Whether you are a first home buyer, looking to upsize or downsize or printing for the right commercial purposes, we can make the conveyancing process as smooth and seamless as possible. As a general rule, we offer free contract reviews for prospective purchasers.

We can provide an initial email of advice with a general summary of the important bits from the contract of sale and vendors statement to help you decide if the property is right for you. Our experienced staff  review the nitty-gritty details and check for any hidden issues on your behalf.

These to take into account when looking to purchase a property:

• Are you a first homeowner? If so you may be eligible for stamp duty concessions and the first home owners grant.
• Are you planning on living in the property, or do you hold a pensioner concession card or DVA health care card? If so you may be eligible the stamp duty concessions.
• Does the property have the appropriate planning scheme to allow for your intended use of the property?
• Is the property classed as “vacant residential land”, and if so do the GST withholding measures apply?
• Are there any caveats or other covenants on the property that will affect your ownership?
• Are any buildings or structures overlapping the property line, or have they been built with the proper planning permits is built within the last 10 years?

Once you are satisfied and the contract is signed, we can help you arrange your finance by liaising with your bank or lender and arrange for the calculation of your stamp duty and other expenses which will be dealt with at settlement. We will handle the settlement of your purchase with a minimal fuss. As purchases and sales are now conducted electronically, you will not need to sign a transfer of land (but there will be some other forms to sign) and following settlement you have the option of having us retain an electronic certificate of title or the paper certificate of title in our strong room for safekeeping. At Glaister Legal, we can help answer all your questions and provide you with sound advice for your purchase. Visit our Contact Us page or call our office on (03) 9052 5101 to discuss how we can help you today.

At first glance, sell your property in Victoria is usually a relatively straightforward process. You engage an agent, find a purchaser, agree on a sale price and settlement date and get in contact with your lawyer.

Contrary to popular belief, selling a property is really that simple and many are unaware of the complexities involved.

Vendor Statement:

As a seller (vendor), you are required under section 32 of the Sale of Land Act (Vic) to provide a document called a vendors statement to any prospective purchasers before they enter into the contract. This statement is required to contain various details about the property including a copy of the title and its plan of land, the applicable planning scheme, the council and water rates and State land tax.

These are the items that are generally expected, however, there are several items that may need to be included in this document of which you are unaware. Details of any easements (registered or unregistered), copies of planning permits and occupancy certificates and evidence of owner/builder insurance (where applicable) must also be included. Where any of these details that are required are left out, the purchaser is able to cancel the contract and get their full deposit back.

These details are generally provided in the form of property certificates provided by the relevant authorities such as your local council and water authority. We recommend contacting our office as soon as possible once you decide to sell your property so that we may request the required certificates as soon as possible in order to avoid possible delays (as an example the State Revenue Office Land Tax Certificate can take up to 10 business days to be provided to us).

Contract of Sale:

The contract of sale is the other vital document for you to be able to sell your property. Although it is possible for a real estate agent to prepare a contract under the Estate Agents Act (VIC), the Contract of Sale should ALWAYS be prepared (or at least reviewed) by a qualified solicitor or conveyancer before you sign.

In recent years many changes have been made to the process of selling land including the introduction of PEXA (the online property exchange network that is now required to be used Victoria), GST withholding on vacant residential land and alterations to “off the plan” and terms contracts that have diminished the rights of sellers. It is therefore crucial that various types of special conditions be included in your contract of sale, conditions that others may be unaware of.

If you are thinking of selling, have found a purchaser or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office on 03 9052 5101 to let us make your sales experience as smooth as possible.

GST WITHHOLDING ON VACANT RESIDENTIAL LAND:

Sellers must be aware that, unless otherwise advised by your accountant, GST is required to be withheld from the amount payable by the purchaser at settlement. This applies irrespective of whether or not you yourself are registered for GST. You can therefore assume that GST is required to be withheld from your sale and keep this in mind when discussing with your real estate agent and negotiating a sale price with the purchaser.

Renting a property can be a daunting prospect for a landlord or a tenant. Whether you are a first time or long time tenant with a good rental history, or a landlord renting out an investment property, things can always go wrong.

Commercial and retail leases should always be properly prepared and reviewed by a lawyer to ensure that both landlord and tenant know their rights and responsibilities. Items such as “make good provisions”, options to extend the lease or sublet the premises often catch out both parties. This can lead to disagreements which can lead to claims for hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the premises and the parties involved.

Residential leases also cause their fair share of headaches. Although there are been recent strengthening of tenant protections under the residential tenancies act which have removed some of the former points of contention, disagreements often arise in relation to the payment of rent, provision of essential services such as heating and water and property repairs.

When it comes to disputes between tenants and landlords, the first point of call should always be discussion and negotiation in good faith (including with any real estate agent involved). When a dispute cannot be resolved amicably it may be necessary for the matter to go to the Victorian civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). We recommend that you contact our office to go through the matter with you in the event that a serious disagreement arises and cannot be resolved through direct communication.

Visit our Contact Us page or call our office on (03) 9052 5101 to discuss how we may be of assistance.

A certificate of title is your evidence of property ownership. With the advent of electronic conveyancing, it is moving towards being manadatory that titles be held electronically by banks, lawyers or conveyancers on behalf of clients. However, currently there are a significant number of paper titles still in existence. In the event that in original paper title is lost, it is necessary to make an application to the land titles office for the issuing of a new one. It is not possible to conduct any transactions on the title (such as mortgaging or sale the property) without it.

Application to the land titles office for the issuing of a new certificate must now be lodged via PEXA (the online property exchange used around Australia). An application consists of:

• a statutory declaration completed by each of the registered proprietors listed on the title explaining what happened to the title after it was last issued by the land titles office;
• a statutory declaration from the party that the certificate of title was last issued to (usually a law firm or bank);
• a statutory declaration from any party who may have had subsequent possession of the missing certificate of title;
• a title issue search (which is a document showing through the title was last provided to by the land titles office);
• a company search (if the title is registered to a company); and
•  the applicable fee payable to the land titles office.

The application for a new title can be quite a complex process particularly if the title has changed hands a number of times such as from a law firm to a bank to a private party or similar. As such it is important that the required documents be properly prepared and submitted.

At Glaister Legal, we have prepared a number of applications for the replacement of titles.

Visit our Contact Us page or call our office today on (03) 9052 5101 and we can discuss how we may assist you with your application.

Whether you are looking to subdivide a larger property or consolidate a number of lots into a single certificate of title, we can assist you with the process.

Property subdivision and consolidations follow roughly the same procedure (although subdivisions have additional steps).

The following documents must be prepared and submitted to the land titles office or through SPEAR:

• A certified plan must be prepared by a land surveyor and certified by your local council;
• A statement of compliance must be provided by the local council that all of the requirements of been met;
• A licensed surveyor’s report and an abstract of field records
• If there is to be any common property, an owners Corporation must created and the relevant documentation lodged; and
• A form SA22 must be lodged land title’s office along with the relevant fee.

For subdivisions and subsequent transfers, there may also be stamp duty and other fees payable unless the transfer in subdivision are structured in a particular way (NICO subdivisions). At Glaister Legal, we can assist and guide you through the subdivision or consolidation process. Feel free to contact our office on (03) 9052 5101 or send us a message via our Contact Us page so that we can answer any questions you may have.