: in PEXA the sale and the purchase use separate workspaces that can be linked to settle together, with the sale proceeds funding the purchase, or the sale can settle first and the purchase later.
You have found the next place. The problem is that most of the money for it is sitting inside the walls of the place you already live in. Selling first means renting, or moving the kids and the dog into your parents’ spare room. Buying first means two mortgages and a very quiet dinner with your broker. So most upgraders ask the same question: can we just do both on the same day?
Yes, and plenty of our clients do. This guide covers how it works in NSW, how to line up the two dates, what happens to your deposit, and what happens if one side is not ready on the day. It is NSW only.
What is a simultaneous settlement?
It is two separate deals that complete on the same day: your sale and your purchase. The usual approach is to line up the two settlements on the same day, or the sale a day or two before the purchase, so the proceeds of one fund the other.
It is not a special kind of contract and there is no section of NSW law that creates it. It is two ordinary contracts, planned together, with their settlement dates and extension clauses negotiated to match.
Two contracts, one day, one team watching both.
Each contract is still its own deal, binding from the moment it is exchanged. The buyer of your home is not a party to your purchase, and the seller of your next home is not a party to your sale. Neither of them has to care that you are doing both. That is the whole risk, and the rest of this guide is about managing it.
How does a simultaneous settlement work on the day?
NSW is an electronic jurisdiction. Since October 2021 dealings, caveats and priority notices have had to be lodged electronically, so settlement happens electronically, usually through PEXA. Nobody meets in a room with cheques. That is good news here: two electronic settlements can be linked to settle together on the same day, by the same team.
- Both settlements booked for the same day
- Sale and purchase workspaces linked
- Your mortgage is paid out
- Sale proceeds fund your purchase
- Keys handed over at both ends
On the sale, the buyer’s funds move in a digital workspace, your mortgage is paid out, the adjustments and the agent’s account are dealt with, and the transfer is lodged with the land registry. In PEXA, the sale and the purchase use separate workspaces that can be linked to settle together, with the sale proceeds funding the purchase. The balance of your sale proceeds does not come to your account first. It goes across to the purchase workspace, alongside your new loan and any savings you are putting in. Alternatively, the sale can settle first and the purchase later.
On the purchase, your funds and your loan are in the workspace, settlement is confirmed, and the transfer is lodged so the property is registered in your name. Then the agent releases the keys. Our guide to what happens on settlement day covers the figures on each side.
Settlement is booked for a time on the day and can run late if any party is not ready. With two settlements that is two sets of banks and two other sides, so build in slack. Do not book the removalist for first thing in the morning, and do not promise your mother-in-law the spare room will be ready by lunch.
Should you sell first, buy first, or do both at once?
A same-day settlement is the middle path. Each alternative swaps one risk for another.
Sell first, then buy
You settle the sale, the money lands, and you buy with a known budget and no clock running. The cost is somewhere to live in between: a rental, a short lease, or family. The safest option on paper, and the one that involves the most cardboard boxes.
Buy first, then sell
You secure the next place and sell from it, with one move and no gap. The cost is carrying two properties at once, usually with bridging finance, and the risk that your sale takes longer or fetches less than you planned.
Bridging finance is short-term finance that covers the period between buying a new property and selling your existing one. Whether you can get it, what it costs and how long it can run are questions for your broker or lender, not your conveyancer. The Australian Government’s MoneySmart site has a plain definition.
One thing the standard NSW contract does not do is make your purchase conditional on your sale going through. The printed terms have no finance condition at all, and no subject to sale condition either; if you want that protection it has to be written in as a special condition, and the seller does not have to agree. Our guide to subject to finance and unconditional contracts in NSW covers what a finance clause does and does not do.
How do you line up the two settlement dates?
This is the part that matters most. The standard Law Society contract sets completion at 42 days after the contract date. That is a default, not a rule, and 30, 60 or 90 days are all common. So the date is whatever each contract says, and it is set when you negotiate the contract, not on the day.
So plan the two dates as a pair. In practice:
- Where you can, negotiate a longer settlement on the purchase than on the sale. A buffer is cheaper than a bridging loan.
- Read the special conditions on both contracts for anything that changes the completion date, adds charges if settlement runs late, or lets one side extend. Our guide to the contract for sale of land in NSW explains where those clauses live.
One timing trap is worth knowing. Where a cooling-off period applies on your sale, it belongs to the buyer, not to you, so your sale is not certain until it has run out or been waived, and that can be after you have exchanged on your purchase.
