ConveyancingMaatouks Law Group

www.maatouks.com.au

Conveyancing

Buying or selling a residential or commercial

property is a significant matter in most peoples’

lives. For some people it is the most significant

transaction they will ever undertake.

Maatouks Law Group have been acting for

purchasers and sellers of residential and

commercial property for many years.

Conveyancing

Torrens Title

Old System Conveyancing

Company Title

Rural Land

Commercial And Industrial Leasing

Residential Leasing

Leasing Disputes

Advising On And Drafting Easements, Covenants And

Disputes Over Easements

Property Development And Associated Aspects Such

As:-

Options

Acquisitions

Strata Title Disputes

Conveyancing

Conveyancing Process For Buying A Property

In NSW

The conveyancing process for buying a property

is explained below for your understanding.

Pre exchange

Offer and acceptance

Once an offer has been put by you and accepted

by the vendor , we will advise you to provide us with the

Contract of Sale from the agent or vendors solicitors.

Conveyancing

Contract

The Contract of Sale contains all the details ofthe property such as the settlement period which is usually42 days, the description of all the inclusions being soldwith the property, a copy of a Title Search stating anymortgages, easements, restrictions, etc that effect the useof the property.

Further, a zoning certificate is annexed to thecontract which states the Council Zoning, and whether theproperty is under commercial or a residential zone, and thepermitted development usages applicable to the property.

Lastly, the contract consists of a drainagediagram which shows, if and where the main sewercrosses the property.

Conveyancing

Pre-exchange reports

The contract only covers aspects like title

searches, etc but does not disclose the structural quality of

the house. We advise all our clients to obtain a Pest,

Building or a Strata Report (for Strata properties) if

required for the property.

Think about it, people often pay for an NRMA

report when they want to buy a second hand car, well the

cost of a building or pest report is not that much more and

you have so much to lose if you buy a house that has

problems or issues that you were not aware of.

Conveyancing

A building report can reveal what an untrained

eye cannot e.g. problems with the drainage, extensions,

etc. A pest report can show if the property is infected by

termites or white ants etc.

A building and a pest inspector will be able to determine

how serious the problems are and will be able to provide a

rough estimate of the costs involved to rectify the above

problems which in return can help you in renegotiating the

purchase price if required.

Conveyancing

Strata Report

A Strata Report is carried out for Strata

Properties, i.e. for Units, Townhouses, or villas and

provides information like any problems that other

lots/units might have in the strata, insurance, any special

levies being charged.

It can also be a great insight for you with respect

to the Strata location itself. For example the report may

disclose that thousands of dollars are being spent every

quarter to clean graffiti or replace broken windows, this

would indicate to you that the location may not be what

you thought it was and you can consider not proceeding

with the purchase.

Conveyancing

Finance

Before you sign the contract, you should apply

for a loan and at the very minimum obtain a conditional

loan approval. This means that the bank has indicated to

you that you should be able to obtain finance subject to

meeting their various requirements. This is risky as the

bank can always turn around and state that you do not

qualify for a loan. You should NEVER unconditionally

exchange contracts without having full unconditional loan

approval.

Conveyancing

Exchange

Exchanging the contract

Once we have reviewed the contract and the

inspection reports, we will advise you of any amendments

that we will require to negotiate with the vendor’s

solicitor/conveyancer for your benefit and will proceed to

exchange the contracts with your approval.

Conveyancing

Cooling off Period

Every contract for residential property contains a

five business day cooling off period which means that the

purchaser has five business days to decide whether they

wish to proceed with the purchase of the property or not.

The vendor does not have the right to change their mind

during the cooling off period.

The decision of the purchaser to proceed or not

largely depends upon factors like obtaining final loan

approval from the bank, obtaining pest and building

reports if not done earlier, having the contract reviewed by

the Solicitor if not done previously and seeking their

advice.

Conveyancing

The cooling off period also gives time to thepurchaser to arrange their 10% deposit which is payablebefore 5:00 pm on the fifth business day. The cooling offperiod can be extended with the consent of both the purchaserand the vendor if required.

If the purchaser decides not to proceed with thecontract, then the purchaser forfeits the 0.25% paid uponexchange to the vendor.

If the purchaser proceeds with the purchase and thecooling off period expires, the contract becomes bindingbetween both parties. If after the cooling off period thepurchaser is not able to complete the purchase for somereason and decides to rescind the contract, the purchaserforfeits the entire 10% deposit to the vendor and can be suedfor damages and losses for breach of contract by the vendor.

Conveyancing

No Cooling off Period

In some circumstances, such as auctions or the

provision of a Section 66W Certificate, there is no cooling

off period and the purchaser must pay the full 10% deposit

immediately and the contract is legally binding on all

parties. If the purchaser is not able to settle, they will

forfeit the full 10% deposit to the vendor and can be sued

for damages and losses for breach of contract by the

vendor.

Conveyancing

Stamp Duty

Stamp duty on the purchase contract is payablewithin 3 months from the date of exchange and must bepaid prior to settlement. Penalty Interest is payable if it isnot paid within 3 months for those contracts that have adelayed or extended settlement date. Stamp duty iscalculated on the purchase price, the higher the price, thehigher the stamp duty.

We will advise you how much the stamp duty isas soon as the contracts are exchanged. The First HomeBuyers exemptions and other Grants from the OSR maybe applicable, these change from time to time and will bediscussed with you if applicable.

Conveyancing

Searches

Once the contracts have become binding on both

the parties, we will carry out the various relevant

government searches like Council Certificate, Water

Certificate, and Land Tax Certificate, etc and any other

information that your lender may require. The searches

will help calculate any outstanding bills by the vendor, and

the necessary purchaser’s part of the adjustment for the

bills.

Conveyancing

Settlement

Booking settlement

Once the settlement date has approached which isusually 42 days from the date of the exchange of thecontract or as agreed upon between the vendor and thepurchaser and the mortgage documents have been signedand returned to the lender, we will liaise with the lenderand the vendor’s solicitor to book the settlement date, timeand place. We will confirm this with you in order for youto arrange the removalist if occupying the property,arranging a final inspection of the property, arranginginsurance, etc. We will also inform the agent so that he canhelp you with the final inspection and organise arrangingkeys to the property on time.

Conveyancing

Notice to Complete

If for some reason you are unable to proceed to

settlement or your lender is not ready to settle, the

vendor’s solicitor have a right to issue a Notice to

Complete which means that we will have to settle the

matter within 14 days, otherwise you will forfeit your 10%

deposit. In addition to this, you will have to pay interest on

the balance of the purchase price which is usually 10% per

annum to the vendor starting from the day when the

Notice was issued to the day settlement occurs.

The purchaser has the same right of issuing the

Notice to Complete if the vendor is not ready to settle the

matter but do not have the right to charge penalty interest.

Conveyancing

Attending settlement

We will attend the settlement on your behalf and

advise you that the property is officially yours once

settlement is completed. We will forward an “Order on the

Agent” to the real estate agent which authorises him to

release the keys to you and the deposit to the vendor. All

relevant government authorities will be notified of your

settlement and your name will be officially added to their

databases.

Conveyancing

THANK YOU!

We welcome your queries in relation to any legal matter.

CALL US TODAY 02 9601 7222

Head Office:

80 Terminus Street

Liverpool NSW 2170

Ph: 02 9601 7222

Fax: 02 9601 7622

Urgent 24 hours Mobile Contact Number: 0414 300 303

Email: peter@maatouks.com.au

http://maatouks.com.au/