When do I get the money after my house sells?

The deposit comes first, but not quickly

The deposit is paid to the agency and held in its trust account. Under section 123 of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, money received for a transaction cannot be paid to anyone for 10 working days after the date it was received. How that period works, and what happens to the money if something about the sale is disputed, is set out on what happens to the deposit when my house sells.

Once that period has passed and the agreement is unconditional, the agency accounts for the deposit. The fee, any administration charge and any marketing deducted at that point come out of it under the terms of your agency agreement, and the balance is paid to you or to your lawyer. Read those clauses before the campaign starts so you know which figures come out of the deposit and which come out at settlement.

The balance comes on settlement day

On settlement day the buyer's lawyer transfers the balance of the price to your lawyer, the transfer of title is registered, and the keys are released. The deposit is part of the price rather than an extra payment, so the balance is what is left of the price once it has been credited.

Your lawyer then works through the payments in order. Your mortgage is repaid out of the proceeds, along with any break cost on a fixed loan, so the bank's interest can come off the title. Anything still owing to the agency is paid. Your lawyer's own fees and disbursements come out. Rates and any body corporate levies are apportioned at the settlement date, so you carry them to that day and the buyer carries them from it, and the adjustment lands on one side or the other depending on what has already been paid.

What is left is yours, and it goes to the bank account you gave your lawyer. Settlement is not fixed to a time of day, and it runs against the banks' own cut off times, so a settlement that completes late in the afternoon can reach your account the following working day. Do not plan on having the funds available at a particular hour.

What holds it up

• Late settlement. If the buyer cannot settle on the day, everything behind it moves with them.
• A discharge that is not ready. Your bank has to release its interest in the title, and that is arranged in advance.
• A dispute. Where something about the sale is in dispute, deposit money stays in the trust account rather than being paid out.
• Account details. A wrong or missing bank account is a common and entirely avoidable delay.

What to do

Give your lawyer your bank account details well before settlement, ask for the settlement statement in advance so you know the expected figure, and do not commit the money to anything that has to happen on the day itself.