While buyers might think a conveyancer just "does the paperwork" at the end, it is beneficial to have a conveyancer involved in the early stages of your purchase. They review the Contract and advise you of the contract conditions, your rights and obligations to the Seller and governmental bodies, suggest favourable contract amendments and spot anything that needs further investigation before you sign and commit. After the Contract is signed, they ensure you observe the contract conditions correctly, to avoid any contract breach. And once the Contract is unconditional, they ensure all the paperwork for settlement is in order so that settlement takes place on time and so that you avoid any penalty interest and default charges.
This article will explore how a conveyancer can assist with your purchase in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
What your conveyancer actually does, step by step
1. Contract review
They read the Contract and bring important things to your attention, such as:
- Contract terms: price, deposit, property details and inclusions, vacant possession or subject to existing tenancies.
- Key dates: cooling off period expiry date, finance date, building and pest inspection date, deposit due dates, settlement date, etc.
- Seller disclosure documents. In NSW, QLD and VIC, the seller is legally required to disclose and provide prescribed documents in relation to matters such as encumbrances, zoning, etc. Your conveyancer reviews the disclosure and relevant documents, flags any irregularities and advises you on your legal position and options.
- Special conditions and any irregularities. In QLD and VIC, agents may draft special conditions for a Contract, but make sure they're reviewed by your legal team to ensure they are appropriate to your situation and don't create any unintended risk.
- Any favourable negotiations, searches and investigation
You can ask the conveyancer to carry out searches on your behalf. What searches should be done depends on the location of the Property as well as your intended use for the Property. For instance, if the Property is near a train station, you could consider getting a search from the Transport Asset Manager of NSW (TAM) — formerly the Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE), and before that RailCorp — to see if there is any rail proposal that requires part or all of the land being purchased. Eg: flood search, proposed acquisitions by governmental authorities.
2. Negotiation and Contract Signing (if required)
In Queensland and Victoria, buyers negotiate the price and Contract terms with the Seller's Real Estate Agent. Bring up any enquiries and Contract terms amendments that your conveyancer suggests. Agents also organise contract signing for buyers and sellers.
If there is no Agent involved, you can elect to deal with the Seller directly or instruct your conveyancer to conduct contract terms negotiation on your behalf.
In New South Wales, agents are not permitted to prepare, fill out and amend contracts, except for limited details such as inserting buyers' and buyer conveyancer's details, the purchase price, deposit, mark the inclusions, date the contract, etc. Therefore, negotiation of contract terms is carried out by the seller's and buyer's conveyancers. The Agent undertakes price negotiation and organises contract signing and exchange. However, you can also ask your conveyancer to organise signing if you wish.
3. Conditions management
The Cooling-Off Period, Finance, Building & Pest, and any special conditions will all have strict dates. Miss one and you can lose your deposit or the seller can terminate the Contract (depending on the contract terms and conditions). Your conveyancer tracks them so nothing gets missed, and will:
- Advise you the Contract is exchanged, highlight key dates and conditions
- Do searches as required by you (if not already done pre-contract)
- Obtain your instructions regarding contract conditions, e.g. whether you would like to proceed with the purchase or rescind the Contract under the Cooling-Off Period, whether you'd like to satisfy, waive or terminate under the Building and Pest condition.
- Communicate your instructions to the Seller's conveyancer, e.g. you would like to end the Contract under the Cooling-Off Period, you would like to satisfy the Building and Pest condition or terminate the Contract due to loan rejection.
The condition period is also the window for you to carry out all your due diligence to make sure you're aware of the Property's state and condition. If you discover an issue, it is best to withdraw from the Contract during this period to avoid extensive costs and consequences. If not already done before Contract signing, you can instruct your conveyancer to carry out searches to find out if the land is contaminated, liable to flooding or is proposed to be partly or wholly acquired by a governmental authority.
4. Settlement Preparation
Once the Contract becomes unconditional, your conveyancer gets cracking on preparing for settlement. This includes, but not limited to:
- Order compulsory searches and additional searches as instructed
- Obtain and review required documents from the Seller's conveyancer
- Assist you with the form/s and documents required in relation to transfer duty assessment and any exemption/concession application (e.g. first home buyer exemption/concession application)
- Prepare and submit transfer duty assessment. Transfer duty (stamp duty) is a government tax paid to the State's Revenue Office. It is calculated based on the price you pay for the property. Your conveyancer will provide you with the correct form for your situation, so that they can then lodge this on your behalf and claim any concession you may be eligible for.
- Calculate settlement figures and finalise this with the Seller's conveyancer
- Let you know how much funds you need to have ready for settlement
- Direct disbursements to sellers and relevant authorities (e.g. outstanding rates and levies to council, water authority, strata manager, GST withholding and foreign resident capital gains tax withholding to the ATO, the seller's outstanding land tax to the revenue office)
- Ensure all required parties participate in the settlement workspace (if electronic settlement) and sign off in readiness for settlement
- Other ad hoc tasks
5. Settlement
Settlement is arranged between your bank, the seller's conveyancer or solicitor, and the seller's bank (if there is a mortgage). The transfer documents are prepared and on settlement day, the settlement funds are exchanged electronically through the eConveyancing workspace called PEXA. Once everything is confirmed, the property title is registered in your name and the keys are released to you and the deposit is released to the Seller. On settlement day, your conveyancer ensures the transfer and all required documents are lodged and disbursements sent, and attends to any issues that come up.
6. Post-Settlement
Once settlement has taken place, the conveyancer informs you of the good news. They then get about informing all relevant parties of your new ownership:
- Inform the Agent to release the keys to you
- If the Property is tenanted: send notice to the renting managing agent or tenant to start paying rent to you, the new owner
- Send notice of change of ownership to the Strata Manager and any relevant authorities
- Send Post-Settlement Letter to you
Your conveyancer's timeline by state
Queensland
Below is a rough timeline on a standard QLD purchase with a 30-day settlement.
