FAQ
frequently asked questions
queensland conveyancing
*WARNING*
this is not legal advice – this is general advice only
FAQ
answering all your conveyancing questions
in words that actually make sense
what is conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the legal transfer of ownership from one party to another. It is a complex process, with many moving parts. From before signing a contract of sale, right through to the settlement (and beyond), it is soo important to choose a law firm that will look after you, communicate to keep you up to date, and be by your side throughout the entire process.
It can be overwhelming, which is why you must do your research and pick a conveyancing team that has a five star reputation. Furthermore, buying or selling a home is often the biggest transaction someone will deal with in their life – making it all the more important to choose an experienced conveyancing firm that’s on your team!
Whilst technically you can represent yourself when buying or selling property in Queensland, we would never recommend someone attempt this – instead invest in choosing a trusted conveyancing team to protect you and guide you.
what does a conveyancer do?
In Queensland, a conveyancer represents either the buyer or the seller in a property transaction. There are many tasks that occur as part of the conveyancing process. Some of the main tasks include:
– Checking over the contract before signing the contract and negotiating special conditions and timeframes.
– Diarising critical dates and educating clients on what each milestone date means, what the legal implications are, and ensuring their clients rights are protected along the way.
– Communicating with the real estate agents throughout the entire transaction and keeping the agent up to date
– Liaising with the banks to either help release the mortgage for a sale, or arrange settlement funds for a purchase.
– Helping to navigate building & pest (if applicable) – helping the clients understand their legal obligations and educating and advising around the law for this condition. Also assisting with negotiations if building & pest issues occur.
– Preparing the transfer of land legal documentation that will be transacted as a part of the settlement.
– Ensuring the owner is advised regarding any tenants in the property – explaining the legalities of whether a tenant needs to be out of the property, timeframes etc.
– Attending to the removal of any caveats, mortgages etc – ensuring the Title is free of any encumbrances.
– Ordering searches – with council, the water company, body corporate, land tax and any other relevant searches for the property.
– Stamping the contract – advising and actioning the payment of transfer duty owing the QLD Government.
– Preparing the settlement statement – this is the adjustments for settlement for rates, water, land tax, body corporate, purchase price, deposits paid, etc to land on an exact figure that will be used to settle the property.
– Ensuring after settlement, all relevant authorities are contacted and any tasks finalised – i.e council rates, water authority bills paid, body corporate levies, land tax, etc.
As you can see, there is a lot of things happening here. This is why its soo important to pick a good conveyancer! Missing a deadline (by even one minute) could cost you your deposit, the deal falling over, and even getting sued for any losses suffered!
what is a buyer’s agent?
A buyer’s agent, like the name suggests, is an agent (representative) that works exclusively for the buyer. Buyers agents advocate for their clients, and help them to take away the stress of searching for properties, attending open homes, and then negotiating to secure a property to buy. A common problem that a buyers agent solves is eliminating the buyer needing to attend open home after open home weekend after weekend, without being able to secure a property.
Often, time poor individuals or those not confident to negotiate with a sellers agent will engage a buyers agent to help them find and secure a property. The buyers agent will advocate on your behalf to get you a competitive price for the property, and ensure it is a good fit for your needs/budget.
Good buyers agents often have a large network of sellers agents that they speak with to find properties that are “off market” (not yet advertised to the public), and are usually suburb or area specialists.
It is also becoming increasingly popular for first home buyers to engage a buyers agent – to obtain guidance and support throughout their buying journey.
what does a buyer’s agent cost?
There are usually several ways a buyers agent gets paid. Engaged by the buyer, a buyers agent is usually paid on either: a percentage of the purchase price, or a fixed fee.
It is common for a buyers agent to request an upfront deposit, and until they get paid, they do not commence work. Once paid the deposit, they will get a brief on what their client is looking for, and begin research to find a property.
Traditionally buyers agents get paid upon the contract becoming unconditional.
can you give me advice on my building and pest report?
Conveyancers in Queensland will definitely help their clients with the legalities of how to navigate the Building & Pest condition of a contract, as it is part of their role to educate and represent the client throughout the entire conveyance.
Often clients will find that after receiving their Building & Pest report, there are issues highlighted in the report that the inspector has uncovered. We are not experts in the actual Building or Pest inspection – that is why you engage and pay for a qualified inspector.
We always suggest clients to go back to their inspector to understand the costs/impact/severity of any issues that are uncovered, and then of course we will assist to help you negotiate and ensure you are protected legally!
can I come to your office and speak to someone in person?
Absolutely. We have three office locations – Spring Hill in the Brisbane CBD, Manly on Brisbane’s Bayside, and Bundall on the Gold Coast. All sites have parking available, and we encourage any clients that wish to come in for a face-to-face meeting to book in to one of our offices (whichever is most convenient) to come and get support.
We do not charge any extra for attending the office, and all of our offices have qualified witnesses that can assist with documentation signing and witnessing. In fact, we do not bill any extra for additional emails or phone calls – making our pricing competitive and giving our clients the peace of mind that they will not be charged extra to speak with us or ask any extra questions.
what is REIQ?
