What Does a Conveyancer Do in NSW?
Most of a conveyancer’s work happens where you can’t see it. Here’s what we actually do, stage by stage, from the contract to the keys.
What does a conveyancer do in NSW?
A licensed conveyancer handles the legal side of buying or selling property. That means reviewing or preparing the contract, running searches on the property, managing exchange, calculating the settlement figures, settling electronically through PEXA and making sure the title transfers into the right name. Along the way, their job is to spot problems before they become yours.
At a glance
- Before exchange? Review or prepare the contract, check the title and certificates, negotiate special conditions and explain the risks.
- At exchange? Manage signing and the deposit so the contract becomes binding correctly, and track the cooling-off period.
- Before settlement? Run searches, deal with the other side’s conveyancer and your lender, and calculate adjustments for rates, water and strata.
- On settlement day? Settle through PEXA, where money and title move at the same time.
- Conveyancer or solicitor? Both can do residential conveyancing in NSW. A solicitor also handles litigation and wider legal issues.
What a conveyancer does, stage by stage
Before you sign: the contract
For a seller, we prepare the contract with the title search, plans, Section 10.7 certificate and any other prescribed documents. For a buyer, we review the contract, explain every special condition and planning disclosure in plain English, and negotiate changes such as a finance clause or a longer cooling-off period.
Identity and compliance
We verify your identity and complete the anti-money laundering checks now required on property transactions, so nothing holds up exchange or settlement later.
Exchange of contracts
We manage exchange so the contract becomes binding properly: both parts signed, the deposit paid, and the cooling-off deadline diarised. If you want to waive cooling-off, we explain what that means before we sign a 66W certificate.
Between exchange and settlement
We order searches, raise requisitions, work with your lender or the seller’s mortgagee, make sure transfer duty is assessed, and calculate adjustments for council rates, water and strata levies so each side pays its share.
Settlement
We settle electronically through PEXA, where funds, duty and the transfer of title all happen at once. Once settlement goes through, ownership is registered with NSW Land Registry Services and we let you and the agent know the keys can be released.
“A good conveyancer works like an iceberg. What you see is the settlement. What protects you is everything underneath it.”
What buyers are told
“You don’t need a conveyancer until your offer’s accepted.”
What actually happens
The most useful time to talk to a conveyancer is before you sign anything. Once contracts are exchanged, the terms are locked in. A contract review before exchange is where a finance clause, a longer cooling-off period or a problem in the planning certificate gets picked up.
Conveyancer or solicitor?
In NSW, licensed conveyancers and solicitors can both do residential conveyancing, and for a standard purchase or sale the work is the same. A solicitor can also advise on wider legal issues and run court matters. Our guide to conveyancer vs solicitor in NSW covers when the difference matters.
Found a place you like? Send us the contract before you make an offer. It’s the cheapest point to fix anything.
The short version
A conveyancer looks after the legal side of your purchase or sale: the contract, the searches, exchange, the settlement figures and the transfer of title through PEXA. The biggest value comes before you sign, when problems can still be fixed on your terms.
Buying or selling soon?
Talk to Justin, Julie, Amanda or Nicole. We’ll tell you what your contract means before you sign and look after everything through to settlement.
