Caldwell Martin Cox Solicitors : Conveyancing

Buying or selling a property can be an exciting and emotionally-charged event.

Perhaps you are buying your first home, moving on to greener pastures, buying or selling an investment property, or even selling a deceased estate.

Whatever the circumstance, it is important to ensure that the process of buying or selling is completed in a smooth and timely fashion, and more importantly, in your best interest.

Whether you are buying or selling a property, you will need to sign a contract to transfer the property legally. We can help you with this process.

Buying

Once you have found the property you wish to buy, you will need to appoint a Professional to review the contract and take you through the process, from exchange of contracts to final settlement.*

We will carry out the conveyance as follows:

Contract

Review the contract, explain the conditions of the contract to you prior to exchange, and recommend any amendments.

Exchange

Organise exchange and the payment of your deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price) to the seller's representative.

Inspections and Certificates

Arrange building and pest inspections, survey reports and building certificates, if required. If the property is a strata title, arrange a strata inspection report.

Conduct enquiries with local utilities (e.g. State Rail, RTA, local Council) to find out if your prospective property or nearby land will be subject to government development. Check if there are any outstanding arrears or land tax obligations.

Mortgage

Liaise with your bank or financial institution to provide them with the information they require to prepare mortgage documentation (please note, you will need finance approval before you make an offer to purchase a property).

Rates and taxes

Calculate council and other rates, stamp duty and make necessary adjustments.

Settlement

Advise you and your lender of the final amount required to finalise the purchase, attend settlement.

*If you are buying a property at auction, we recommend that you ask us to review the contract prior to bidding.

Selling

If you want to sell your property, you must first arrange the preparation of a contract for sale. The contract for sale must be prepared before your property is placed on the market.

We will prepare the contract and discuss any special conditions that you wish to include in the contract, such as fixtures and fittings, and settlement conditions.

We will also obtain the relevant certificates and titles which need to be included with the contract, including:

Once the contract has been prepared, you may then place your property on the market and advertise it for sale through a real estate agent.

When you have found a buyer for your property, we will liaise with the buyer's representative to establish the steps to take the transaction from exchange of contracts to settlement.

If the buyer wants to make changes to the contract, this must be done before exchange. On exchange, the buyer will pay a 10% deposit which will be kept in trust by either the real estate agent or your conveyancing professional.

Settlement usually takes place five weeks following exchange although the timing can be adjusted to suit your special needs and circumstances.

We will liaise with the buyer's representative during the entire process and keep you informed of new developments as they occur. We can also liaise with your lender to organise a discharge of mortgage if necessary.

Our Unique Auction Service

Buying and selling property by auction is becoming more popular every day. It can be daunting for a buyer or a seller to be at an auction, without the benefit of legal assistance.

We have a new service now available. For a flat fee we will:

Please call us to discuss this unique service offered by Caldwell Martin Cox. We believe it is great value to protect your biggest financial deal.

Glossary of Terms

Conveyancing: the legal work involved in preparing the legal contracts and other documents involved in buying or selling a property.

Exchange: once an agreement on price and terms and conditions of the sale has been reached, the buyer and seller sign a copy of the contract and the contracts are exchanged. This is the first formal step in the conveyancing process.

Mortgage discharge: if you have a loan and the lender has a mortgage over your property, you will need to arrange for the mortgage to be discharged by paying out the loan.

Settlement: this is the day the sale of the property is completed. The buyer must settle the balance owing by that day and the seller must ensure that the premises are vacant.

Stamp duty: is a tax which is payable to the New South Wales State Government on the transfer of land and property in New South Wales. Only buyers need to pay stamp duty.

Title: is the system for recording property ownership. There are several types of title: torrens title, common law title, company title, strata title, community title and share ownership.

Over 50% of our work is based on Property Law and Conveyancing. We have over 20 conveyancing professionals, including two Licensed Conveyancers and an Accredited Specialist in Property Law, who operate from all four offices and serve clients across a broad region.

Our firm has conducted many and varied types of property transactions over many years including:

For further information and assistance, please call any member of our conveyancing team.

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