Whenever property is bought and sold, or transferred, conveyancing occurs. Quite simply, conveyancing involves investigating title to property and its permitted use under zoning laws and taking the necessary steps to transfer property from the seller's name to the buyer's name.

Property is real or personal property such as land, buildings, stock-in-trade and goodwill.

When planning your conveyancing you should really understand your options. You may choose one of the following methods for carrying out the conveyancing procedure:

          use a licensed conveyancer
          use a legal practitioner
          do it yourself

Remember, you should choose your own licensed conveyancer or legal practitioner and not one acting for the other party. You need someone acting solely in your interest.

Licensed Conveyancers

Conveyancers specialise in conveyancing only and may now undertake rural and commercial conveyancing, as well as the traditional residential conveyancing. You need to check that your conveyancer is licensed to do the type of work you require.

Under the Conveyancers Licensing Act all licensed conveyancer's are required to carry professional indemnity insurance. Consumers are also protected by the Property Services Compensation Fund (for theft of client money, or loss resulting from the conveyancers failure to deal with client money as directed by the client) which serves the same purpose as the legal practitioners' fidelity fund.

Conveyancers (including legal practitioners offering conveyancing services) are listed under "Conveyancing" in the Yellow Pages or you can make inquiries through:

The Australian Institute of Conveyancers
(NSW Division)
Phone 02 9618 1397

Conveyancing Society of NSW
Phone 02 9653 1301

Legal Practitioners

Legal Practitioners also do conveyancing and carry professional indemnity and contribute to a fidelity fund.

A legal practitioner will often, but not always, charge for preparing the contract for sale and for advising on the mortgage document if this is needed.

Cost

Conveyancers' and legal practitioners' fees for conveyancing are deregulated; there is no standard way in which you are charged for conveyancing. Some methods of charging are flat fee, sliding scale (according to the value of the transaction) or time spent (usually quoted as an hourly rate).

You should shop around for the fee you feel is fairest, taking into account the expertise and experience of the person giving you the quotation and the complexity of the transaction. For example, a quotation for the conveyancing of Torrens Title property will often be noticeably lower than one for Strata Title or Old System Title because Torrens Title conveyancing is less complex.

Incidental cost, often called disbursements, for searches, certificates, inspections, couriers, faxes, telephone calls, photocopies, are additional. Sometimes, however, these cost may be advertised as included in a flat fee or inclusive rate.

Do-It-Yourself Conveyancing

If you wish to do your own conveyancing, a do-it-yourself conveyancing kit explaining the steps of conveyancing is available from:

Australian Property Law Kits
Phone 1800 252 808
and
The Law Consumers' Association
Phone02 9267 6154

You will need to join the Association before they will send you a kit.

The Land Titles Property Information Inquiry Service helps make conveyancing easier by providing a central point for you to lodge property inquiry forms. Instead of sending individual enquiries to all authorities that may have an interest in land, the Land Titles Office will distribute the enquiry to the relevant authorities on the applicant's for a fee.

In addition to the cost of the kits, you will need to pay the incidental cost such as couriers, faxes, telephone calls and photocopies. Fees are also charged by government authorities for searches and certificates.

Remember, if you do your own conveyancing all responsibility is your own if you make a mistake. Although conveyancing is fairly routine, there are potential pitfalls which a licensed conveyancer or legal practitioner is less likely to fall into. The professional's fidelity cover and indemnity cover are both important securities for you to consider.

Complaints

If you do have a complaint about a conveyancer the Department of Fair Trading may be able to help you. Phone 02 9859 0297 for information.

If you have a complaint about a practitioner call the Office the Legal Services Commissioner direct on 02 9377 1800.

Further Information

Inquiries regarding conveyancing and conveyancers may be obtained by phoning the Department of Fair Trading on 02 9338 9050