Buying Property
Buying property is a huge venture, whether it’s your first home, an investment or vacant land to build your dream house. There’s much to consider and the process typically moves quickly, especially in a competitive market. A conveyancing transaction has several moving parts and each must be meticulously managed. Getting guidance from experienced professionals is essential to ensure your interests are protected and you can make informed and confident decisions.
We can help you with:
- Buying residential property / rural property / vacant land
- Buying commercial and industrial property
- Strata title and community title purchases
- Auction sales and purchases
- Receiving and negotiating contracts for sale of land
- First Home Owners Scheme and relevant stamp duty
- Property inspection reports
- Purchaser’s cooling-off rights
Reviewing your Contract for Sale of Land
Reviewing the contract for your purchase is essential, especially in an auction purchase. You need to know exactly what you are getting and understand your legal rights and obligations before you enter into a binding contract.
The contract, or attached documents, should show any encumbrances, such as mortgages, easements or covenants which affect the property and may impact your future plans.
Pre-purchase building and pest inspection reports from a qualified expert can flag significant defects which may impact your decision to purchase.
Completing your Purchase
After contracts are legally binding, several tasks need to be completed prior to settlement.
- Obtain all Government searches to ascertain if they have an interest in the property.
- Verifying the identity of all parties in the transaction, as required by legislation.
- Arranging for the payment of stamp duty for the purchase.
- Attending to your lender’s security requirements.
- Preparing rate adjustment figures for settlement.
- Preparing ownership transfer documents.
- Preparing for online settlement through PEXA.
Settlements
E-conveyancing has streamlined the settlement process through an electronic platform known as PEXA. Online conveyancing removes the location and time barriers of physical settlements. Parties can now complete a conveyancing transaction online with improved transparency and efficiency.
We are PEXA certified and fully conversant with this system of conveyancing, which visually tracks the progress of each stage of your matter and facilitates the online lodgement of documents and faster access to sales funds.
Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common?
If you are buying a property with someone else, we will ask how your legal interests should be held. This is an important consideration when it comes to asset protection, succession, and estate planning.
If you hold property as joint tenants, the interests are held as a whole and cannot be separately apportioned. Joint tenants must deal with the property collectively and joint tenancy is subject to the rules of survivorship. If a co-owner dies, their share passes to the remaining owner/s. Joint tenancy is typical between spouses and domestic partners, however, may not always be the best option in such cases.
Property held as tenants in common can specify the individual shares held by each owner which need not be equal and may be transferred, sold, or left to a beneficiary in a Will. Tenants in common may be suitable when the co-owners are business partners or investors and/or the contributions to the property are disproportionate, however, each case should be assessed in light of the specific circumstances.
A conveyancing transaction requires an understanding of complex property and contract laws, and the processes involved to transfer title from one party to another. Our knowledge and experience will ensure this transfer is “smooth sailing”.
For all your conveyancing needs, please call 02 9548 5199 or email ad***@***********************om.au