Line the dates up before you exchange on either contract. After exchange, moving a date needs the other side to agree, and they do not have to.
Keep your broker in the loop as well: both addresses, both settlement dates, and whether the purchase depends on the sale. A lender that thinks it is funding a plain purchase will not be ready for a payout and a new loan on the same morning.
Can you use your sale deposit for your purchase?
Usually not, and plenty of upgraders assume otherwise. When your buyer exchanges, they pay a deposit. It is usually 10 per cent of the purchase price, unless a lesser sum, for example 5 per cent, is agreed. It is normally held in a trust account, usually the selling agent’s or a conveyancer’s, rather than handed straight to the seller, and it is typically released to the seller at settlement.
Under the printed terms of the standard NSW contract, the deposit is paid to the deposit holder as stakeholder, which means it is held for both sides until settlement. There is no printed clause that lets you take the deposit early to put down on your next place. If the buyer agrees to release it, that is done by a special condition, and the contract’s own warning says that a buyer who agrees to a release may find their right to get the deposit back stands behind the rights of others, such as your lender. Plenty of buyers’ conveyancers will say no, and they are right to.
So where does the deposit on your purchase come from? Savings, a loan drawn early, or a deposit bond. A deposit bond is a guarantee that stands in place of a cash deposit, rather than money changing hands. A seller does not have to accept one, so whether you can use a bond depends on the contract and on the seller agreeing to it. Our guide to exchange of contracts in NSW covers the deposit and bonds in more detail.
What happens if one side cannot settle on the day?
Settlements can be delayed, and it is usually because one side’s part of the workspace is not ready: a bank that has not loaded its figures, a document still being signed, or funds that have not cleared. In a simultaneous settlement a delay on one contract lands straight on the other, because the purchase money is coming out of the sale. That is the 2am scenario. Here is what the contract does with it.
What follows is set by your contract. Under the printed terms of the standard NSW contract, the time for completion is fixed but not essential, which in plain words means missing the date is a breach but does not, by itself, end the contract. If one side is ready and the other is not, the ready side can serve a notice to complete, which gives the other side a further period to settle and makes that new date essential. The printed terms do not fix how long that period is; it comes from practice and special conditions, so check yours.
| What happens | Where it comes from | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Notice to complete | The printed terms allow one; the length of the extra period is practice and special conditions | The late side gets a further period to settle, and the new date is essential |
| Penalty interest | A special condition, not the printed terms | Interest on the balance for each day of delay, at the rate the contract sets, if your contract has the clause |
| Termination | The printed terms, once an essential time has been missed | The deposit can be lost by a buyer who cannot complete; a buyer can walk away and recover the deposit if the seller is the one who cannot |
Penalty interest for a late settlement is not in the printed terms either. It is a common special condition, usually on the buyer who is late, and the rate is whatever the contract says. Under the standard contract a seller who terminates after the buyer misses an essential date can keep or recover the deposit, up to 10 per cent of the price, and claim any shortfall on a resale.
In a simultaneous settlement that cuts both ways. If your buyer is late, you may be the one who cannot complete your purchase, and your seller does not have to wait just because your buyer did. Any claim you have against your buyer is a separate fight from the one you are now in with your seller. This is why the dates, the buffers and the extension clauses matter so much. Our guide to delayed settlement in NSW covers what a seller can do, and why property settlements get delayed covers the usual causes.
If a gap opens that nobody can close, the usual fix is a short extension agreed by both sides on the affected contract, in writing.
On the podcast: when the sale funding your purchase runs late
Daniella Muzitano, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Titlespace, joined host George Cherchian on the Inside The Deal podcast to talk through a matter where the sale funding the next purchase did not settle on time. They cover how one delayed sale can affect more than one purchase, the negotiations that follow, and early occupation and the costs of moving before settlement.
Inside The Deal, episode 7: “Selling and Buying At The Same Time”. Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify. Like this article, the episode is general information only.
What does this mean for your move?
A simultaneous settlement is not hard. It is two normal settlements that have to behave on the same day. Almost all the work is in the planning before exchange, not the panic after it. The short list:
- Use one conveyancer for both matters, and tell them about the purchase when you instruct them on the sale.
- Tell your broker it is a simultaneous settlement, with both dates and both addresses.
- Apply for your ATO clearance certificate the day you decide to sell, not the day you exchange.
