Purchases

At settlement. Duty is calculated when the transfer is lodged and paid through the electronic lodgement network as part of settlement, so it comes out of the funds on the day rather than being invoiced later. Your lender will factor it into what you need available.

In several ways. Vacant land has no building to inspect, but it raises questions a house does not: whether services are connected, what the planning controls allow, whether the lot is registered yet, and in growth areas whether an infrastructure contribution applies. Those are checked before the contract is signed.

The two are usually settled on the same day. That keeps the sale proceeds available to fund the purchase, but it means both contracts have to align on date and both parties have to be ready. Where they cannot align, bridging finance or a licence to occupy is sometimes used.

Yes, and arguably more so. Without a lender there is no bank running its own checks on the title, so the only party verifying what you are buying is your conveyancer. The searches and contract review matter more, not less, when no one else is looking.

It depends why. Where a contract ends within cooling off or under a finance condition, the professional fee is often reduced or waived, but disbursements already incurred, such as searches and certificates, have generally been paid to third parties and are not recoverable. Ask how this is handled before engaging.