Gday Everyone!
We have recently put a deposit on our first property. The contract goes unconditinal next week. The conveyancer seems easy going and laid back. He has told us that he will do a title search after the contract goes unconditional.Though he has browsed over the section 32.
We are not entirely convinced that it is the right thing to do.
Where do we go from here and how can a good or bad conveyancer make a diffrence at settlement?
Radiant Spark. It is Headings like yours that I seem to get miffed by. While I don't know the full history of your transaction with your Conveyancer/Solicitor. It has been my experience that many in this profession do not do a lot of work untill the contract is unconditional but neither do many of them charge you if you do not obtain finance and not proceed. Had they done all of the searches and sent out requisitions prior to the contract going unconditional then they would be obliged to recoup their fees. Would you be happy to pay them if you did not have anything to show for it? I wonder.
Jon
Hi Jon,
thanks for your post…i would happily pay for any professional services rendered irrespctive of the outcome of the deal.
but we would like to know if the conveyancer of the vendor has conveniently overlooked any caveats or easements in the section 32.
And Jon a big thank you to you for ur help on my previous thread. we gave a written offer wich got accepted very quickly.
Its great to be a part of this forum where lot of experinced people like you offer to help.
It may be common practice to put off a lot of work until the contract goes unconditional, but it's a recipe for disaster. I bought a particular property a year ago, where six weeks after settlement we discovered enormous problems with drainage of the property which showed up in searches. My solicitor hadn't done searches until after the contract had gone unconditional, and even then hadn't provided me with the search results. Had I known about these problems prior to the contract going unconditional, I may have been able to renegotiate the price, or I would have made sure that I didn't get a finance approval. (As it was a problem that cost nearly 20% of the property's value to fix.)
In QLD, anyway, it is professional negligence to act in this manner and in contravention of the QLD Law Society conveyancing protocol – though it's still a common practise. For your own sake, insist on the searches being done, and seeing all the results, before going unconditional.
And to add insult to injury, because I'm a clever girl
and managed to develop this property anyway and make a profit despite this disaster, my solicitor is negligent but my damages are assessed at nil – it doesn't cost him a cent! I can't prove how much less I would have paid if I'd known, and if I'd cancelled the contract, then I wouldn't have made the development profit. So the law says that his negligence caused me to make a profit that otherwise I wouldn't have made. The whole sorry debacle will be in April's API – it nearly sent us bankrupt. thanks for ur post tracey.
can a good or an average conveyancer make any differnce at settlement time.
and would problems like drainage show up in title search
Thank You
I would always use a solicitor rather than conveyancer. The title search wouldn't show drainage problems, the "plumbing and drainage search" did. Always do all searches that could affect your decision to purchase – which is potentially all of them. Ask for advice and don't go stupid, but don't just do the absolutely minimal suite either.
Hi Tracey,
I am very pleased for you to hear it all turned out OK. I hope you didnt earn too many grey hairs in the process!!
Cheers
tammyUp until recently I have purchased investment properties in QLD. In my experience up here all searches were done prior to the contract going unconditional.
Recently I purchased an investment property in Sydney and the solicitor "recommended" to me that their procedures were to do any searches after the contract went unconditional and if there were problems we could negotiate further.
I insisted the searches be done prior to the contract becoming unconditional as I didn't want the hassle of trying to renegotiate or get out of a contract due to issues that may come up on the searches.
My preference is too pay for the searches before going unconditional – better to spend a few hundred dollars and find out the problem rather than buying a property that isn't going to suit your needsAbsolutely, Cat159!
My wonderful solicitor cashed my cheque 5 weeks before the contract went unconditional, but still didn't do the searches until after it went unconditional… I just assumed they'd been done when I PAID him
Most conveyancers/solicitors would be unlikely to do searches prior to going unconditional as if the contract falls over due to finance, building inspection or other special condition, then the purchaser rarely wants to get a bill for searches that have been carried out. If you as purchaser, want the searches carried out prior to going unconditional, then it is best to :
1, TELL YOUR CONVEYANCER TO START SEARCHES and2. PAY THEM THE $$$ SO THEY WONT BE OUT OF POCKET IF THE CONTRACT FALLS OVERThis is an old forum but I am still in shock at our conveyancing treatment with NO REDRESS for us. Our original conveyancing lawyer(Brisbane)top dollar did not look at our plans and sent them to us with documentation inferring if you see anything you don’t like, get a survey done. (from what I gather, no-one in Brisbane gets a survey done) Well we couldn’t see anything because we paid them to help us and didn’t get a survey done(OF COURSE). Then when the property was sold, years later. Weeks and weeks pass(two month settlement period) until one week until moving out. Unconditional for weeks, we had purchased elsewhere with no get our clause. Encroachments and easements are found on our property making us liable for them for 6 years and making us look like lying crooks(could have been huge financial implications here covering several areas). Our original lawyer(5 years previously) would never ever speak to us to help us, not available AT ALL. Now when it is sold everyone(qualified) can see problems and we are to blame!!!!!. Then our buyers conveyancers go unconditional before these faults are referred to us(Two month settlement period). I would not have sold knowing these issues(no profit was even made), our health has suffered with the extreame stress. Both of those conveyancer lawyers covering some years have questions to be asked of them. What does a person have to do, use two conveyancers to check who’s not doing a good job??? Older and wiser now, but what is this lazy conveyancing lawyers, they are just looking after themselves and I will not believe otherwise. (The very least our 1st lawyer should have looked at those plans and said I am too lazy to help you and to cover my lazy bottom, pay for a survey IT NEEDS AN EXPERT LIKE MYSELF, but I am too lazy and just don’t care???????. Still practising I see………..nice.
Trakka we had no legal recourse that we could find through the qld legal society people. Just inferred silly us(we paid top dollar for that conveyancing lawyer). Later people said we can see easements and encroachments on this plan, tut tut why didn’t you. I think lawyers are too crafty, they put the ….it is your responsibility to check the limits of your boundaries bla bla, do it yourself we just don’t care enough to properly advise you!!!!.
and managed to develop this property anyway and make a profit despite this disaster, my solicitor is negligent but my damages are assessed at nil – it doesn't cost him a cent! I can't prove how much less I would have paid if I'd known, and if I'd cancelled the contract, then I wouldn't have made the development profit. So the law says that his negligence caused me to make a profit that otherwise I wouldn't have made. The whole sorry debacle will be in April's API – it nearly sent us bankrupt. 
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