Conveyancing & Property Lawyers
Buying or selling real estate is often one of the most significant financial decisions a person will ever make. Although conveyancing is often viewed simplistically as a very ‘procedural’ area of law, every property transaction presents its own unique, diverse, and sometimes complex challenges.
Having an experienced Burwood conveyancing and property lawyer handle your matter is the only way to ensure that you receive the best possible legal advice to navigate any potential issues that may arise. At LEDA Lawyers, we strive to make the transfer of property ownership as smooth and stress-free as possible, whether you are the vendor or the purchaser.
We can help if you are buying or selling a house, unit, off-the plan, strata title, community or old system title property, vacant block, or commercial real estate, and whether by auction or private treaty.
Selling Property
Before marketing a residential property in New South Wales, vendors must have a written contract available with certain prescribed documents attached. We will explain your obligations as a vendor and prepare a contract for sale in accordance with the legal requirements for your circumstances and type of real estate you are selling. We can add special conditions to protect your interests, negotiate requested amendments made by a prospective purchaser, and respond to requisitions on title. We will also arrange for any requisite Revenue NSW land tax clearance certificates and ATO certificates, liaise with your lender regarding any mortgage registered on the title, and attend to the settlement of your matter.
Buying Property
There are two different ways you can enter into a contract to purchase a property: at auction or by private treaty. The purchase price and timing of contract review will differ depending on which method is used.
Auction
If the sale is by auction, then you will need to request a copy of the contract from the real estate agent well before the scheduled date of the auction to allow us to review the contract, advise you on it, and request any changes to the contract from the vendor’s solicitor that you may require.
We also advise you and assist with ordering pre-exchange certificates and reports such as a pest and/or building report, strata inspection report, survey, or building certificate (depending on the type of property you are interested in purchasing). If you are a first-home buyer, we can direct you towards applying for any relevant government grants.
This back and forth process can take some time, so you’ll need to account for this, as each bidder at an auction is actually bidding on the particular contract that they have negotiated beforehand with the vendor. At the auction, if the hammer falls and you are the highest bidder above the vendor’s reserve price it means you have agreed to enter into the contract, and pay the deposit, right then and there. There is no cooling off period when purchasing a property at auction. It is therefore crucial to have negotiated a contract that you are happy to enter into before you start bidding.
Private Treaty
If you have found a property that you wish to purchase and have had an offer accepted, the vendor’s real estate agent usually sends a sales advice informing us of the agreement reached.
A contract will be completed with the relevant details and provided to us (usually by the agent or vendor’s lawyer/conveyancer). We will review the contract, flagging any potential issues with you and ask whether you would like to request that the contract for sale be amended in any way. We will explain the terms of the contract, including your cooling-off rights, and the differences between buying the property as joint tenants or tenants in common.
We can also assist with ordering pre-exchange certificates and reports such as a pest and/or building report, strata inspection report, survey, or building certificate.
If you are a first-home buyer, we can direct you towards applying for any relevant government grants.
Once you are happy to proceed with your purchase, we will arrange for contracts to be exchanged, which is when you and the vendor both sign the contract, the agreed deposit is paid, and the contract become legally binding, subject to any cooling-off period.
After Exchange of Contracts
Whether you have entered into a contract to purchase property by auction or private treaty, the next phase of your property purchase is undertaken during the settlement period, which is the time between exchange of contracts and completion of the purchase. During the settlement period we undertake a number of post-exchange enquiries about the property, liaise with your lender regarding their loan and mortgage requirements (as applicable), and advise on transfer (stamp) duty.
Settlement is the date the matter is completed, which is generally around six weeks after the exchange of contracts, although this can vary. This is when you will be required to pay the balance of the purchase price and ownership and keys to the property are transferred to you. We will communicate with you throughout the entire time, helping you navigate the process so you know what is happening, and can make informed decisions and plan accordingly.
Settling your Property Transaction Electronically
E-conveyancing has introduced an electronic platform (PEXA) which removes the location and time barriers of physical settlements. Conveyancing settlement transactions are now conducted entirely electronically in NSW, improving efficiency and streamlining the old manual processes. We are an Electronic Lodgement Network Operator subscriber and fully conversant with the electronic conveyancing process on PEXA which enables us to track the progress of each stage of your matter and lodge documents online.
If you need assistance, contact [email protected] for expert legal advice.