How can a conveyancing solicitor help me?
A conveyancing solicitor is a solicitor who specialises particularly in the work related to transactions in property. There are two broad fields of conveyancing, the first is commercial. This relates to transactions in property for commercial entities which are buying or selling land, office space, factory space or retail locations. There can be any number of complications in relation to a transaction of this type. It can involve strata titles which means that there needs to be management of the relationship of the strata corporation with the unit that is being purchased, there can be land tax issues, capital gains tax, stamp duty and other taxes which apply to the purchase or sale of a property. There are also the considerations of council rates, water rates, rent, if there is a tenant and the rental bond. There need to be adjustments made for these amounts in some way in the settlement process. This can be quite complicated. There is also the need to ensure that the conditions written into the contract do not prejudice your interests in the transaction in any way, particularly if they have been drafted without your considerations in mind. A conveyancing solicitor can assist you with all of these things.
The other major field of conveyancing is the area of residential property transactions. These involve property being transferred between people who intend to live in the property as a home and different schemes of regulation surround the operation of this process. There could be the application of the first home buyers grant and some of the planning laws related to zoning of residential housing are different to what is used in the commercial property sector. Also, some very old properties can be subject to old system title or there may be encumbrances on the title such as caveats which prevent it from being transferred. For all of these reasons, it can ber very helpful to have access to a legal professional who can assist you.