What are the Key Dates to be Aware of in the Property Conveyancing Process?
Property conveyancing, which is the blanket term for all of the legalities required for buying a selling a home – is a daunting process. Always ensure that you have hired a reliable property conveyancer early on in the property transaction process and that your chosen conveyancer is able to communicate well with you to ensure that you have a good understanding of the legalities involved. If you’re wondering about the property conveyancing process, here are some key points in your timeline to be aware of.
Property conveyancing is a necessary part of any exchange of sale to ensure both parties know what they’re getting into and it’s a fair sale. The established and trusted Jim’s Property Conveyancing team are based in Brisbane and Melbourne and are able to provide an exemplary step-by-step service for both buyers and sellers. As their customer, what important dates should you be aware of?
Key property conveyancing dates for sellers
Your first important date is the day you decide to sell your home. From then, you need to arrange the first draft of your initial contract. Your property conveyancer will likely start this process by ordering a range of property inspections that will tell you if there are any existing issues that need to be addressed prior to your sale of the home. Once these are clear and sorted out, they can begin the contract, and they’ll be able to forward this to the selling agent.
Your next call to action will be when negotiations begin. This is when the buyer will come back with either agreements or disagreements to your first contract, and you’ll need to work with your property conveyancer to adapt the contract to suit the needs of prospective buyers. Often there can be a lot of back and forth during this process, as both parties obviously want the best deal for themselves and try to come up with a suitable compromise. This is a time when it’s crucial that you trust your property conveyancer. You need to have confidence that they’re recommending contract changes based on their prior market knowledge and still attempting to give you the best monetary value they can. Once both parties are happy with the product of the contract, you’ll need to be available to sign the final form.
Next, it’s time to seal the deal. Your conveyancer will take you through the process of exchanging contracts with the lucky buyer, including transferring the details on the land title. After that, your conveyancer will also help to sort out your mortgage discharge contracts and payments – if that’s applicable for you and you still have a mortgage on the property.
Settlement time! The next important date that you need to be aware of is the chosen settlement day. However, between the contract exchange and settlement, you should also be conscious of the ‘cooling-off’ period, because this is when the sale can potentially fall through. The ‘cooling-off period’ varies from state to state in Australia but clicks into effect as soon as the contracts have been signed and exchanged. The cooling-off period is two days in South Australia, three days in Victoria, four days in the Northern Territory, and five days in New South Wales, Queensland and Australian Capital Territory. If a buyer does pull during this time, some penalties will apply to them, typical 0.20% – 0.25% of the purchase price for each day.
However, if all goes well, you won’t be needed until settlement – in which your conveyancer (if you’re using a professional such as Jim’s Property Conveyancing team) can actually attend on your behalf. They’ll deal with any potential issues, triple-check all remaining paperwork, and make sure the disbursements are all paid in full. They’ll ensure that all the owing monies are paid to you in full and on time – you’ll have nothing to worry about! You’ll be informed when the settlement is all complete, the remaining money paid in full, and then you can bid a final farewell to your sold property and move on to the exciting new chapter in your life!
For both parties
Buying or selling a house is a complex, lengthy and emotional process. Even though it’s important to do prior research and stay on top of what’s going on, it’s a very big ask to know exactly what’s going on at every moment. This is when having a property conveyancer that you trust to assist you with the property sale or purchase is vital. You need to be able to rely that they’re keeping an eye on the process and will inform you if or when you’re required. Jim’s offer Property Conveyancing Melbourne and Property Conveyancing Brisbane as well contact at 131 546.
Key property conveyancing dates for buyers
Your first important date versus your first key date in the conveyancing process will fall on vastly different timelines. Most buyers do not engage their conveyancer for their services until they have selected the house they want to put an offer in – however, it’s highly recommended that you make contact with your deserved conveyancer prior to this so you can see if they’re the right choice for you. It will also be handy to make sure they’ll be available to help you when needed. Of course, the house-hunting process can take months (even years), so it can be that long until you actually require them to start working with you.
Getting the contract looked over is an essential aspect of buying. You do not want to sign anything that a legal professional hasn’t looked over! You’ll have no idea what you’re signing for! Your property conveyancer will inform you if any clauses will negatively impact you and that you should negotiate on or ask to get omitted. They’ll also advise you to get a building and pest inspection, as later issues may impact you further down the track. As well as all of that, they’ll run all the searches via local and nationwide entities to see if there are any encumbrances or easements existing on the property.
Once the deal is going forward, your property conveyancer will let you know when you need to pay the seller the deposit for the house and when you’re required to sign the contract of sale. They’ll arrange the exchange of the contract between the seller’s property conveyancer or legal representative.
Sign your loan documentation after both contracts have been exchanged – this is something you’ll have to do without the aid of your property conveyancer (although we’re sure you can call on them for advice). Your property conveyancer will also inform you of your cooling off period rights, the penalties you’ll face if you do decide to drop out of the sale, and the date this period expires.
Settlement time! Your property conveyancer will inform you of your settlement of time, so you can get all your life admin sorted out: organising mail transfer, utilities, movers, etc., for your new property. An experienced property conveyancer will do a final check of all contracts, searches, and inspections just to ensure everything is peachy. They’ll attend the settlement on your behalf and sort out the final legalities. Once the settlement is complete, they’ll let you know when to pick up the keys. And then you’re free to enjoy your new home!
