First look
Inspection questions, the Crown lease and ground rent, and how to read a section 17 certificate before anyone signs one.
Independent questions for readers comparing public pages from ANZ, Bank of Melbourne, Bankwest, Bendigo Bank, Commonwealth Bank, ING, Macquarie, NAB, St.George and Westpac.
The Field Guide
A Canberra desk for people buying a first home on an ACT Crown lease. Purchase steps, checklists, and the same questions for every public lender page.
Lender bench
Ten public pages, one set of questions
Zenith Lens does not sell home loans. The bench below is an alphabetical reading list. Each link leaves this site. The question cell is identical on every row so St.George sits level with Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB, Bank of Melbourne, Bankwest, Bendigo Bank, ING and Macquarie. There is no rate column and no ranking.
| Name | Public page | Questions to check |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Bank of Melbourne | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Bankwest | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Bendigo Bank | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Commonwealth Bank | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| ING | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Macquarie | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| NAB | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| St.George | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
| Westpac | Public page | Ask how this public page describes offset, redraw, any package fee, and any break cost. These are questions for your notes, not figures from this guide. |
Zenith Lens is an independent home buying guide publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by St.George Bank – A Division of Westpac Banking Corporation, or its related entities. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
On the desk
Six notes before you treat a draft as a plan
- 1Write the block, section and division, or the unit and units plan number.
- 2Mark the Crown lease purpose clause. Do not trust the brochure’s nickname for it.
- 3Note whether cooling-off applies, or whether this sale is an auction or another exception.
- 4Write the four lender questions — offset, redraw, package fee, break cost — before any call.
- 5Open the ACT Revenue Office page for concessions and rates. Do not copy a dollar figure from a chat.
- 6Ask a conveyancer to read the contract. This guide does not exchange it.
A path, not a promise
Seven steps readers actually take
Name the block
Street address plus block, section and division. Units add the units plan.
Walk through with a list
Ceilings, wet areas, inclusions. Notes, not a diagnosis.
Read the lease search
The Lease Conveyancing Inquiry date, breaches, and any rent entry.
Brief a conveyancer
Someone who does not act for the seller reads the bundle with you.
Ask the four lender questions
On each public page, in alphabetical order, with the date in your notes.
Check duty with the Territory
Concessions and general rates live on the Revenue Office site because the figures move.
Keep a completion-week list
Funds, keys, and the phone numbers your conveyancer actually gave you.
Four sections
Where the longer notes live
In focus
The contract bundle, questions for a Canberra conveyancer, and auction set against private treaty.
Fine print
The lender reading list, offset and redraw as words, and unit-title paperwork.
Clear view
The completion week, then the first month of living with the lease you bought.
Three terms
Words that change the purchase
- Crown lease
- The Territory instrument that sets purpose, term and rent wording for the block. Canberra purchases are usually a transfer of that lease.
- Section 17 certificate
- A lawyer’s certificate under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, used when cooling-off is waived or shortened. This site cannot sign one.
- Unit title sale certificate
- The owners corporation certificate under section 119 of the Unit Titles (Management) Act 2011, attached to a unit contract and dated for that sale.
The desk
Editors, not a lender
Zenith Lens is an independent guide published from Suite 7, 15 Moore Street, Canberra. Four editors write the notes: inspections and the first month, the leasehold path, the contract desk, and lender questions. Nobody here takes a loan application.
We will correct a wrong section number. We will not invent a rate, a concession amount, or a cooling-off waiver. If a sentence on this site and the ACT legislation register disagree, the register wins.
Ask the desk
A question about a guide, not an application
Telephone +61 2 6162 4738 on weekdays, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM AEST (AEDT in daylight saving, October to April), or write via the contact form. We read editorial questions. We do not open accounts.