What Does A Conveyancer Do?

Property conveyancing is a complex and multifaceted process. Reaching settlement involves countless legal documents, reports and paperwork. Knowing the ins and outs of the process is the best way to ensure that all your bases are covered, but few people have the time to research, source and correctly lodge all of the documentation needed themselves.

If you’re taking steps to buy or sell a property, you will most likely be asked by the agent who your conveyancer or solicitor is. While it isn’t a legal requirement to have a conveyancer, it’s highly recommended to ensure the process runs smoothly and protect your best interests.

It’s incredibly important to enlist the help of a conveyancer, but you may be wondering, what is conveyancing and what does a conveyancer do for you exactly?

In essence, a conveyancer handles the transaction of sale for a property, ensuring that your rights are protected and the process goes smoothly. It might sound simple, but there is a lot that goes into finalising a sale, or as it’s called, reaching “settlement”.

Apart from handling the legal obligations involved in the transaction and protecting your rights in the sale, the specifics of what a conveyancer will do depends on the complexity of the transaction and the state or territory in which the sale is happening.

Here’s a run-down of the key things conveyancers do in the process of buying or selling property:

Handle legal paperwork and documents

This is the core of what a conveyancer will do in the transaction of sale. They will prepare all of the documentation needed, ensuring that the property is legally and rightfully transferred, whether that’s to or from your name, and ensure that everything complies with legal regulations.

There is a lot of complex documentation involved in the sale of real estate and often extensive contracts to understand. Having a professional to handle, explain and advise you about these is the best way to ensure that you are protected from potentially expensive risks.

Prepare Contract of Sale (for seller)

The most important document in the sale process is the Contract of Sale. If you are the seller, a conveyancer will prepare this document along with the Vendor Disclosure Statement, and ensure that all of your specific requirements and conditions are included in the final contract.

If your Contract of Sale or disclosure statement isn’t written up correctly, this can compromise the sale and may be expensive to correct. These documents are integral to a smooth settlement process and are best handled by an experienced professional.

Review Contract of Sale (for buyer)

If you are the buyer, a conveyancer will review the Contract of Sale and Vendor Disclosure Statement provided by the seller to check for errors, unexpected clauses and to identify any red flags. They will also explain the contract to you and tell you what it entails, as well as notify you of the important dates in the settlement period. They will also provide any advice you may need or suggest conditions to add to better protect you.

Relevant searches and prepare for the statement of adjustments

Conveyancers will do the due diligence in the transaction process and ensure that a comprehensive search is done and all bases are covered.

The type of searches that a conveyancer will undertake include:

Title search – this is to ensure the property actually belongs to the seller. They will also check if there are any debts or liabilities on the property.
Local authority searches – this is to check if there are any future plans to develop the area in which the land lies (such as for motorways).
Structural – this is to check that the property is structurally sound.
Pest report – this checks that there are no insect or termite issues pre-existing in the property.
The risk of flooding or bushfire – they will assess the risk of whether the property area is prone to flooding or bushfires, for example.
Strata (for apartments only) – strata checks look for things like whether the apartment building is running on a deficit or is able to maintain the running of the complex.

A conveyancer will also prepare the statement of adjustments, which is a document to set out how various property rates will be allocated to the seller and purchaser depending on how many days each party is occupying the property in the rate periods.

Other services

Conveyancers can also provide other services, such as additional advice on estate planning or the tax impacts of buying or selling property. The additional conveyancing services that conveyancers provide can change from firm to firm, so make sure you select one that can provide services that suit you and your needs.

Our other services at Pitt Street Conveyancing include property transferring (to a family member or another third party), advice on refinancing your mortgage, and other legal services such as business law, family and relationship law, and litigation and dispute resolution.

We aim to work in your best interest and push your transaction along to complete it as quickly as possible. You won’t have to follow up on where your transaction is at, we are on top of everything and will keep you informed every step of the way.

We hope this has explained a little more about how conveyancing can benefit you and answered the question of “what does a conveyancer do?”. Get in touch with us if you are planning on selling or buying property, we’re here to help.