- Ask for the same settlement date on both contracts, or a buffer with the sale first.
- Check both contracts for extension clauses and late-settlement charges before you exchange.
- Do your pre-settlement inspection on the purchase close to the day, and book the removalist for settlement day plus one.
- Arrange to be out of your old home by the time your sale contract requires, and plan storage or a night’s accommodation if you cannot move straight into the new one.
On the ATO certificate: for contracts entered into from 1 January 2025, Australian tax-resident sellers generally need one to avoid withholding, whatever the price. Without it the buyer must withhold 15 per cent of the price at settlement and send it to the ATO. Any amount withheld is credited through your tax assessment, and it is not necessarily refunded in full. In a simultaneous settlement that 15 per cent is money you were counting on for the purchase, so this one is not optional. Our pre-settlement inspection checklist tells you what to look for on the day.
Titlespace is a conveyancing law firm based in Sydney acting for buyers, sellers and transfers in NSW, VIC, QLD and the ACT. We can run both matters with the same team and line the two dates up. See our conveyancing for sellers and conveyancing for buyers pages, and tell us about both properties when you ask for a quote. For the local rules, start with conveyancing in NSW.
Reviewed by Marc Ryckmans, Legal Practitioner Director, November 2026. Last updated November 2026. This article is general information about simultaneous settlement in NSW. It is not legal advice about your transaction.
The content of this blog post is intended as general information and should be considered broad guidance only. It does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as such. Every property transaction is different, and we recommend seeking personalised advice from a qualified professional before making any investment or legal decisions.
Questions people ask about buying and selling at the same time
What is a simultaneous settlement in property?
A simultaneous settlement is when the sale of your current home and the purchase of your next one both complete on the same day, with the sale proceeds paying for the purchase. In NSW both settlements run electronically: in PEXA the sale and the purchase use separate workspaces that can be linked to settle together, with the sale proceeds funding the purchase, or the sale can settle first and the purchase later. It is not a special legal process; it is two ordinary contracts whose settlement dates and extension clauses have been negotiated to match. The same conveyancer usually runs both matters so the two files talk to each other. Our guide to settlement day in NSW covers what happens on each side.
Can I buy a new house before selling my old one in NSW?
Yes, but you need to fund the purchase without the sale money, which usually means bridging finance or enough savings and borrowing capacity to carry both properties for a while. The standard NSW contract does not make your purchase conditional on your sale going through, so once you exchange on the new place you are bound to complete whether or not your old one has sold. A special condition can sometimes be negotiated, but the seller does not have to agree to it. Talk to your broker before you make an offer, and have the contract reviewed before you sign.
How long does a simultaneous settlement take?
About as long as a normal sale and purchase, because it is one of each. The standard NSW contract sets completion at 42 days after the contract date, but that is a default and 30, 60 or 90 days are all common. Most matters run six to eight weeks end to end. What stretches a simultaneous settlement is the same thing that stretches any other: finance, incomplete contract documents, something turning up in a search, or one party going quiet at the wrong moment, except that now a delay on either contract affects both. The day itself is two electronic settlements, linked to settle together or run one after the other, which can take a few hours from the booked time if every party is ready.
What is a settlement extension and how do I get one?
A settlement extension is an agreement to move the completion date in a contract to a later day. After exchange the date is fixed, so moving it needs the other side’s agreement, and they do not have to give it. Your conveyancer asks the other side’s conveyancer, and if they agree, the new date is confirmed in writing between the two firms; some contracts include a special condition that lets one side extend by a set period, so check yours. In a simultaneous settlement an extension on one contract usually means asking for a matching extension on the other, which is why the two dates should be negotiated together before you exchange. If the other side refuses and you cannot settle on the day, see our guide to delayed settlement in NSW.
Do I need bridging finance to buy and sell at the same time?
You may avoid it if the two settlements are properly coordinated, on the same day or with the sale a day or two before the purchase, and your net sale proceeds, your loan and your other funds cover the purchase. Confirm the funding and a backup plan with your lender. Bridging finance is short-term finance that covers the period between buying a new property and selling your existing one, so you only need it when the purchase settles before the sale. Whether a lender will offer it, what it costs and how long it can run are questions for your broker. Your conveyancer’s job is to line the dates up so you need as little of it as possible, which is why you should tell them about both properties when you ask for a quote. Start with our conveyancing for sellers page.
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