Walk the proven path
built over a 30 year period
by the legal kit Originators
Your Conveyancing Options
You have three conveyancing options. You can:
- do it yourself
- pay a solicitor, or
- pay a non-solicitor conveyancer.
Solicitors fees vary from about $600 to $1000 per sale or purchase, and since the introduction of a licensing system for non-solicitor conveyancers in mid 2006 they seem to charge much the same.
But watch out for hidden extras - quoted prices might be just a starting point, and might be padded with extras like phone calls, photocopying, storage, filing, mark-ups on government charges, premiums for dealing with banks, or (on rare occasions) even fictitious items.
The DIY Option
We recommend the DIY option (of course), because apart from saving you perhaps $1000, it means you remain in control of the process.
It also means that you are an "informed consumer" when you buy or sell real estate, and that can save you a lot of grief.
Many people sign contracts they don't understand (and haven't even read) and then go off to a lawyer or "conveyancer". This leaves many of them saying "if only I had known".
In most cases they are stuck with what they have signed - and high priced lawyers can't change that. They might squabble with the other side (at great expense to the client) but end up advising them that "caving in" is the only real option.
Even if you get a lawyer involved before you sign you are not much better off because of the limits to what they do. They don't see the property and they are not involved in negotiations for it - they just deal with the paperwork after the event - too late.
In a book called "The Conveyancing Fraud", English solicitor Michael Joseph pointed out the obvious - you can't see faults in a property if you don't look - and conveyancers don't look. He said that paid conveyancing is a fraud because it leads people to believe they are "protected" in ways they are not. He said that in practice, the most important things are "left to chance".
Only you are in touch with the 3-ESSENTIALS - the things that matter most.
Our DIY conveyancing helps put you "in the know" - helps you negotiate in an informed way. "Negotiation" (if you can call it that) is usually conducted by real estate agents who have one thing in mind - get a signature on a contract as quickly as possible, with as little "negotiation" as possible, and without even letting buyers or sellers see the "fine print" which they will be bound. Getting the buyer's signature on a contract is the agent's key to a commission of about 3% of the property price - usually approaching $20,000. If the agent does the job poorly, leaving the buyer and seller in dispute - that's someone else's problem.
The answer to such problems is to make yourself an informed buyer / seller. Do it yourself. Find out how real estate is traded, and then keep personal control over it.
Our Conveyancing Kit gives you a flying start, and helps you ensure that:
- The conveyancing is being done by someone who actually sees the property (not by someone who sends you letters making you responsible if there are faults)
- You have personal control
- You are aware of what is going on
And of course - by doing your own conveyancing you eliminate the possibility of conveyancer negligence which, although not common, can be costly and troublesome.