If you are a newcomer to the property market, you should know that signing a contract of sale to buy a house is only the beginning of the entire buying process. The purchase comes with various considerations that must be looked into and checks that must be carried out before the sale is finalised and a settlement is arrived at.
So, unless you are a lawyer or have a lot of time to handle all the procedures involved in buying or selling a house, you should hire the service of a reliable firm that offers conveyancing in Sydney.
What Is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing refers to the legal transfer of the ownership of a property from one person or entity to another and a form of property law. It involves a licensed conveyancer or conveyancing solicitor acting on behalf of a buyer and ensuring that the client receives the property’s title deeds and that of the land where it sits.
Therefore, conveyancing includes all the administrative and legal work needed to ensure that the purchase of a house is valid under the law.
Why Do You Need a Conveyancer?
Although it is possible to handle all the legal and administrative work involved in buying a house, hiring the service of a conveyancer is strongly encouraged. Doing this saves you from getting overwhelmed by the number of procedures you need to go through when purchasing a property.
Hiring a conveyancing firm transfers all the legal and administrative responsibilities involved to the conveyancer. Instead of going through all the stressful procedures, you can sit back, relax and wait for the conveyancer to complete all the tasks. You can also monitor the progress of the buying process by checking on the conveyancer or asking them to provide regular updates.
What Does a Conveyancer Do?
Technically, conveyancers perform a lot of duties to their clients. However, the majority of them are as follows.
1. Undertake All Relevant Enquiries and Adjustments
Carrying out the essential searches needed in your jurisdiction and preparing all relevant settlement documents are among the primary responsibilities of conveyancers. They do this to prevent you from purchasing a property with any debt that will be transferred to you when it is settled under your name.
Suppose you will be purchasing a property with a debt attached to it. In this case, the conveyancer is expected to ensure that you will not inherit the said issue by preparing the statement of adjustments.
In addition, the conveyancer takes charge of the following searches on your behalf.
- Title searches
- Local authority searches
- Structural information searches
- Pest report searches
2. Prepare the Contract of Sale
The conveyancer can prepare the contract of sale and vendor disclosure statement you need, if you are selling a property. Also, they ensure that the final contract includes all your special requirements and conditions.
Having a well-written contract is an excellent way to have an efficient settlement and eliminate mistakes that might compromise your sale and create more expenses due to corrections.
3. Review the Contract of Sale
Similarly, when buying a property, it is best to have your conveyancer review the contract of sale and vendor’s statement. This helps you detect unusual clauses and potential errors and raises probable red flags. Also, the conveyancer will do the following.
- Inform you as to what the contract entails.
- Inform you of the essential dates within the settlement period.
- Advice you with any conditions that should be added to the contract to protect you.
- Review the agreement to protect you from the potential risk of buying a house with an illegal extension or other issues.
- Assist in understanding various clauses included in the contract of sale and help you decide whether to proceed with the purchase or not.
4. Facilitate Financial Transactions
Although tinkering with your direct financing arrangements is not a part of a conveyancer’s job, they can still play a vital role in helping you and your bank’s settlement arrangement. The conveyancer can help facilitate the financing process by ensuring that the bank receives all the details required and the supporting documents needed for the settlement. The conveyancer can also help calculate the amounts you need to pay in case the settlement requires various adjustments and payments.
5. Take Charge of Communication
Constant communication among parties involved is essential when selling or buying a property. As such, you need to hire a conveyancer as they can take care of the bulk of communication regarding the deal on your behalf.
Once hired, conveyancers are expected to reach out to the other party and create a communication line that will be used until the settlement is arrived at. Thus, it is necessary to look for a conveyancer who is proficient in various forms of business communication.
6. Arrangement of Settlement
The conveyancer handles the coordination of the settlement with all the parties involved. Typically, they are in charge of arranging, booking and attending the settlement in person. They are also responsible for contacting the bank and ensuring that you will provide the payment to the seller at the agreed-upon time.
What Is the Cost of Hiring a Conveyancer?
Learning more about conveyancing services and the conveyancing fees involved is extremely helpful.
The cost of hiring a conveyancer in Australia varies from one state to another. The conveyancers usually have a set of fees that they impose, and these depend on various factors:
- The amount of work that needs to be done
- The type of property that will be sold or purchased
- The complexity of transactions involved
- The conveyancer’s location.
Many conveyancers are also charging fixed rates for the range of services they offer. However, the following are the average fees that conveyancers operating in various states are getting as of May 2021.
- NSW – Ranging from $990 to $1,760 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $1400) (Based on ten quotes)
- NT – Ranging from $1050 to $1,550 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $1260) (Based on six quotes)
- Queensland – Ranging from $880 to $1,400 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $1050) (Based on ten quotes)
- South Australia – Ranging from $550 to $1,090 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $810) (Based on six quotes)
- Tasmania – Ranging from $580 to $1,540 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $1000) (Based on six quotes)
- Victoria – Ranging from $600 to $1,800 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $960) (Based on ten quotes)
- Western Australia – Ranging from $750 to $1,100 (Average Base Conveyancing Fee: $920) (Based on six quotes)
Conclusion
Having a clear understanding of the conveyancing fees and services in Australia is essential for engaging the country’s property market. This could help you appreciate the roles that conveyancers play when buying and selling properties on behalf of their clients. Also, this allows you to get the best out of these services when you need them.