With the realization of the benefits of investing in property, more and more people are now buying into real estate. Unfortunately, there are now numerous forms of fraud targeting property buyers.
The fraud not only robs you of your cash but sometimes gets you mixed up in legal issues which attract hefty penalties. To protect your investment and guarantee you make the right decisions, getting a conveyancing lawyer is essential.
Some people opt for a conveyancer over a conveyancing lawyer in Townsville since the latter comes with higher hiring fees. They however soon realize there are many legal conveyancing issues for which they will need a lawyer’s expertise and as such end up paying extra fees for a lawyer.
There are three primary stages of property conveyancing including the pre-contact, contract and post-contract stages. The pre-contract stage is the most time and labor intensive stage of the three. Here are the procedures your attorney will handle at this stage to guarantee successful conveyancing.
Title Verification
It is your solicitor’s duty to conduct a thorough title search and verify that all the claims made by your property’s seller are true. This is particularly important in contracts that include a clause which forbids you to raise any doubts on the seller’s right to the property’s title.
All queries on the property’s title and verification of any claims are made through a ‘requisition.’ If your lawyer is not fully satisfied with the answers on the property’s title, they might advise you to withdraw your offer without getting a penalty.
Assessment of Your Financial Capability
Your conveyancing lawyer will also assess your finances to ensure you have the financial muscle to fund the property’s purchase. There should be sufficient evidence that you can finance the property transaction including the miscellaneous expenses.
If you are taking a mortgage, you need at least 10% of the property’s purchase price to fund the deposit when you enter the contract.
Searches
A title search is not the only one conducted during conveyancing. The lawyer will also handle other searches to get all facts on the property before advising you to go ahead with the contract. These include local authority, drainage, environmental, mining and building regulation searches.
While some of the answers to these searches part of public records, others will require the payment of a fee to assess.
Contract Drafting
Once your lawyer is satisfied with the findings of their inquiries, they will then negotiate with the seller’s conveyancer on the contract’s terms. The seller will then be informed that you are ready to buy the property and the preparation of a final contract starts. Two copies of the final agreement are prepared and signed by you, and the property seller then exchanged.
The exchange of your contracts marks the contract stage of your conveyancing process. At this stage, a withdrawal by either of the parties attracts penalties and sometimes legal consequences. Property conveyancing as you can now appreciate, is not a matter of willing buyer-willing seller.
You should hence get the best conveyancing solicitor you can to ensure the transaction is handled correctly and you are well-protected.