At least 117 risks in a typical conveyancing transaction

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Pictured above: Garth Brown (GB), who has authored: Risk Management Strategies for Conveyancing Practitioners. Legal Practice Intelligence (LPI) interviewed Garth Brown about his new eBook. LPI: Why did you write this book? Isn’t this information already available or taught? GB: It amazed me while delivering my InfoTrack training webinars to lawyers and conveyancers across NZ and Australia, how little the conveyancing industry knew about the risks to cover on Sale and Purchase files and it seemed timely that I write a thorough risk management strategies manual to detail the amount of conveyancing risks that must be handled on every conveyance, and […]
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Getting to number one in the conveyancing market with the help of good old fashioned 21st century customer service

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For the first three months of 2018, specialist conveyancing law firm, Lawlab completed more electronic settlements through the PEXA platform than any other legal practice or licensed conveyancing firm in Australia. The directors of Lawlab believe they could also be completing more manual conveyancing transactions than any other legal practice. The founders of Lawlab, Ian Perkins and Richard Bootle know what good old fashioned customer service means. The firm that is now branded as Lawlab was originally established in Nyngan, NSW in 1899. However, if the firm continued to provide 19th century style customer service, there is little doubt that Lawlab would not […]
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Six weeks from property exchange to settlement is a remnant of pre-digital era but still popular

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While more than one-third (33 per cent) of Australian conveyancers and lawyers believe the traditional six-week settlement period is too long given that eContracts, eSigning and eSettlement have fast-tracked the purchasing process, 39 per cent want to stick with the traditional timeframe, according to a national survey into settlement sentiment released by InfoTrack. In fact, almost half of all survey respondents (48 per cent) think a three to four- week settlement period is more realistic in the digital age. Similarly, while 52 per cent of respondents would choose to migrate to a fully online conveyancing and settlement process, 39 per […]
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Ownership hold times dragging on conveyancing market

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Every time someone decides not to sell their home, it is one less conveyancing service that needs to be provided.  In recent times, especially last year, real estate agents were talking a lot about a lack of stock. A reliable industry source has provided Legal Practice Intelligence with information that across Australia over the past 15 years, the average hold time for houses has moved from 8 years to 11.5 years and apartments have moved from 5 years to 7.8 years. What do these numbers mean? A hold time of 8 years means that 12.5% of all properties sell each year. When the hold time increases […]
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Best year ever for conveyancing volumes in Victoria

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Have we reached peak property sales volumes in Victoria? Calendar 2017 produced more transfers than any other year in the past 10 years and it was probably an all-time record year.  The last four months of 2017 produced transfer numbers in Victoria 23% higher than the equivalent months of the previous year. The volume of sale transactions in Victoria was high enough to be greater in number than NSW [first 9 months of 2017] even though Victoria’s population is 20% less than NSW. What could be creating this rising activity in Victoria? Could it be related to apartment developments? Sydney is going through […]
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A second e-settlements platform will end the PEXA “monopoly”

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The Street Talk section in the AFR (12/1/18) claims: “Sources said InfoTrack had applied to the industry regulator to join PEXA as an approved Electronic Lodgement Network Operator, which would make it Australia’s second such approved operator, and had gone so far as to notify PEXA of its plans.” The combination of mandated e-settlements and a single operator had the makings of a monopoly marketplace. A second operator will instantly end any such monopoly.  Legal Practice Intelligence has contacted InfoTrack for a response to the AFR article. Check back for further updates. We will be following developments closely.
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WA Conveyancers say it is time to replace the e-conveyancing regulator

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Mandatory electronic settlement is scheduled to come into force in Western Australia on 1 May 2018 – for all eligible documents. There is still a possibility that the WA parliament will stop the mandating – as is the recommendation from The Institute of Conveyancers Western Australia (AICWA). At the same time that this is taking place, the WA government has begun the investigation of privatising its land registry known as Landgate. The regulator of the electronic settlement system is a body known as ARNECC which is a body comprised of the individual state and territory land registrars.  However, some land registries and state governments […]
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2018 Conveyancing Outlook

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Legal Practice Intelligence’s 2018 Conveyancing Outlook (NSW and Victoria) Unlike real estate agents, conveyancers are not paid a percentage of the sale value of a property.  Nonetheless, there is still a benefit for conveyancers of higher property values. It has eased some the pressure on prices that vendors are willing to pay for the legal services related to a sale. The current property cycle for residential dwellings began in January 2012 for New South Wales and Victoria. From that time up until September 2017, dwelling values increased by 75% in Sydney and 57% in Melbourne. The volume of property sales […]
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Lawyers and conveyancers facing more red tape

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Proposed legislation changes will put added pressures on lawyers and conveyancers, who will be required to take on the role of tax collector during the property settlement process. From July 1 next year, Australians buying property – regardless of the cost – will be forced to pay the GST on their purchase price directly to the tax office as part of the settlement process, in an effort to reduce instances of “phoenixing”. According to GlobalX CEO Peter Maloney (pictured), this will mean more red tape for buyers who must ensure the right checks are in place, as well on the […]
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Every property in Australia for sale every day – a conveyancing paradise?

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One perspective is that digital disruption in the property market has already occurred and it is now business as usual. Another perspective is that attempts at disrupting the real estate market have all had one thing in common, namely failure.  The first perspective is that the real estate market was one of the first to embrace the digital era when paper classifieds shifted to online. This was so long ago that it feels like referring to the shift from horse drawn carriages to motor cars. It was a major historical shift but all the current participants in the market such as buyers, sellers, […]
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