Thursday, June 16, 2016

So, your buying a place.

Some of our customers describe the process like jumping out of a plane with out a parachute.

They know they are being managed and cajoled into a HUGE life decision, but they lack the experience and objectivity to assess the terms of the purchase. Many opting instead to just JUMP and take the risks… whatever that may be.

My name is Chris and I am the founder of ThinkConveyancing and I know this isn’t the right way.

It’s a strange thing to me that we spend so much time searching for a house and so little time assembling a team to support us through the process. There’s that adage however, how does it go again, “you can’t put an old head on young shoulders.” Yep, that’s the one! There have been times in my career when I have wanted to reach into the past and quite literally have a father to son/daughter chat with some of my clients.

Purchasing your first home is a time of significant vulnerability. In reality, for the most of us, we just don’t know what we don’t know. Often times we rely on the ‘advice’ of friends or family who themselves likely haven’t purchased property in years and whilst they have your best interest at heart can sometimes distract you from the important things in the process. Worse still is relying on the sellers representative to ‘advise’ or assist you in the process.

The role of the real estate is only conflicted where a potential purchaser relies, without interrogating the contract properly and signing without proper advice. I can’t stress enough the importance of the primary obligation of a lawyer to put the interests of their client first. This lofty goal, is a guiding light in all advice we give.

When buying a property, taking advice should be the first and last thing anyone, let alone a first home buyer, does in a transaction. Your conveyancing lawyer is your advocate. Their role is to understand your needs and help to set up the transaction to both meet those needs and to manage risk. Purchasing is not without significant risk. The consequence of which can be significant to the buyer. Take for example a failure to make inquiries out outstanding Land Tax liabilities. Should you be the unlucky punter who buys that property, you will be lumbered with a debt (Debt travels with sale of land, unless paid out in full prior) that should have been paid out prior to settlement.

Not understanding or not knowing is no excuse and given the quantum of funds being talked about in Australia when it comes to property purchases, it is increasingly important that buyers get serious. Long gone are the days where a buyer can protest – I’ve read the contract and it seems ok. My immediate response is, “Do you know what’s missing?”

We would not dare to take advice about our help from someone ill qualified. We take financial advice for financial planners and engineers for building the property. Taking proper legal advice is essential. Take it from me, you might not be the one who gets caught out, but if you are the consequences are tremendous.

Why should you hire a conveyancer?
To be YOUR advocate in the purchase process
To understand your rights and responsibilities in the process
To give you written advice and answer any questions you have about that advice.
To manage the risk in the settlement process and ensure you are Protected.
To mange the uncertainty
To ensure settlement takes place on time.

Like all services, it can sometimes be an difficult for someone outside of the industry to determine what is a good service and what isn’t. At Think, we are the industry Gold Standard in conveyancing. We set the bar on the management of risk and the standard of service nationally. If you are in the market for conveyancing services, at a minimum you should compare any comparative quote by the scope of works set by Think, to understand how your offer matches up.

If you don’t understand, talking to our dedicated customer concierge team will help you get the understanding you need to make an informed decision.


christopher.lane What you need to Know about the writer.
Christopher (as his Mother still calls him!) is an avid reader and online contributor, with an inexplicable affection for Coca-Cola, real estate, Japanese micro housing, design, food, coffee and Pinterest.  He wishes he understood more about twitter, was as fit as he ‘thinks he is’ and spoke more languages.  All things he is trying to change.

Holding degrees in Accounting, Law and Marketing Christopher tries not to take himself or his subject matter too seriously. He is a leading spokesman and consumer advocate of the Conveyancing Industry in the media and online, having founded ThinkConveyancing.com.au and grown it to be the No.1 Conveyancing Firm in Australia according to independent sources.
BRISBANE | SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | PERTH
Contact Details
Ph: 1300 932 738
info@thinkconveyancing.com.au

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