A guide to how a conveyancing service can help

If you’re buying or selling a house, you might choose to employ a conveyancer to act on your behalf and help handle all the complex paperwork.

Whether it’s doing local council searches, inspecting the contract of sale, or organising the transfer of ownership, a conveyancer can help take the stress out of property sales and purchases.

Plus, if you enlist the expertise of a conveyancer, if they make a mistake, their professional indemnity insurance may help cover the cost of their error.

Whether you’re buying or selling a property, the legal title of the land needs to exchange hands. Conveyancing is the legal action of moving this document to the new owner.

However, before that transfer of ownership can happen, there is a lot of work to be done in completing, verifying and lodging documents and this is part of conveyancing services.

A conveyancer will also ensure buyers or sellers meet critical dates, so they don’t miss out on buying their dream home or closing a sale.

According to Edmonds Conveyancing licensed conveyancer Brooke Semmens, a conveyancer “assists with ensuring you meet all your legal obligations in a property transaction including the transfer of title”.

“We liaise with the real estate agent, the bank or financial institution, the other legal representative and the client throughout the entire buying or selling process up to, and including, settlement,” Ms Semmens said.

A conveyancer guides you through the purchase or sale of a property and that can involve everything from contacting the local council to see if the swimming pool is compliant, to making sure contracts are exchanged on time.

Good news for anxious or first time home buyers or sellers – they also have multiple conversations with clients who are grappling with the home buying process and need help or reassurance about the sale or purchase of their home.

The role of a conveyancer includes, but is not limited to:

• Preparing and lodging legal documents such as the contract of sale, or the memorandum of transfer.
• Overseeing the exchange of contracts, including making sure the process is timely and nudging the other party along if required.
• Researching the property through council or state records, for example, to check the certificate of title, find out whether there is a highway about to be built behind the house, or discover if a building extension has been approved.
• Examining the strata body (body corporate) records, for those who are buying an apartment or a unit. A conveyancer may discover, for example, that pets are banned in the building.
• Banking the deposit money into a trust account where it sits until settlement and organising the transfer of funds between the buyer and seller.
• Arranging building and pest inspections if requested and sharing the bad news about termites or a dodgy roof.
• Overseeing the change of title with the Land Registry Services in your State or Territory.
• Reconciling the accounts at settlement, including rates, taxes, and any fees including arranging the payment of stamp duties. One of the biggest risks in buying a property is that the seller’s debts may be transferred to you.

Ms Semmens has outlined examples of some of the discoveries made by conveyancers in her business, thanks to due diligence, which meant the purchaser did not proceed with the sale:

• A dwelling entitlement search through Council found that the land did not have a dwelling entitlement and so the prospective purchaser could not, in fact, build their dream home.
• A strata inspection report found the sinking fund was dangerously low in funds, the building needed maintenance and the Owners Corporation proposed for special levies of $10,000 to be struck.
• A pest inspection report was completed and the property was found to have termites working their way through the house. “This one is quite a common one,” Ms Semmens said.

According to Lead Conveyancing, the average cost for total conveyancing fees may range between $500 and $2000, but price varies according to the complexity of the sale, where you live and the type of property you are buying, among other factors. It’s always a good idea to get an estimate upfront of what fees might apply to you.

The total cost of conveyancer fees will be made up of a range of charges, including legal fees, standard search fees (such as searches on the title of the property or council rates) as well as settlement and bank fees.

In general, a conveyancer may be less expensive than a solicitor, but it’s worth comparing more than just price to see which type of assistance may be better suited to your situation.

Find more information about conveyancers’ disclosure obligations in relation to fees that may apply, via your State or Territory’s government website.

Word of mouth is one way to find a professional conveyancer, if your friends have one to recommend that they’ve had a good experience with previously.

You can also ask your agent or do some research online. Look for a conveyancer who has been in business for at least a few years, and ideally one who is a licensed member of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers.

Once you have a list of prospective conveyancers, be sure to ask them what type of property they specialise in, how often they will communicate with you, and how much they charge.

“Conveyancers and solicitors are equally qualified to do conveyancing work – the main difference being a conveyancer specialises in conveyancing law only, whereas solicitors may specialise in different fields of law in addition to conveyancing transactions,” Ms Semmens said.

You may find assurance with a conveyancer in that they do conveyancing all day, every day. They are specialists in the sale and purchase of property and are there to make the process easier for you.