Conveyancing is the area of property law that deals with the transfer of real estate between sellers and buyers. This can be quite a complex area of law, and conveyancers have to consider many issues, including Contract terms and conditions, mortgages, covenants, easements, caveats, type of title, type of tenancy, local council regulations and zoning.

The legal work involved in preparing the Contract of Sale, mortgage and other related documents is known as conveyancing.

The Contract of Sale
A property cannot be put on the market until a Contract of Sale has been drawn up, which includes the terms and conditions of the sale and important information about the land, including all documents which are legally required to be annexed to the Contract.

If you are buying a property, your conveyancer will review the Contract and advise you in relation to the terms and conditions included. Negotiations then normally take place to achieve mutual agreement between the parties. Once agreement as to terms and conditions has been reached, both parties sign a copy of the Contract. After confirmation of payment of the deposit, your conveyancer will arrange for exchange of Contracts by hand, post or most commonly, electronically. Once Contracts are exchanged, the agreement between the parties is now binding.

Cooling-off period
A purchaser of a residential property in NSW has a five business day cooling-off period after exchange of Contracts. This cooling-off period starts as soon as Contracts are exchanged and ends at 5pm on the fifth business day after exchange. During this period, the purchaser may withdraw from the Contract through providing written notice to the seller’s conveyancer. If the purchaser decides to exercise their right to cool off and withdraw from the Contract during the five business-day period, the purchaser will have to pay the vendor 0.25% of the purchase price ($250 for every $100,000 of the purchase price). The cooling-off period can be waived by provision of a 66W certificate to the seller on exchange. If a 66W certificate is provided, the Contract is unconditional on exchange.

A cooling-off period does not apply to a property purchased at auction or on the day of auction, if the property was passed in and subsequent negotiations achieved agreement between the parties.

Settlement
Settlement usually takes place around 30 days after Contracts are exchanged. At this point, the seller will be required to vacate the property (unless previous arrangements have been made), and the purchaser will be required to pay the remainder of the purchase price and will become the legal owner of the property.

On settlement day, your conveyancer will either meet with the other party’s conveyancer and any bank representatives at the scheduled settlement time to effect settlement, or more commonly ensure that the matter is ready to be settled electronically. If a physical settlement is required, each party will exchange the necessary cheques and documents for title in the property to be transferred to the purchaser’s name. If the transaction is settled electronically, title to the property is transferred immediately to the purchaser and all funds are paid as required. In order to ensure the process runs smoothly and the transaction settles on time, you should maintain regular contact with your licensed conveyancer.

It is advisable for purchasers of property to conduct a final inspection of the property on the morning of settlement to ensure it is in the same condition as when Contracts were exchanged. The last thing you want is to pick up the keys to the property and find that the house has fallen apart.

Once the transaction has settled, keys will normally be available at the office of the selling agent. At that time, the deposit will be released to the vendor, less any commission and fees which are payable to the agent. If you are selling your property, you should ensure the agent holds details of the account into which you would like the balance of the deposit to be credited.

Please contact me for any further advice or assistance.