Conveyancing

Maatouks Law Group

www.maatouks.com.a

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 of the
property such as the settlement period which is usually 42
days, the description of all the inclusions being sold with the
property, a copy of a Title Search stating any mortgages,
easements, restrictions, etc that effect the use of the property.
Further, a zoning certificate is annexed to the contract
which states the Council Zoning, and whether the property
is under commercial or a residential zone, and the permitted
development usages applicable to the property.
Lastly, the contract consists of a drainage diagram
which shows, if and where the main sewer crosses 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 vendors
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 the purchaser to

arrange their 10% deposit which is payable before 5:00 pm on
the fifth business day. The cooling off period can be extended
with the consent of both the purchaser and the vendor if
required.
If the purchaser decides not to proceed with the contract,
then the purchaser forfeits the 0.25% paid upon exchange to the
vendor.
If the purchaser proceeds with the purchase and the cooling
off period expires, the contract becomes binding between both
parties. If after the cooling off period the purchaser is not able
to complete the purchase for some reason and decides to
rescind the contract, the purchaser forfeits the entire 10%
deposit to the vendor and can be sued for 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 payable within 3
months from the date of exchange and must be paid prior to
settlement. Penalty Interest is payable if it is not paid within
3 months for those contracts that have a delayed or extended
settlement date. Stamp duty is calculated on the purchase
price, the higher the price, the higher the stamp duty.
We will advise you how much the stamp duty is as soon
as the contracts are exchanged. The First Home Buyers
exemptions and other Grants from the OSR may be
applicable, these change from time to time and will be
discussed 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
purchasers part of the adjustment for the bills.

Conveyancing

Settlement
Booking settlement
Once the settlement date has approached which is
usually 42 days from the date of the exchange of the contract
or as agreed upon between the vendor and the purchaser and
the mortgage documents have been signed and returned to
the lender, we will liaise with the lender and the vendors
solicitor to book the settlement date, time and place. We will
confirm this with you in order for you to arrange the
removalist if occupying the property, arranging a final
inspection of the property, arranging insurance, etc. We will
also inform the agent so that he can help you with the final
inspection and organise arranging keys 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
vendors 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/