Everything You Need To Know About The Conveyancing Process
If you’re looking to buy or sell property, you might be starting to think about the conveyancing process. You might be wondering if there’s any difference between conveyancing for buyers and sellers, where in the buying or selling process conveyancing sits, or you might just be considering who to hire to take care of your conveyancing work. The Strictly Conveyancing team are experts in our field, and we’re the first port of call for conveyancing in the Hills District. We’re here to let you know everything you need to know about conveyancing for buyers and sellers.
A Brief Guide To Buying Property
If you’re looking to buy property, the Strictly Conveyancing team can step you through the essentials so you can get started.
- Get an idea of your budget. Before you start looking to buy, you’ll need to determine how much you can borrow and get pre-approval for finance. Don’t forget to consider the additional costs outside the cost of the property itself, such as stamp duty.
- Do some research. Once you know how much you can spend, start looking for homes in areas you love. Consider where you see yourself in 5-10 years and plan accordingly. Make sure you do plenty of research on the local areas and chat with several real estate professionals to make sure you’re making smart decisions.
- Do plenty of inspections. Make sure you walk through your potential new home a few times before making an offer. Try to picture yourself living there with all your furniture. Can you imagine day to day life there?
- Find a conveyancer in the Hills District. If you’re about to make an offer, it’s time to find a conveyancer. You’ll need their help with contracts, legal documents, and finances from here on out. Fortunately, the team at Strictly Conveyancing are experts at conveyancing in the Hills District, and we’re here to help.
- Make an offer. Once you’ve found a property you love within your price range, submit an offer or register to attend the auction.
- Do all the legal work. Your conveyancer will look over the contract and advise you of everything you need to do to make the contract unconditional. We’ll let you know your deadlines and start conducting the essential searches.
- The contract goes unconditional. Once you’ve met all your conditions, the contract will become unconditional, and we’ll liaise with the seller’s conveyancer to set up a settlement date.
- Settlement. On the settlement date, we’ll ensure the seller’s conveyancer has received the full payment for the agreed-upon amount, and we’ll lodge the important documentation to transfer the titles into your name officially. Once that’s done, you’ll get the keys to your new home.
A Brief Guide To Selling Property
Just like we did for buyers, we’ll quickly walk you through the basics for selling property within Australia.
- Research the market. It’s important to understand where your property sits in relation to similar properties in your area, as well as having a keen understanding of the national economy, what stage in the property cycle your state or region is in, and whether it might be better to wait or sell now.
- Have your property appraised. Contact a local real estate agent for an appraisal. Usually, real estate agents will offer this service free of charge, so don’t be afraid to shop around and see if each agent is telling you a similar story.
- Choose an agent. Do your homework and look at your agent’s background. Do they have a history of selling similar properties? What do their reviews say? How do they treat you or make you feel when speaking with them? This is the person you’re trusting to sell your home, so make sure you choose carefully.
- Prepare your home for sale. Do any last-minute maintenance and make sure everything is tidy and ready for sale. Usually, your agent will give you a list of things you can do to improve the value of your home.
- Choose a method of sale. Your agent will talk you through your options, and you’ll need to select the best choice for your property.
- Marketing. Your real estate agent will have professional photos taken of your property, and they’ll prepare a marketing strategy to ensure your home is sold for the highest possible price.
- Contact a conveyancer in the Hills District. This is where we come in. It’s essential to have a conveyancer ready to handle your sale’s documentation and legal processes, so start looking around for the right person for the job.
- Offers are received, or your property goes to auction. Whichever method of sale you choose will dictate how your offers and sale will be handled.
- Contract is signed. The buyer will sign the contract, pay the deposit, and start fulfilling their contract’s conditional requirements. Your conveyancer will handle all this for you while you sit back and wait for settlement day.
- Settlement. Once the contract is unconditional, we can set a date for settlement. The Strictly Conveyancing team will work with the buyer’s conveyancer to ensure all legal obligations have been met, accept the payment, and lodge all the required documentation. Then, you can hand the keys over to the new owners.
What’s Involved In Conveyancing During The Buying Process?
We’ve briefly outlined our role in the overall buying process, but here’s a further breakdown of conveyancing for buyers.
- Looking over the contract. After you’ve made an offer for your new home, you’ll receive a contract from the real estate agency. Your conveyancer will look over the document and advise you of the terms, conditions, and obligations. If you require special conditions, we can negotiate these on your behalf, sending the signed contract back to the real estate agent. We’ll also be on the lookout for unfair clauses, expensive risks, or caveats so you don’t get caught out with obligations you can’t meet. Once the seller signs the revised contract, conveyancing work can begin.
- Cooling off period. In NSW, there’s a cooling-off period of 5 days (unless otherwise specified in the contract or sold at auction), so you can take time to have essential searches conducted and finances finalised. If you get cold feet or something comes up in the searches that changes your mind about the property, you can get out of the contract by forfeiting 0.25% (unless otherwise specified in the contract) of the purchase price as a penalty.
- Searches and adjustments. We’ll take care of the essential searches and prepare a statement of adjustments, so you don’t receive any nasty surprises in the form of debt or negative interest. We’ll conduct a title search, local authority searches, pest searches and assess the structure and risk to the property. If you’re buying an apartment, we’ll also conduct a strata search.
- Making sure conditions are fulfilled. We’ll go over the contract to make sure you’ve ticked all the boxes and that we haven’t missed anything along the way. From there, we can submit to the seller’s conveyancer and make the contract unconditional.
- Settlement. We’ll make sure the sellers receive the full agreed-upon amount, and then we’ll work with the seller’s conveyancer to make sure all the necessary legal paperwork is submitted so you can officially own the property. Once everything has been paid and lodged, you’ll get the keys, and our job will be complete.
What’s Involved In Conveyancing During The Selling Process?
In some ways, conveyancing throughout the sale process is very similar to buying, but there are a few differences.
- Preparing the contract of sale. We’ll help you create a contract of sale, including any special conditions you might need in your circumstances. We’ll continue to negotiate the contract until you and the buyer are satisfied.
- Searches and disclosures. If anything about the property needs to be disclosed, it’s important to do so in a vendor disclosure statement. We’ll conduct a boundary survey to make sure the boundaries of your property are accurately represented, and we’ll check with the local council to ensure that all structures on the property are legal.
- Checking over documentation. We’ll make sure the buyer has completed all the necessary conditions of the contract before you sign.
Managing settlement. Your conveyancer will organise a settlement date, liaise with the buyer’s conveyancer, complete and submit all legal documentation, and we’ll make sure the full agreed-upon amount is paid to you.
If You Need Conveyancing In The Hills District, Contact Strictly Conveyancing
Since 2006, Strictly Conveyancing has provided a range of services in property and conveyancing in the Hills District and the surrounding areas. Whether you’re buying or selling property, it’s our mission to help make the complexities of the process a breeze so you can focus on other aspects of the purchase or sale. Our Australian-owned and family-operated conveyancing practice is award-winning, and when you see how committed we are to our clients and their needs, you’ll understand why we’ve built such a strong reputation in the area. So if you’re after a conveyancer in the Hills District, don’t hesitate to reach out to the team at Strictly Conveyancing.
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