Buying a house? Why you should get your own LIM.

So you've found a house you want to buy. Great!

You've got the property pack from the agent, and this included a Land Information Memorandum (LIM). You then go to your lawyer, and your lawyer recommends that you get your own LIM -- why?

Now we know that a LIM is expensive, and it seems really silly to pay for one when you've been supplied one for free. After all, can you see everything on there or in the property file to see if there are any issues?

Sure, we (and you) are able to look at the LIM from the auction pack for the purposes of letting you know whether there are any red flags in there and doing our solicitor’s review, BUT, and this is the important bit, because you (or a lawyer acting on your behalf) are not the person who actually ordered the LIM, then the Council has no responsibility to you in respect of any issues arising with the property, whether or not those issues were disclosed on the LIM.

So, basically, you can’t rely on a LIM provided by the vendor or the agent.

From our point of view, the real value in getting a LIM is that you are able to sue the Council if there is something that is NOT in their property file or report. 

So you can check the provided LIM now, and it all looks good, but if you find out a couple of years down the track that there are land issues, contamination, a massive development consented next door, then you would probably want to seek damages off the Council if they should have disclosed this.  If you don’t get your own LIM in your own name, you have no right to sue the Council.

I often say -- think of the LIM as a $300 insurance policy -- I know when you are buying a house all the expenses add up, and it's good to think about where you can save -- but in the context of what you pay for a house, I would strongly recommend a LIM -- and getting it yourself in your own name.