Conveyancer Recommendations and Tips Melbourne

Caerdyddblue on 26/09/2022 - 15:51

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations of a conveyancer or what to look out or be wary of when using one?

A bit of back story, I'm looking to buy a 2 bed apartment/townhouse in the inner southern suburbs of Melbourne, St Kilda east, Balaclava, Caulfield north, Elsternwick, Glen Huntly predominately. Our broker hasn't been great thus far so keen to get some external recommendations as neither me or my partner are from Melbourne, I'm from Wales and she is from Adelaide.

Any rough approximations of cost? I've done some research and it seems it can vary wildly, even as much as $1500? A previous estate agent told me that it is expected we have to get a conveyancer to review a contract before we make an offer and aren't able to make an offer subject to conveyancer, is this correct? It just seems that the cost is very high if it's going to be $1k+ before we can even make an offer, especially as a few sellers we have come across so far seem reluctant to negotiate at all.

Thanks for any insight,

Ben

Financial Conveyancer

Comments

  • parsimonious one on 26/09/2022 - 16:20
    +1

    aren't able to make an offer subject to conveyancer

    presumably your reason for having a conveyancer review the contract is to identify unfavourable or problematic terms

    how would it be possible to make an offer (ie present the vendor with a price and contract terms) with a clause which then allows you to dispute the terms of the contract?

  • dasher86 on 26/09/2022 - 16:37
    +5

    Conveyancers are generally happy to read a few contract of sales prior to offers, as long as you don't abuse this with them by reading too many.
    Most only get paid when settlements go through.

    • parsimonious one on 26/09/2022 - 16:41
      +1

      Yeah our conveyancer did this!

      Also OP ours cost about $1800

      • Caerdyddblue on 26/09/2022 - 16:53

        That's great to know! I was under the impression you would have to pay each time and the conveyancers I had spoken to didn't mention this. Thank you

  • RyanMK on 26/09/2022 - 16:46
    +1

    As others noted above, conveyancers are generally happy to read a few contracts prior to offers/auctions.

  • Zeph101 on 26/09/2022 - 16:52
    +1

    Keep in mind to that there are a lot of searches that can be undertaken by a conveyancer which can up the price such as Council and water charges, encumberance searches etc. They won't be on quotes but as added fees on top.

  • spal on 26/09/2022 - 17:21
    +2

    We used weknowconveyancing.com.au the did review of contract for us. We had to cancel one contract due to cladding issues. We were not charged extra. For the subsequent purchase he found a number of silly clauses in the contract and we negotiated to have them removed. The fees was also much cheaper. I am pretty certain it was less than $1000. This was in May 2020. Again using them now for subdivision of a new build. I have found them to be very responsive. Although, never met them in person always on phone and via email.

  • Ocker on 26/09/2022 - 18:13
    +2

    Ask the agent of the Section 32, this will provide all of the information you need about the property. Current council rates, water rates VicRoad plans etc.
    Pay attention to the Body Corporate meeting minutes to see what (if any) outstanding issues there may be.

    • idonotknowwhy on 26/09/2022 - 19:15

      +1 if you're good with reading contracts and paying attention. That didn't work well for me though.

      I ended up using these guys and they quickly found issues I'd completely missed (ended up not interested in the property anymore).

  • idonotknowwhy on 26/09/2022 - 19:15

    Not to hijack but OP will probably want this too:

    Any recommendations on affordable building and pest?

    Hate paying $500+ and then getting out bid at auction :(

    • Presence on 26/09/2022 - 20:17
      +1

      Hate paying $500+ and then getting out bid at auction :(

      There IS no good solution. Its an absolute scam. It should be mandatory for properties sold at auction to produce a third part report 1 week before.

      • parsimonious one on 26/09/2022 - 22:13
        +1

        I thought there was some system whereby the vendor pays for the building and pest inspection and then the cost is reimbursed by the successful auction bidder

        • idonotknowwhy on 29/09/2022 - 09:19
          +1

          I wish that were the case. Maybe not in VIC.

      • idonotknowwhy on 29/09/2022 - 09:21
        +1

        It also makes it all the more painful when they lie about the Vendor's expectations.

        You go in ready to bid within the range, and then even if you win at the very top of the range, the reserve wasn't met.

        It means people waste $500 on a building and pest for a property they could never afford!

  • apple2016 on 26/09/2022 - 19:34
    +1

    I had good experience with James from http://www.slklawyers.com.au/
    It was about $300 if we did not ho thru or $1500 if we decided to progress to settlement.

  • TimmyTims on 27/09/2022 - 10:59
    +2

    I used a solicitor in 2019 and cost about $750. I've only bought 1 property so I don't have any first-hand experience with conveyancer vs solicitor but my experience was good. Especially when we added a clause we could back out of the sale if the building inspection showed any unfavorable findings. Originally the contract said only major defects would allow for the contract to be canceled. I noticed most building inspections wouldn't mention there are major defects, just this may be one but you need a specialist report to confirm

    • spal on 28/09/2022 - 06:59
      +1

      Looks like you found a good conveyancer. I would have paid about the same in May 2020. They had looked at another contract we had signed and helped us in getting out of it due to cladding found in the building inspection. No additional fee was charged.
      Conveyancing no longer means booking a meeting time to physically exchanging contracts. Now with PEXA these are just electronic transfers. These take less time and allow more flexibility in scheduling.
      I am currently in the process of subdivision. Conveyancer's fee is $550 (includes GST). They are already on to banks to release the security. Council has issued statement of compliance. Delay was caused by me, because I sat on the authorisation to the conveyancer to act for us.

  • jm7 on 27/09/2022 - 16:49
    +1

    Nest Legal in Northcote are great

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