This one is a definite myth. It’s never too early to engage a conveyancer. The wrong time to engage a conveyancer is when it’s too late. Speak with us before you sign your contract. We are happy to help review your contract and vendor disclosure statement (Form 1) and to explain what it all means for you.
Real estate agents are very important when you’re buying a property. They also provide professional advice to people selling a property and help them market their property to achieve the best possible price.
Most people spend considerable time researching before choosing the right agent for them. Choosing the agent with the highest price guide for your property might not be the best way. Ultimately it is the market (buyers) that will determine the correct price.
Trust your instinct – if the information you are given sounds too good to be true, it might just be. Ask your real estate agent about their track record, their training and professional development, look for reviews and ask family and friends for recommendations from recent experience.
Eckermanns provide training to a number of South Australian Real Estate agents and our experience is that they always have their client’s best interests at the core of everything they do.
There’s no simple answer to this one. Like any investment, there are a myriad of variables to consider such as your appetite for risk (every property has a slightly different risk profile), location, general market conditions and the condition of the property you are considering. Sometimes we are willing to pay a little bit extra for location, lifestyle or some other characteristic that means more to us than to other buyers.
Whether it’s property, shares, commodities or even bitcoin, there is always a risk. Only you can really weigh that up, however you can always seek advice from investment advisory and other professionals to help you make the right decision for you.
The mandating of electronic conveyancing came into effect on August 3rd 2020. Electronic Conveyancing allows practitioners and financial institutions to lodge and settle conveyancing transactions in an electronic workspace provided by an Electronic Lodgement Network Operator (ELNO).
By no means does it reduce the importance of conveyancers in providing advice and guidance to new and subsequent buyers and sellers, developers and other parties.
Here’s a list of some of the tasks that your conveyancers will do for you
We sometimes hear this from home buyers and especially when they are first home buyers. It’s a confusing time and it can feel daunting and there are often a number of parties seeking your attention and your business. Don’t rush.
Buying a home isn’t something we do every day so even if you have bought a property previously, it can be difficult to remember the process and who looks after each aspect of the transaction. We are here to help you. We act for you and you only, so you can be assured of our best attention to your interests at all times.
Auctions are a popular way to market a property and there is a perception that purchasers bidding against each other in a public forum is likely to drive the price up. However, most purchasers are well educated and have access to a myriad of valuation, past sale and comparable sale information meaning they come to auction with a fairly solid knowledge of the value of the property. That isn’t to say that emotion won’t get the best of them when it comes to the crunch but what auction does do is establish the market price for a property. That price is the amount that someone is willing to pay at a particular point in time.
This is definitely a myth. In South Australia there are a number of different title types and they all vary in terms of their meaning for owners. The most common titles you will come across in South Australia are Torrens, Community, Strata, Company and Moiety Titles.
Regardless of title type, we would always suggest that you discuss your title and its implications with your conveyancer because sometimes it may be possible to convert your title type if that is of advantage for you. For example, it is possible to convert a moiety title property to a community title property. While there is an approval process, with costs that can be substantial, the payoff can be a property that’s more saleable.
Having access to a trusted advisor such as your conveyancer, can save you from heartache and hidden costs with your flat or unit investments, so be sure to research the differences in title types – or let us do it for you.
In South Australia, most residential properties are typically settled within a 30, 45, 60 or sometimes 90 day period following contract signing. The right period for settlement depends entirely on the circumstances of the seller (vendor) and the buyer (purchaser). It is very important that if you require finance to purchase the property that you provide your financial institution with enough time to make the appropriate arrangements. Seeking pre-approval will certainly help.
It might be advisable to seek a longer settlement if (as the seller) you’re not just selling a property but looking for a property to purchase or if you’re a buyer and you haven’t yet sold your current home. Other reasons for seeking a longer settlement are in the case that you are the vendor and the buyer has requested you repair something or if you are buying off the plan, and you want time to build up some savings.
Sometimes you might want to seek out a shorter settlement if you’re selling and you’ve already found a new home or if you’re a buyer and you’ve already sold your current home and need to move quickly. There are a number of reasons you might look to vary your settlement period.
Like so many things when it comes to buying and selling property, there is no ‘one size fits all’…
Definitely a myth and one of the most common queries we receive is whether building and pest inspections are necessary.
As conveyancers, our job is to help guide the transfer of property ensuring it goes smoothly as well as looking after our clients’ interests. This is why we are strong advocates of getting quality building and pest inspections before you commit to your purchase.
Interestingly, we have found that most agents/vendors in South Australia will NOT accept building and pest inspection outcomes as conditions of contracts. They will typically suggest that pest and building inspections are done during the two business day cooling off period.
That doesn’t mean you can’t ask for the ‘subject to’ clause, it is just that most agents/vendors fear it is too much of a grey area and it robs them and their vendor of certainty.
