What is Conveyancing?

Looking for a new home or property is an exciting time. You get to search for your perfect home, inspect properties and envisage your new life. But once you find the right home within your budget, the real work begins.

There is a lot of work that happens from making an offer on a property to actually becoming an owner. Paperwork, forms, applications, negotiations, there are many steps in the purchase of a property and many legal hoops that you have to jump through.

So, who can help you with this daunting process? This is where a conveyancer comes in.

But first, what is conveyancing?

Conveyancing refers to the legal action of moving the ownership of land title to a new owner. A new owner can be a person or an entity such as a small business. A conveyancer will prepare, verify, and lodge all the legal documents needed in buying and selling property. They can also prepare properties for settlement.

There is a lot of documentation involved in property conveyancing and each needs to be followed and completed correctly. If paperwork isn’t filled out correctly or lodgement dates are missed, it can lead to the contract being voided. In some cases, you could end up having to forfeit your deposit or even losing your dream home.

Conveyancing transactions generally have three stages:

Pre-contract
Pre-completion
Post-completion

Each stage is important and complex. It’s not surprising that many people become overwhelmed with the prospect of property conveyancing. Which begs the question, do you need a conveyancer?

Do I need a conveyancer?

While it is not a legal requirement for buying or selling property in Australia, it is recommended to use a conveyancer to help the process run smoothly and successfully. Given the amount of paperwork required and the level of understanding needed for legal documents, it can become stressful for most people to handle by themselves.

In the worst case scenario, missing something in a legal document or lodging a form a day late can have disastrous consequences. When the stakes are that high, it makes sense to get help from a professional who is well-versed in the process.

The benefit of a conveyancer is that they are also in regular contact with the lawyers of the other party and can handle the legal negotiations involved. Having someone acting on your behalf in these situations means that you won’t find yourself caught out or unprepared.

Doing it yourself may look like the cheaper option, but if you don’t know how to navigate the process or understand the documents it can take weeks to find and lodge the right documents. This can end up costing you a lot more, not to mention waste your time.

What does a conveyancer do?

Conveyancers are licensed professionals who provide specialised advice and information for people involved in the sale or purchase of a property. They do everything required to make sure you are prepared for the critical dates during the sale process.

They do everything from:

Provide expert advice
Prepare, verify and lodge legal documents
Ensure critical lodgement dates are met
Liaise with lawyers of the other party
Ask questions and make requests on your behalf
Make sure the transfer of title process is as smooth as possible

Conveyancers may provide more or fewer of these services, depending on their accreditations and offerings. To perform any conveyancing duties, conveyancers must be trained and accredited, and some may also be solicitors. In Queensland and the ACT, it is required that conveyancers are also solicitors, but this is optional in other states.

The main services that conveyancers generally help with are:

buying or selling property
subdividing land
registering, changing or removing an easement
updating a title (for example when registering a death)

Why choose Pitt Street Conveyancing?

We offer conveyancing services in Sydney and pride ourselves on providing a stress free, high quality service. We understand that making a large financial decision is a big deal, so you can rest assured that you are in safe hands. We have over 30 years experience in conveyancing and can help you at every step of the way.

No matter if you’re a first time buyer or an experienced investor, we provide tailored services depending on your needs. We have extensive experience and tried and tested systems to enable us to provide clients with great value for money.

Our services include conveyancing for buying and selling property or transferring property, as well as legal services for business law, construction, corporate and commercial, employment and workplace law, family and relationship law, litigation and dispute resolutions, planning and environment, estate planning, trusts, and many more.

We hope we’ve cleared up any confusion about “what is conveyancing?” but if you have any more questions or would like to find out more about our services, get in contact with our friendly team.