5 things to look for in a conveyancer

If you're buying or selling a house, choosing a conveyancer is one of the many important decisions you'll make along the way. When it comes to choosing a conveyancer to oversee the transfer of your property title and finalise your legal documents, there are some essential things to look out for to ensure that the process runs smoothly.
The top five things to look for in a conveyancer include:

1. Qualifications

If you do a Google search on conveyancing in your area there is every chance a long list of possible conveyancing firms you could use will come up. What you need to find is a conveyancer with the right level of experience, who also possesses all the necessary qualifications, licenses and accreditations to carry out your conveyancing properly. As a quick guide you should ask your conveyancer if they are a member of the Conveyancing Institute of Australia. You can also ask them for their license number and then cross check this with the Fair Trading office in your capital city.

As a general rule most conveyancers are either university graduates with property law qualifications, or experienced in the industry and have vocational certificates to back up their qualifications and completion of the correct conveyancing certification.

2. Experience

If you are buying and selling commercial buildings for businesses leasing, you need to find a conveyancer who is experienced in these types of property transactions. Likewise if you are a first home buyer who needs to access the First Home Owners Grant, your conveyancer should have plenty of experience in this field.
Check out what sorts of property transactions the firm has worked on in the past, and be specific about what you are looking for.

3. Accountability

If your conveyancer refuses to prepare a quote for the work you wish them to undertake, then they are probably trying to hide something. Ensure that your conveyancer is accountable upfront, before you're swamped with massive bills that cannot be justified.

4. Value for Money

Get on the internet and research basic costs of conveyancing in Australia as a guide to what is 'normal' and what is not when it comes to property conveyancing.
Ensure that your conveyancer's quoted fees fall into this sphere.

5. File handling and confidentiality

Check whether the actual conveyancer you speak to will be handling your file, and if not, who within their company will be.
Ensure you speak directly to the person who will be carrying out your property transaction - this is your legal right.