Buying land - do I need to hire a conveyancer?

Hi all

My brother and I are looking to build our forever homes together so we can be neighbors and have our kids grow up together, we have put down a holding deposit on 2 blocks of land in Grandvue Officer, and just today we have received the soft copy of the land contract which we will have to sign and pay a deposit on in a week.

I am just wondering if it's necessary/advisable to hire a conveyancer/lawyer to look over the contracts or is buying from a land estate pretty standard and something I don't have to worry about? If I do need professional advice is there any companies that you would recommend?

I tried searching through google and the forums here but haven't been able to see any answers on the question. Thanks so much for any advice!

Gravy

I believe you should have a solicitor/conveyancer to look at contract before signing. Is land titled? Never believe estimated date from salesperson regarding title. It may be 2 years after they say.

No I don't believe the land is titled, it's due to be settled sometimes in April/May, I actually don't mind it taking significantly longer - gives me more time to save up for the house haha

I have read the contract myself and didn't notice any mention of if I can pull out of the contract if settlement takes a long time etc, is that something that I can negotiate? Any recommendations on a conveyancer or is it not too big a deal who you choose? Any questions you would recommend I bring up with them etc? Sorry for all the questions, I guess I'm pretty clueless and just want to make sure I do the right thing!

Thanks again
Gravy

Hi gravy , I am also a newbie to purchase land. Just signed contract for a piece of land in Cranbourne, titling in November. advice I received from colleagues and friends is get a solicitor to do your conveyancing. If something goes wrong , they can back you up. . Good luck.

Hi
Yes you need to check on other things also
Don't risk it

Get a solicitation advice or perform all searches

Definitely worth it. Find one that does fixed price. It should be less than $1000. Compared to the price of the land and house, it's small change

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have taken it and hired a conveyancer to look over the contract

I have no idea why I paid for a conveyancer for my recent purchase. I read through the whole contract and it was extremely basic and easy to understand. It wasn't full of legalese that needed deciphering and there was nothing that required advice on whether to proceed. Strangely enough the developer (Landcom) actually required it go to a conveyancer/solicitor and wouldn't release the contract directly to me.

The conveyancers don't just read the contract and give you advice. They take care of all the searches of land titles etc, make sure all your own requirements are met, organise the settlement, etc. If you need an extension for some reason, they take care of all the back and forth. We needed a couple of extensions for finance and had some issues that we wouldn't have been able to handle on our own. Without our conveyancer and mortgage broker we would never have got out of the ground. It's a small price to pay for such an important investment.

I understand that every situation is different and every person is different. I personally do not feel I needed the assistance of a conveyancer in my purchase. Some purchases are more difficult than others and require solicitors instead of conveyancers, that's fine too. I bought land from the NSW Government developer in an estate that is currently in stage 12. I would expect that the land they are selling is genuine and unencumbered, but I was also able to ascertain myself from the contract that this was true. Anyone can conduct their own title searches for a very small fee at http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au/ Settlement for my land is 2 hours away and I have to pay a further fee for them to hire an agent to attend it.

Sharing our experience. We did bought a land for the very first time after deciding to get married. We had the help from a licensed conveyancer providing services in NSW. Her name is Carol a licensed property lawyer and the owner of https://csconveyancingservices.com.au/ She is very good and friendly my mum recommends her.