Buying and selling a property is a complex task, especially for individuals unfamiliar with the law and real estate. For this reason, most people hire a conveyancer to manage various processes related to the property trade. However, there is a lot of confusion about what a conveyancing lawyer actually does?
A conveyancer is a professional versed with property laws, who manages various processes related to the property trade and closes deals on the owners’ behalf. Some people have a misconception that conveyancing lawyers only handle the paperwork, but they do much more than that.
We have explained the duties and responsibilities of conveyancers to give you better clarity about their job. So, let’s check them out.
Roles and Responsibilities of Conveyancing Lawyers
Whether you are buying a property or selling it, conveyancing lawyers come in handy regarding the settlement and transfer of title. Additionally, they ensure that various processes get completed while keeping the laws in check and protecting the clients’ rights.
In short, both property buyers and sellers need conveyancing lawyers to close a property deal without any problems. With that being said, let’s look at various tasks that a conveyancer completes.
Preparing Legal Documents
One of the basic duties of a conveyancing lawyer is to prepare and examine the legal documents related to real estate transactions.
For Buying Property
A conveyancer prepares the transfer documents that ensure the buyers that the property is transferred to them in compliance with the respective laws. However, the transfer documents are different for every state or territory. Conveyancing lawyers are familiar with the process and laws of the local government authority. For this reason, they can effectively deal with the documentation process.
For Selling Property
Contract of Sale
The “Contract of Sale” is an important document in the process of selling the property. It also contains special conditions, if any, from the seller’s side. A conveyancing lawyer has the knowledge and experience to prepare it. With the help of this document, property owners can avoid many disputes in the future.
Vendor Statement
“Vendor Statement” is another crucial document for selling the property. Conveyancing lawyers do all the searches related to title ownership that need to be included in the final statement. Moreover, the conveyancers keep in check the rules and regulations of the particular state or territory, as mentioned above.
In addition, other essential documents related to property trade require expertise in law and real estate to be prepared. In short, conveyancing lawyers can effectively complete the property settlement process on your behalf.
Legal Advice Regarding The Property
The legal advice from conveyancing lawyers is valuable for the clients as they can make the right decisions and seamlessly navigate through the process. For instance, before investing in a property, they let you know if it is built as per the rules and regulations or not. Consequently, all future issues and disputes are automatically eliminated.
Let’s check out how a conveyancer’s legal advice can come in handy while buying and selling a property.
For Buying Property
Going Through The Important Documents
The conveyancers go through the “Contract of Sales” and find out the particular points that the clients must be aware of. Besides, they check all the terms and conditions to make sure that there are no irregularities in the “Vendor’s Contract”. Some properties come with restrictions such as, you can’t renovate them, can’t construct more floors etc.
The conveyancing lawyer already points out these things in front of the owners, so they are aware of all the positives and negatives regarding the property. Hence, one must let the conveyancing lawyer read any particular document before signing it.
Managing The Finances
The conveyancers help you with all the financial planning and transactions related to the property trade. Besides, they make settlements on your behalf with the bank. Furthermore, they make sure that the bank regularly gets all the required documents and information. Consequently, the mortgage documents are prepared on time.
Knowledge About Taxes and Other Charges
The property owners who don’t hire a property conveyancer are unfamiliar with the fact that they don’t have to pay for water and council charges. They only need to be paid once the settlement is done.
Similarly, there are various other statutory fees that an individual doesn’t have to pay. The taxes and other charges related to the property vary according to the state and territory. However, conveyancers are familiar with the taxes that are imposed by the local authorities. Also, they have information about the subsidies that you can get. This way, the conveyancers make sure that you get the best value from a property deal.
For Selling Property
Checking The Special Conditions
A conveyancing lawyer makes sure that all the specific conditions are in your favour. Hence, if there are any irregularities in the Contract of Sale, one can get expert advice from the conveyancing lawyers to deal with them.
The “special conditions” vary according to the property and various other circumstances. For instance, you have different settlement dates for multiple properties. A conveyancer can make arrangements to complete all the settlements in a single day which saves both your time and effort.
Communicating With The Mortgagee
As mentioned above, conveyancers curate the documents required for various legal formalities required for the final settlement. Moreover, they get in touch with the mortgage lender (generally the bank); and get it discharged on the settlement date. In short, the property conveyancer keeps the necessary documents ready and completes all the legal formalities seamlessly on the date of settlement.
Dealing With The Settlements
If there are some remaining adjustments before the final settlement, a conveyancer makes sure that you are not overpaying. As discussed above, conveyancing lawyers have a stronghold over the finances. For this reason, one can make sure to only pay the essential costs regarding the settlement.
For Selling Property
Property conveyancers curate a proper timeline for the settlement process. A conveyancing lawyer directly deals with the conveyancer of the other person who is buying the property. Although the date of settlement is already mentioned in the Sale Contract, still the conveyancer figures out a new date for the deal suitable for both parties.
This way, both the buyers and sellers can complete the deal according to their availability. After the completion of the settlement process, the property conveyancers communicate with the respective property agent. Finally, the real estate agent gives the keys to the buyer, and the property is sold.
For Buying Property
As mentioned in the selling process, the property conveyancers help to figure out a suitable settlement day for both parties. Moreover, they make sure that all the finances are in place by completing all the bank formalities on time.
This way, you have enough funds in the bank to pay the vendor, and all the necessary details are ready for settlement. Also, the cheque details are matched with the bank details to avoid any issues regarding the payments.
Conclusion
After going through the above information, one can effectively know about the roles and responsibilities of conveyancing lawyers in detail. Property trade involves huge financial transactions and lots of legal formalities. Hence, property owners must not take risks by managing everything on their own. For this reason, conveyancing lawyers become an obvious choice for buying and selling a property.
If you are looking for a property conveyancer, you can do so with the help of the internet. Just search for conveyancers by adding your location in the query like property conveyancer Melbourne to get suitable results. Preferably go with the ones that operate near the property location because they are familiar with the rules and regulations of the local authorities.