You have questions, we have answers.

In Queensland, buying property is commonly referred to as “Buyers Beware” or “at the buyer’s risk”. This essentially means that searches are not mandatory, but they are strongly suggested so that nothing unexpected comes up at the time of settlement. For example, if the buyer chooses not to do searches, and there is $2,000 owing on the property for Land Tax, that debt travels with the property and therefore becomes the responsibility of the new registered owner.

Conveyancing is the legal process by which ownership of the property is transferred from one person to another. This process involves legal documents and legal due diligence that the conveyancer will give you advice on as part of their service.

It is important to have a qualified and experienced conveyancer to make sure that your interests are protected under the Land Titles Act 1994. Having a conveyancer will also give you peace of mind knowing that they will do the heavy lifting and problem solving for you should any issues arise throughout the process. Our team of experienced conveyancers and property lawyers are available to ensure that the entire process it compliant with the current legislation.

In Queensland, the local council authorities have different prices for their searches. For residential home or land purchases we carry out the following property searches that may carry debt with the purchase, to ensure that you are not inheriting the debt at settlement: Standard Searches include; • Title search • Council rates search • Local water search • Land tax search • Body Corporate information certificate (if the property is within a body corporate) If there are any additional searches you would like to complete, please contact our team to discuss this.

Outlays are third party charges that are passed on to the client. This may be something that we are charged on the client’s behalf, or something that the client is responsible for. Property searches are undertaken for the purpose of making financial adjustments at settlement. Property searches can also produce results that advise whether there are any issues with the property, that might not have been disclosed to you previously.