- Pre-contract — contract review. Reads the REIQ Contract and advises on any amendments and special conditions before you sign, and reviews the Form 2 disclosure and its prescribed certificates.
- Pre-contract — Form 2 disclosure review. Checks the seller's statement and prescribed certificates.
- Cooling-off (Day 1–5). Five business days; urgent searches if required and final advice.
- Legal searches (Day 5–25). Title, council, water, body corporate, land tax and contaminated land.
- Condition management (Day 5–21). Tracks finance and building & pest condition dates so nothing is missed, and provides notice on these conditions to the seller's solicitors.
- Transfer duty (Day 14–30). Calculates, applies any concessions, then lodges with the State Revenue Office.
- Settlement on PEXA (Day ~30). 🎉 Funds exchanged, title transferred, keys to you.
- Post-settlement (Day ~30). Notifies relevant parties of the change of ownership (body corporate, tenants, property managers) and provides a post-settlement summary with guidance on your ongoing obligations as an owner.
QLD standard settlement = 30 days after the Contract Date.
Cooling-off = 5 business days after the Buyer receives the fully signed Contract, including the Contract Date if this is a business day.
No Cooling-Off period applies if the Property is not a residential Property or is purchased:
- at auction; or
- within 2 business days after a failed auction.
Penalty for a Buyer rescinding under the Cooling-Off Period is 0.25% of the Purchase Price.
New South Wales
NSW standard settlement = 42 days after the Contract Date
NSW standard Cooling-Off Period = 5 business days after the Contract Date (not including the Contract Date)
- Off-the-plan purchases: the standard Cooling-Off Period is 10 business days.
No Cooling-Off period applies if the Property is not a residential Property or is purchased:
- at auction; or
- on the same day of a failed auction.
Penalty for a Buyer rescinding under the Cooling-Off Period is 0.25% of the Purchase Price.
Below is a rough timeline on a standard NSW purchase with a 42-day settlement.
- Pre-contract. Contract review, negotiation, your due diligence and contract signing.
- Conditional (Day 1–5). You obtain final loan approval; further due diligence, especially on the building and pest condition and any special condition.
- Settlement preparation (Day 6–42). Your conveyancer orders and reviews required searches (e.g. council and water rates certificates); you sign all loan-related documents and complete the transfer duty forms; your conveyancer submits the transfer duty assessment, reviews the documents and certificates from the seller's conveyancer, calculates and finalises settlement figures, and advises you of the funds required; you then transfer the settlement funds to the required account.
- Settlement (Day 42). Funds disbursed to the seller and relevant authorities; title transferred to you.
- Post-settlement (Day 42–49). Your conveyancer has the agent release the keys to you (if the Property is tenanted, notifies the managing agent or tenant to start paying rent to you), sends notice of the change of ownership to the strata manager and relevant authorities, and sends you a post-settlement letter.
Victoria
- Contract (Including Section 32) review comes first. Your conveyancer reads the contract and vendor's Section 32 Vendor Statement. Missing or misleading info may let you rescind.
- Cooling-off is 3 clear business days from the date the buyer signs the contract (private sale only; no cooling-off at auction). Vendors can keep $100 or 0.2% of the price if a buyer terminates under cooling off, whichever is greater.
- Settlement is typically 30 to 90 days; 60 days is common in metro Melbourne.
- Stamp duty is paid to the State Revenue Office Victoria; first home buyer concessions and exemptions apply up to set thresholds.
VIC standard Cooling-Off Period = 3 business days after the Buyer signs the Contract
No Cooling-Off period applies if the Property is purchased:
- at auction; or
- within 3 business days before or after a failed auction.
Penalty for a Buyer rescinding under the Cooling-Off Period is $100 or 0.2% of the Purchase Price, whichever is higher.
Below is a rough timeline on a standard VIC purchase.
- Pre-contract. Contract review, negotiation, your due diligence and contract signing.
- Conditional. You obtain final loan approval; further due diligence, especially on the building and pest condition and any special condition.
- Settlement preparation. Your conveyancer orders and reviews required searches (e.g. council and water rates certificates); you sign all loan-related documents and complete the transfer duty forms; your conveyancer submits the transfer duty assessment, reviews the documents and certificates from the seller's conveyancer, calculates and finalises settlement figures, and advises you of the funds required; you then transfer the settlement funds to the required account.
- Settlement. Funds disbursed to the seller and relevant authorities; title transferred to you.
- Post-settlement. Your conveyancer has the agent release the keys to you, sends notice of the change of ownership to the strata manager and relevant authorities, and sends you a post-settlement letter.
Sources
Queensland
- Queensland Government: Cooling-off period for residential property contracts
- Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld) — cooling-off provisions: s.166 (cooling-off period), s.167 (waiving or shortening), s.168 (terminating)
- Queensland Law Society: REIQ property contracts
- Queensland Law Handbook: Conveyancing process for purchasing a home
- REIQ: Important changes to property law in Queensland (Seller's Disclosure Regime)
New South Wales
- NSW Government: Conveyancing for property buyers and sellers
- NSW Government: Property professionals — Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003 (NSW Fair Trading)
- NSW Fair Trading: Conveyancer licence public register
- Law Society of NSW
- Australian Institute of Conveyancers — NSW Division
Victoria
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Conveyancers (licensing)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Buying property by private sale (3-day cooling-off)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Conveyancing and contracts for sellers (Section 32)
- Victorian Legislation: Sale of Land Act 1962
- Australian Institute of Conveyancers — Victorian Division
General information only — not legal advice. Conveyancing law and timeframes vary by state; confirm your situation with a licensed conveyancer or solicitor.