buying process - private sale from owner

Hi everyone,

So our landlord decided to put our house up for sale, long story short we have verbally agreed to purchase the property from the landlord without involving a real estate agent - a fair deal was struck.

Having never bought without an agent involved (but at the same time understanding that agents don't really do anything post the marketing phase of a sale), can I ask for a breakdown of the steps involved in finalising this transaction and advice on any gotchas to be careful of?

The property is located in QLD should that have an impact on the process.

Thanks kindly in advance.

 

• Have the vendor prepare a contract of sale (their solicitor)
• Have your solicitor review it
• The vendor's solicitor should hold the deposit
• Arrange your finances

 

Hi @1hive

The thing you need is a solicitor/conveyancer to represent you in your purchase. It is normal for someone to have a solicitor/conveyancer handle things for them. Very few people attempt to navigate a purchase without one.

The solicitor/conveyancer know the process and will guide and protect you, ensure contracts are in order before you sign, etc.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. With regard to solicitors, my understanding is that sale of property is a fairly run of the mill thing for lawyers. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that a conveyancer should be more than adequate to handle this or do you recommend a full blown legal service to handle the paperwork?

 

They cost the same, or only a little bit more.

Anyway, you're presumably spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a purchase (possibly more than a million), and you want to be stingey on the legal side of things?

 

+1

I would go with a property lawyer. If things go wrong (not that they should), I like to have the biggest bullets available in my arsenal.

 

A property lawyer is the way to go. Bad things can happen with easements and caveats. You pay a bit more to know that the bad transactions are controlled so they become good transactions.

 

Thanks for all the responses, appreciate the help.

 

No conveyancers in Qld- so you need to go with a lawyer. What suburb is the property in? Try a local *****.

 

Also ask the landlord - where is the title held for the property ..

 

Arrange finances should be step 1. Get in touch with a mortgage broker to confirm you can borrow the amount you need. No point continuing otherwise.

Make sure you get a solicitor to review and add clauses for (as an absolute minimum):
- finance (check with your broker the minimum number of days)
- building and pest (while you "know" the house, you should still have this completed)

Once the contracts are signed get on with getting the formal paperwork complete for finance submitted immediately, as well as arranging building and pest.

Your solicitor will outline rest of the process such as when stamp duty needs to be paid, were funds need to be at certain times. If in doubt ask them although decent ones outline the sequence of events quite clearly. Make sure you read the documentation, and do things in the timeframes required.

There are a number of great brokers and solicitors on here. Indeed I am using both a broker and solicitor sourced from these forums for a property that settles in the next few days.

 

I share the same opinion.

I don't know how or why people can spend $1m on a property and then decide they want to save $600 and get a conveyancer over a property lawyer.

 

Not all conveyancers are bad. Not all lawyers are good.

After having different experiences with different ones, we are sticking with an amazing conveyancer we found. She does the job and knows her stuff.

 

I agree not all are bad and not all are good however a good solicitor to me is better than a good conveyancer.

An entry level solicitor spends 3-5 years studying vs conveyancer who spends 1-1.5 years getting the diploma.

Yes is nothing goes bad then both can do the job but if something starts to turn I sure want to make sure I have the biggest bat on my side.

 

True, but it's not like the solicitor studies property related subject for those 3-5 years while the conveyancer does

100% agree. All things being equal (a few hundred dollars aside), a great solicitor is a larger bat I guess but as mentioned, in my case we found an awesome conveyancer and are happy with her. I trust that if things go south and she will be out of her depth, she may actually be able to refer to the big bat(man )

 

Depends. In my case, every property transaction I have ever been involved in where a property lawyer was involved has been problematic, with the problems caused by the property lawyers, not the transaction.

Every property transaction I have ever been involved in where there were no property lawyers, only conveyancers, the transaction has gone relatively smoothly. I say relatively because issues arise but they have been quickly resolved by my conveyancer.

I would rather hire someone who's sole purpose is to make sure my property transaction happens correctly and on time. I have not had this experience with property lawyers. So I hire conveyancers only but have access to a property lawyer if needed. For me, it's not about cost saving, it's about getting the job done right, on time.

YMMV

 

Totally agree, Perth guy. Solicitors are known for making things complicated

And come to think of it, I actually know a solicitor that has this going on: on the front end, it looks like he's doing the job but on the back end, he has a nice lady (not sure if she is a conveyancer, her title is conveyancing assistant) that does all the work. nice gig... for him

 

I know there are great property solicitors out there. Some forum members have posted some deals that nearly went wrong but were saved by a great property solicitor.

There are equally some hopeless conveyancing firms around. For my last deal my conveyancer, the REA and my investment partner had to guide the sellers conveyancer step by step through the whole process. We also had to advise the seller (through the REA) what they had to do to get the deal done. It wad messy and complex but nothing requiring legal advice IMO.

Settlements are generally straightforward. I think sometimes having solicitors involved makes them more complicated than they need to be. Of course I want a solicitor on call if things go wrong but for me it is a backup only.