REIQ stands for Real Estate Institution of Queensland, and is Queensland’s peak real estate governing body (for over 100 years). The REIQ has standardised contracts for the purchase and sale of property in Queensland, and is the most common contracts that is seen for property transactions across the state.
The REIQ offers memberships, where members (usually Queensland real estate agents) gain access to training, advocacy and advice. The REIQ works to improve the property industry and works to advocate government policy reform.
The REIQ has a member & client base of almost 30,000 property professionals. This includes: principal licensees, salespeople, property managers, auctioneers, business brokers, buyers’ agents, residential complex managers, & commercial and industrial agents in Queensland.
Fun fact: the QLD real estate sector collectively directly employs over 46,000 people – which is the State’s second largest sector!
when do I need to insure the property?
For buyers, on a standard REIQ Contract, the property becomes at the risk of the buyers from 5.00pm on the next business day after contract has been signed.
Therefore, it is important that a buyer quickly insures the property, to make sure their interests are protected. We advise our clients immediately to obtain insurance over the property, to protect their interests. Some insurers will allow a 30 day cover note, allowing you to amend/cancel the policy without penalty.
When selling, despite the purchaser’s legal obligation to have the property insured, we always suggest all of our clients maintain insurance over the property. Until the conveyance is complete, it is still the vendor’s asset, and it should be
protected until settlement is complete. For the sake of an extra 30 days of payment of an insurance policy, you can he the peace of mind that your asset is protected.
Note that for non-REIQ contracts, the insurance clauses are usually bespoke – and should be checked every time to make sure you are protected and not at risk
plumbing works
Let’s talk about the 4 tiers of plumbing works in QLD.
Permit work is the top tier of plumbing works in QLD. Before a plumber or drainer can start permit work, an application must be made to the local government by submitting a Form 1-Permit work application. The QBCC says that
Examples of permit work include:
- work associated with the construction of a new building or structure
- installing additional appliances or fixtures for a building connected to a combined drain
- installing additional appliances or fixtures for a building connected to a dual reticulated water supply provided by a water service provider
The next tier down of plumbing works in QLD are notifiable work, which is most work performed in existing buildings. Notifiable work is a category of regulated plumbing and drainage work that allows a plumber or drainer to perform the work without a local government permit or mandatory inspections. Notifiable work must be registered with the QBCC. Local governments access the notifiable work register for their program of audit inspections to monitor compliance of this work.
Next comes minor work – Minor work must be performed by a QBCC licensee but doesn’t need to be approved by the local government or reported to QBCC. Examples are unblocking sanitary plumbing or sanitary drain, repairing a broken or damaged pipe, or installing, removing or replacing an automatic switching device for a rainwater tank.
Finally, unregulated work – for example – replacing a shower head, a washer in a tap, installing or maintaining an irrigation system downstream from a tap, etc.
how long does conveyancing take in QLD?
In QLD, contracts typically settle 30 days from the contract date.
However, this is not always the case. Whilst typically a settlement for residential property does occur 30 days from the contract date, it is completely subject to negotiation. We have seen settlements as quick as 14 days, and as long as a few years (off-the plan settlements).
Sometimes when a seller is looking to also buy, then may want a longer settlement for their sale, so they have to find their next property.
Keep in mind that for quick settlements, its usually the finance advancing the funds for the buyer, and the local council that need time to get ready for settlement. This is because mortgage documents need to be created, executed and returned to a bank, and on the council side, they need to process searches and do a special water meter read – which usually take up to 10 business days to complete!
Tip for long settlements – often with off the plan matters, the seller typically calls for settlement with 14 days notice. This means you need to be ready to settle – so your finance approval needs to stay current. You do not want to be caught without having your money ready – or you could land yourself in hot water and be in breach of contract!
what is the contract date?
The contract date is the date the last party has signed the contract.
So let’s say there are two sellers and two buyers. When the fourth person signs the contract, whatever date that signature was completed will be the contract date.
The time of day that this signature occurs irrelevant.
Also, when the party receives a copy of the contact is also irrelevant for date calculation.
For example, if its 11am or 11pm, and its on 29 May 2024, the contract date is the 29 May 2024. Business hours do not matter when it comes to the contract date.
Fun fact: most contracts are signed electronically via Docusign, so the Docusign envelope will show the timestamp when the last part signed!
calculating cooling off in QLD.
The cooling off period in QLD is a 5 business day statutory right that property purchasers have up their sleeve. If a buyer elects to termite under cooling off, there is a 0.25% of the purchase price penalty. Note: cooling-off periods can be shortened or waived, if the buyer agrees and signs a form, and cooling-off does not apply to auction purchases in QLD!
When calculating the cooling-off dates, the first business day is calculated from when the contract of sale is sent to the buyer on a particular day at any time. For example, if the contract is sent at 11pm on 29 May 2024, as long as that date is a business day (I.e not a weekend or public holiday), then it will count as the first of the 5 business days for cooling off! If it is sent on a non-business day, the first day of the cooling off will rollover to the next business day!
Fun fact – a follow-up sale after an unsuccessful auction (before 5pm on the second business day), in which the buyer was a registered bidder & option contracts (or a sale contract formed as the result of an option contract) are also exempt from the statutory cooling off period.
