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Signing the Contract

You have found your next home and are ready to sign the contract - now the conveyancing process begins.

Explanation of the Conveyancing Process

Conveyancing involves the transfer of property ownership from one party to another. It makes sense to employ a solicitor or conveyancer to perform this process as the terms and conditions can, at times, be overwhelming and confusing.

The Conveyancing Steps When You Purchase a Property:

1. The Contracts come into existence.

This step is normally done by the real estate agent or conveyancer/solicitor. This is when the sale agreement becomes binding. The conveyancer/solicitor has carried out the pre-purchase checks and reviewed the contract with you. You usually pay a deposit on the property.

2. Settlement/Completion

You pay the balance of the purchase, sign a Transfer of Land document and title transfers to You.

3. Title Documents are registered

The land registration details are exchanged which now show You as the owner. The Real Estate Agent will be contacted confirming You as the new home owner and will arrange keys for you.

Your legal advisor is responsible for checking the details of the contract, making sure that there are no restrictions to the purchase or intended use of the property, e.g. zoning and title restrictions.

If buying privately and not through auction, the conveyancing process begins with your solicitor or conveyancer examining the contract for sale prepared by the vendor's representative. This contract should detail the:

Property address
Names of the parties (you and the seller),
Selling price,
Terms and conditions,
Timing of settlement (when you take possession of the house).

A conveyancer can assist you with a lot of the pre-purchase property checks such as:

Building Inspections: These are carried out normally to check areas such as structural soundness, asbestos, faulty wiring etc.

Pest Inspections: This normally identifies any termite issues currently in the property or areas that may potentially be at risk from termites and pests.

Strata Report: Relates to purchases of a unit, townhouse or villa and the report lists details such as the history of the building, repairs undertaken, insurances, monies in the bank to cover maintenance expenses etc.

Torrens Title: The name given to the government system of recording ownership of land, also known as Certificate of Title.

Strata Title: Most commonly used for flats and units, this title gives you ownership of a small piece of a larger property including 'air space'.

Stratum Title: This title gives you legal ownership over a small piece of a larger property and you become a shareholder in the company set up to manage the common areas of the flats or units you live in. This does not include 'air space'.

Company Share Title: the purchaser is given shares in the company that owns the title. Therefore the purchaser does not actually own a title. On sale of the property, the shares are transferred.

Settlement Process

Your conveyancer or solicitor will organise a Transfer of Land document for you to sign. This should be done three weeks before the settlement date. This document will be handed to Mortgage House at settlement. It will then be registered at the State/Territory Titles office on your behalf. Upon registration ownership of the property will be changed over to your name.

Your solicitor/conveyancer will contact Mortgage House, the seller's solicitor/conveyancer, and other interested parties to arrange the date, place and time of settlement.

Your solicitor/conveyancer should advise you one week prior to the settlement, of the exact date, time of settlement and the amount that needs to be paid usually by a bank cheque.

After settlement has taken place, the seller's solicitor will contact the real estate agent that sold you the property and advise them to hand over the keys to the property to you.

Your solicitor will confirm settlement has taken place. They will send you a Statement of Adjustment showing you how the money has been disbursed to all parties involved.