Ensure you know your rights and obligations
Protect your home or investment property
Buying or selling a home or an investment property is a huge financial commitment. This is true, no matter whether you are buying your first property or if you buy and sell properties all the time. There are the costs of the property itself, title and pest searches, stamp duty, real estate fees, and conveyancing costs – the list goes on.
With all these costs, it’s understandable you’d like to save money. However, saving on conveyancing by doing it yourself or using a licenced conveyancer instead of a solicitor could end up costing you far more.
- Conveyancing is the process that legally transfers the property from one owner to the other. If this process is not properly undertaken, there can be long lasting and far reaching consequences, causing you grief, stress and potentially costing you a lot of money.
You need to understand the conveyancing process, understand the potential risks to you and your position and the obligations that you have, now and in the future, under the contract. - If you’re buying, you need to be sure that you understand the terms of the contract; specifically what is included in your purchase and what is excluded. You want proper searches and questions to be asked so that you can be sure that you understand any quirks or defects that might exist in the ownership of the property or in the land or improvements that you are buying.
- You need to be sure if you have any specific obligations to do things or provide things in the additional conditions in the contract.
- You need to know if, in the additional conditions, the owner wants you to give up some of the ‘consumer’ type protections built into the standard form of contract.
- You need to ensure the property title and essential services, such as the council rates and water connections, are properly recorded in your name.
- If buying into a strata property, you also need to ensure any strata by-laws are adhered to.
- If taking out a mortgage, you need to be sure that the bank will have the right documentation, the right amount of money available for settlement and turn up on the right day at the right location so that you can settle your sale or purchase.
- If you are eligible for a government benefit such as First Home Buyers or relocation grants, you need to be sure that the proper paperwork is completed and your proper benefit is obtained.
- On the other hand, if you are selling and you are getting rid of your mortgage, you need to ensure the proper documents are lodged to ensure that the mortgage is discharged from your name.
All of these matters are only the usual, routine matters that your solicitor will assist you with throughout your conveyancing matter.
BUT… what happens if something out of the ordinary crops up or if something goes wrong? What happens if you discover something adverse about the property? What if the contract is wrong and now the other party to your transaction is refusing to finalise the matter? What if you come to sell the property and find that something wasn’t done correctly all those years ago when you purchased your property?
- A licensed conveyancer cannot provide you with legal advice on these matters. This is where your solicitor conveyancer can comprehensively take care of your and your interests. They can give you appropriate legal advice, negotiate with the other side while having the complete history of your matter at their finger tips, take your matter to court if that is the only way to get a resolution and, importantly, can alert you to these types of issues even before you get too far down the sales or purchasing process.
Just as you make sure that you have car or home and contents insurance, using your lawyer as your conveyancer will give you the same peace of mind as taking out insurance.
Your lawyer conveyancer can also provide you with the other legal requirements that crop up when buying or selling property, such as updating your estate planning.
At Bateys, we can provide you with a comprehensive conveyancing service, together with any associated legal needs. You’ll be dealing with understanding lawyers who take the time to explain your options so you can make the best decisions.