The Property Settlement Process
Once you find your ideal property and put it under conditional contract. It is important to consider the special conditions which protects the parties during the due diligence stage as failure to satisfy a special condition allows a party to terminate the contract without penalty. In addition to the standard “subject to finance clause”, common special conditions deal with:
• terminate and pest inspection;
• building structural report;
• local Authority and State Authority approval of renovations and improvements; and
• swimming pools.
By the time the contract is signed, the parties should appoint or have already appointed a property conveyancer. The real estate agent will usually arrange for copies of the contract to be sent to our office to give us the details required to put a settlement plan in place and ensure the special conditions have been or will be satisfied in time.
Once all the conditions of the contract have been satisfied, the contract becomes unconditional and binding. At this stage, the buyer’s agent will arrange for various searches to be performed, including an Electronic Advice of Sale so that the seller can prepare a draft settlement statement.
The buyer will perform a final inspection of the property and the property conveyancers will liaise with a financial institution to ensure the documentation is correct and ready for settlement and that arrangements have been made for duty to be paid before or at settlement.
On the day of settlement, all parties meet, either in person or online using the PEXA system, to exchange documents and funds.
Once all is complete the conveyancer will notify the real estate agent to arrange for the delivery of the keys to the buyer.
The settlement or conveyancing process is the name for taking your property sale or purchase from contract negotiation through to registration of the legal transfer of the property.
Property Settlement Disputes and Complications
Not every property transfer is simple, which is the benefit of using Laird Lawyers. For example, sometimes there are caveats registered which need to be removed (either through the issuance of a 21-day notice or court proceedings), there may be issues regarding the boundary (such as the location of the fence) or deceased estate sales, which can be handled by our private client lawyers.
If the other party delays settlement by more than 3 business days, our conveyancing lawyers can attend to issuing a notice to the other party preserving your position with respect to costs and accrued interest.
Any other potential issues which arise can be handled by our team of property settlement lawyers without the need to refer to another professional who will need to spend time learning what has happened and working out the contentious ground between the parties.