Whether or not you do get the inspection recognised in the contract, it certainly is the case that adverse findings during the cooling off period can be used as potential bargaining tools for lowering the price to allow for remedial work to be carried out later.
Most buyers won’t spring into action seeking and booking a building inspection until they’ve been presented with a Form 1 and have entered the cooling off period. However, just like we suggest building a relationship early on with a conveyancer, it’s best to get your inspector involved as early as possible.
A deeper aspect of this question might be: do you always need an inspection, even if a property looks sound? And we say yes. Unless you are qualified in the field, competent building inspectors who follow the Australian Standards, will apply special techniques to ‘see things’ most of us would miss. If you undertake your own inspection and miss these things, you could cost yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you’re new to the real estate market, you might be tempted to search for ‘cheap conveyancer Adelaide’ or ‘low cost conveyancing SA’ or other similar online search terms to find your conveyancer. Back in simpler times, that risky approach might have been manageable, but with increasing change and complexity it is downright dangerous.
Choosing someone to act on your behalf means entrusting them to settle your real estate purchase and that’s a very big deal to most people. They need to be on the ball, understand fully the SA law relating to dealing with real estate and be aware and anticipate any changes in relation to requirements.
Would you really trust such an important life transaction to a discount processor? Change is the only constant in real estate so pick a conveyancer who can keep up, holds the appropriate industry memberships and is regarded as a source of knowledge in the industry.
Luckily, the size and breadth of our business at Eckermanns means we can afford to invest in technology and upgrades to keep pace with change and to manage staff training and professional development without negatively impacting our clients.
If you still have questions, or perhaps you have some questions or myths of your own, get in touch with our friendly team of experts using the form below.
If you are purchasing a property in South Australia for the first time and you have purchased a property interstate beforehand, you may be familiar with the concept of a pre settlement inspection. This usually occurs a few days before settlement and is a chance for the purchaser to confirm that the condition of the property they are about to settle upon is as it was inspected and with the same inclusions contained in the Contract of sale.
The pre settlement inspection gives the purchaser the opportunity to examine things like:
As we said, while pre-settlement inspections are common in some states they are not in South Australia. If you specifically require a pre-settlement inspection, this can be considered for inclusion as a special condition when you sign the Contract of Sale.
E-conveyancing is the process of conducting property conveyancing transactions electronically. It involves the use of digital technology to transfer documents including the property title and other legal documents between parties involved in a property sale or purchase. At the moment the main platform providers operating in Australia are PEXA and Sympli.
The main aim of e-conveyancing is to simplify and streamline the process of property conveyancing work by reducing the need for manual paperwork and increasing the efficiency of communication between parties. E-conveyancing platforms enable real-time access to relevant property information, including land titles, mortgage details, and other legal documents.
E-conveyancing is currently being implemented in several countries around the world, not just Australia. It is used also in New Zealand, and Singapore. It offers several benefits, including faster processing times, reduced errors and costs, improved security, and increased transparency in property transactions. E-conveyancing was mandated in South Australia in August 2020, driven largely by the global pandemic which saw the closure of face to face settlement operations.
In most cases, it is not recommended for a vendor and purchaser to use the same conveyancer, as this can create a potential conflict of interest. A conveyancer’s primary responsibility is to their client, and they are required to act in their client’s best interests at all times. If a conveyancer is representing both the vendor and the purchaser, they may not be able to provide impartial advice to both parties.
However, in some situations, such as a family transfer or where both parties are known to each other and agree to the arrangement, it may be possible for a vendor and purchaser to use the same conveyancer. In these cases, the conveyancer must disclose the potential conflict of interest to both parties and obtain their informed consent.
So, while it is possible for a vendor and purchaser to use the same conveyancer in certain situations, it is generally not recommended. Engaging separate conveyancers ensures that each party has an advocate who is acting solely in their best interests and can provide impartial advice throughout the transaction.
The length of the conveyancing process in South Australia can vary depending on a variety of factors, including the complexity of the transaction, the efficiency of the conveyancers involved, and any potential legal or financial issues that may arise during the process.
Typically, the conveyancing process can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks to complete. This timeframe includes the time required for searches and checks to be conducted on the property, the preparation of legal documents, and the exchange of funds between the prospective home buyer and seller.
However, the process can sometimes take longer if there are any unexpected legal or financial issues that arise, such as disputes over property boundaries or outstanding debts on the property. In these cases, the conveyancers may need to take additional time to resolve the issues before the transaction can be completed.
Overall, it is important to allow enough time for the conveyancing process when buying or selling a property in South Australia, to ensure that everything runs smoothly and to avoid any potential delays or issues. Engaging an experienced and efficient conveyancer can also help to speed up the process and ensure that the transaction is completed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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