Conveyancing Sippy Downs From $499 inc GST

If you have not yet signed a contract then the contract can be amended by making the amendment by hand or electronically and both parties initialling the change. Once the contract is signed it is more difficult to validly change the contract. Depending on the change it could be amended by letters exchanged between the lawyers or by Deed. You should speak to your property lawyer on how best to amend the contract in your specific situation.

Your name on title can be amended by submitting a request to the Land Titles Registry with a statutory declaration and evidence showing what the correct name should be. Your lawyer can help you with this process.

Any extensions can be negotiated under the contract. In most instances either party will not have a right to an extension being granted. This means if you incur costs from agreeing to an extension of settlement you can require the purchaser to pay those costs along with paying default interest. If the purchaser refuses then you may have rights to terminate the contract, claim the deposit and sue the purchaser for damages.

Any extensions can be negotiated as in most instances either party will not have a right to an extension being granted. If you need an extension you can request the purchaser grant it without penalty however if the purchaser incurs costs for the extension then they may pass this onto you in exchange for the extension.

Where a real estate agent is involved you will usually provide the keys to the agent on the day of settlement and they will hand the keys over to the purchaser after settlement. In some cases, the purchaser may want their lawyer to hold the keys at settlement or when there is no agent the lawyer may have to have the keys to provide them at settlement. Where you are unsure what you should do then you should clarify this with your lawyer.

You can sell property without a real estate agent however it may be difficult to find a buyer without the resources of a real estate agent to support you. If you find a buyer without an agent, then your property solicitor or lawyer can draw up the contract for you.

Your pre settlement inspection allows you to make sure the property is in the same condition it was when you signed the contract. Vacant land can change just as much as a built on property if the seller were to change the contours of the land before settlement, if there was erosion of the land, or if the seller left items or waste on the property. These can all cost you money if you do not check if the property has stayed the same during your pre-settlement inspection.

Sippy Downs has a great natural beauty for a growing town that still has the country town feel. With its nearby national parks you will want to do a search of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act register to see if your property is affected by any protections for natural heritage or animals. You can do this search for free at: https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/protected-matters-search-tool You should also look at whether the property will have vegetation requirements or restrictions on it. You can obtain a vegetation management report at: https://www.resources.qld.gov.au/qld/environment/land/vegetation/vegetation-map-or-property-report-request-form Any property that has been used for farming purposes may have become contaminated land depending on the chemicals used on the land. If you are looking at purchasing a previous farming property then you should make sure to obtain a contaminated land search to see if the property is contaminated. Where the property has a house built on it then it is always important to make sure that the house is council approved. You can do this by obtaining a building records search.

Where the property has a house on it then you will need to get power, telephone, internet, gas, cable television and similar utilities connected to the property after settlement. There are companies who will help you organise these connections at settlement that you may want to engage to assist you with this process.

Under the standard terms of most contracts you do not have any rights if your valuation comes back lower than you would like. Where the contract is subject to finance you may have rights to terminate if the result of the valuation meant that your finance could not be approved. If you want rights under the contract for if a valuation comes back unsatisfactory, then you should speak to your lawyer about inserting a special condition into the contract to give you those rights.

Before you purchase a property you should get a valuation of the property to see what the property is worth. Most real estate agents will be able to provide you with a valuation of a property if you request it. You can also organise for a certified valuer to value the property on your behalf. You should also consider the condition of the property and whether the valuation has taken this into account when choosing what a good price is for the property.

In Queensland you can pay a total deposit of 10% of the purchase price in most cases. If you pay any more than this then the contract will become an instalment contract and most residential conveyancing lawyers or best conveyancer will not service that kind of contract. As the deposit is the sellers security under the contract it is preferable for the seller to get as high a deposit as possible, and for the purchaser to reduce the deposit to as low as possible.

Yes the cooling off period can be shortened. This will result in you losing your cooling off rights under the contract so you should make sure you definitely want to proceed with the contract before shortening the cooling off period. You should also speak to your lawyer about any changes that should be made to the contract before you sign.

When you purchase a house you will need to obtain public liability insurance, home insurance and contents insurance.

Early possession is an agreement between the purchaser and the seller for the purchaser to move into the property before settlement subject to terms and subject to settlement being affected. The terms for early possession will vary depending on the lawyers involved and the type of contract involved. You should speak to your lawyer about what early possession may mean for you.

Yes, a bank will have fees for completing their work at settlement. This will include the costs of any lodgement fees, processing fees, administrative fees and settlement fees. You should speak to your bank to find out what fees will be involved with the settlement from their end.

A water bore may indicate that the property is subject to a water allocation or licence. Where a water allocation or licence is involved this will grant you the right to draw water from a reservoir at an annual cost which you will pay to the council. There will be additional fees for your conveyance where there is a water allocation or licence involved and you should talk to your lawyer about what these fees will be if you become aware of the property being subject to a water licence or allocation.

Where you are purchasing or transferring multiple properties for a similar purpose (e.g. investment properties) and the properties are in a similar area or the contracts are subject to each other or the sellers are the same then you may have to pay additional transfer duty. The Office of State Revenue require similar transactions to be aggregated which means you pay transfer duty on the total value of all properties purchased, and not transfer duty on each property separately. As the rate of duty increases as the price increases aggregation will mean you will need to pay more transfer duty then if the properties had not been for a similar purpose.

All homes sold in Queensland are required to have an electrical safety switch installed if the house was built after 1992. Where a safety switch has not been installed the seller must disclose this to the purchaser in the contract in which case the purchaser must have the electrical safety switch installed within 90 days after settlement.

All homes that are sold are required to have compliant smoke alarms installed. The requirements for how many, the type and where the smoke alarms need to be installed changes periodically so you should check to make sure your smoke alarms are compliant when selling. A seller needs to disclose to a purchaser if compliant smoke alarms are installed in the property before settlement and a purchaser should make sure to check if this is correct before settlement. Where compliant smoke alarms are not installed then the seller will need to organise this before settlement or risk a fine for not complying with the legislation.

A telco search will tell you if there are telecommunications lines running under the property. You should conduct a telco search and call ‘dial before you dig’ where you want to do any building work on the property that may interfere with the soil or prevent access to any infrastructure under the soil.

An easement is a right of access through a property. It can be for running drainage, sewage, utility services or for people to get access to their lot from the road. The owner of the land where the easement runs and the owner who gets the benefit of the easement will each have obligations they need to comply with under the easement. Where an easement affects your property you should obtain a search of the easement so you understand your obligations in relation to the same.

Land tax is a government tax that is payable on freehold land which is owned by the same entity. Land tax will only start to accrue after the value of all the land you own exceeds the threshold set for land tax. Where the property is a person’s home then usually an exemption will apply to land tax on the property.

Contaminated land can occur for a number of reasons. Most notably you find land has been contaminated where:

• It used to be the site of a fuel station; or
• The property has been used for farming purposes.

If any of the above apply then you should consider obtaining a contaminated land search.

You should conduct a soil test on a property where you are planning on building on a property after settlement. Soil stability will impact the type of foundations you can use when building on property and accordingly the costs of building as well.