Category Archives: Conveyancing

What property should I buy?

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been asked by clients questions like:

  • What property should I buy?
  • Should I buy an apartment of a house?
  • How much should I pay?
  • Is this a good price?
  • Is this a good area?

Having provided conveyancing services as part of my legal practice for over a decade, I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the property market through my clients as well as my own activities. I’ve ‘bought’ and ‘sold’ hundreds of property vicariously and those experiences have influenced some of my thinking. Of course I’m more than happy to lend a personal opinion, and even though it’s a personal opinion that has evolved over time, it’s still far from a professional opinion.

After all, from a professional perspective, I’m just a lawyer (and still practicing/practising – pun intended). I’m able to advise clients on the process and procedures, as well as the legal rights with respect to the property transaction or property ownership – but questions that go beyond that are not with my professional expertise, and I make that very clear to my clients.

Often, if I’m pressed for more than a personal opinion and clients want a definitive answer, I answer their question with a question. WHAT DO YOU WANT? Sounds annoying, but it’s a legitimate question to a question.

At the end of the day, that’s the key question that needs to be answered, isn’t it? If you don’t know what you want, no one else can nor should tell you – or at least that’s what I think.

What you buy and whether it’s suitable to you depends largely on your dreams or desires, your motivation or your plan, or even your stage in life. Everyone’s different, so what might be right for someone else won’t necessarily be right for you. If you’re buying for investment, you might be looking at a totally different property to what you’d look at if you’re buying your home. You might be looking at one kind of property if you’re single or a couple without kids, and another kind of property if you’ve got a family.

For anyone who’s not familiar with the property market or the property industry, there’s always the danger that you’ll sign a contract for something you don’t really want (perhaps because you were persuaded or influenced by an accomplished real estate agent). I guess that’s why in New South Wales, the law provides that a cooling off period applies to residential property purchased under private treaty. The cooling off period minimises the consequences of buyer’s regret. For more information regarding the cooling off period, have a look at some previous/related articles listed below.

On the other hand, if you really feel you need professional assistance there are professionals like some financial planners, or maybe real estate agents or more appropriately buyers-agents who can provide advice or at least help you clarify your property goals. Perhaps they’re the most appropriate professionals to be speaking to regarding property – especially if you don’t know and you need someone to help you work through those questions yourself (after all, you don’t know what you don’t know, right?).

So there you have it – as many of my clients would testify, I’m more than happy to share my personal views on buying or selling property. I haven’t done poorly through property, but I’m certainly no property tycoon (far from it). I’ve just got a modest property holding which I hope/plan to continue to grow over the years. My strategies are based on my personal and professional experiences but not formulated on anything too formal or complex.

If you’re still hungry like me, then the best advice is to really speak to as many people as you can. There are so many people involved in or ancillary to the property market. Aside from real estate agents, you have bankers and finance brokers, other lawyer and licenced conveyancers, accountants and tax agents, as well as builders and developers. I don’t think it matters how experienced or inexperienced you might think you are in buying or selling property, be open to learning something new and you never know what will come of it. I know I’m constantly learning from all the people around me and enjoying every moment. I’m sure you will too – and then maybe I’ll come and ask you ‘what property should I buy?’

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

Lawyers and Licenced Conveyancers

Would you use a lawyer or a licenced conveyancer?

Many of the older generation of lawyers complain about the introduction of licenced conveyancers to assist people with their property transactions. Obviously, they remember the times (ie,’ the good ole days’) when the conveyancing services market was only for lawyers. It was also the time when legal fees for conveyancing services were according to a scale rather than subject to market forces as they are today.

For me, I can’t provide any personal comparisons. Even though I’ve been in the legal industry since the late 1990s, the changes to the conveyancing services market took place before my time. For me, licenced conveyancers are an accepted part of the market in which I operate. I know a fair few licenced conveyancers and I think they have their place along side lawyers and offer clients a valuable alternative to using a lawyer for buying or selling property.

Without overly stereotyping the market, some clients only want conveyancing services and don’t want other information/advice regarding other areas of law, even if it’s relates in some way to their property transaction (yes, this is true). Sometimes that’s because clients make an informed choice but sometimes it’s because they’re not fully aware of how all areas of law and life are interrelated. For clients who can and do make an informed decision, then of course this is in their best interest. Those clients need and want a licenced conveyancer – and that’s it. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? A competent professional is a competent professional regardless of whether they’re a lawyer or a licenced conveyancer. But for the purpose of the clients’ property transactions a licenced conveyancer might not only be suitable but might also be the most appropriate professional.

HOWEVER, if clients only ask after licenced conveyancers because of a misunderstanding or lack of understanding of what a lawyer does or how their property transaction might give rise to other issues in other areas of law, that’s a real shame! I think there’s an opportunity and an important responsibility to educate and increase awareness about the differences between lawyers and licenced conveyancers and the different types of services that they provide.

For example, while the buying or selling of a property may be the key objective, many clients forget that this could have further reaching consequences on other areas in their lives, such as their estate and their estate planning or may their personal liabilities, arising from such things as taxation or duties. Couples who buy or sell property may also find themselves in more complex situations arising from relationship issues, which of course are rarely considered in the midst of their property transaction, but arise at a time when it is most convenient only to be compounded by not having considered it in the first place. A licenced conveyancer may assist them with their property transaction, but then who provides the right advice regarding how that property transaction affects other parts of their lives? Of course I’m not saying that in providing conveyancing services every lawyer takes a more holistic approach and provides advice to a clients that is beyond the property transaction. But this is what I do.

I think one of the biggest disservice a lawyer could provide would be to not advice their client about certain issues that the lawyer knows affects or will affect their client just because it was outside of the scope of their current retainer. The law is much more than just the immediate here and now.

A pessimistic outlook from an optimistic lawyer could save you a lot of cost and heartache in the future.

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

Conveyancing services leading up to Christmas

Avoid unexpected delays and nasty surprises with forward planning

The Christmas and New Year period every year presents a challenge for anyone buying or selling property. In New South Wales, the standard settlement period for conveyancing transactions is 42 days, or 6 weeks, which means that any contracts dated around the middle of November, the standard completion date will fall around the holiday period.

Aside from the actual public holidays, the Christmas and New Year period is traditionally the time of year that many business will close or be operating with reduced staff. It is the the holiday season after all.

So what does the holiday season mean when it comes to buying or selling your property? The main concern is delay – especially if it is unexpected delay. It is quite normal for the contract for sale of land to include a term addressing the issue of delay. Usually, it is a penalty interest rate, but if there is extensive delay then it may also give rights for termination and forfeiture of the deposit. Basically, what this means is that failing to properly address the issue of delay because of the holiday season could result in serious consequences.

What can you do? If you are buying or selling property during this period, and the standard completion date falls within the holiday season, you should consider whether it is possible to adjust the settlement period so that the completion date falls before or after the holiday season. Unnecessary complications and unwanted consequences can be quickly avoided if you recognise that they can arise from attempting to settle during the holiday season and you take steps to negotiate your contract (especially the settlement period).

Before you sign the contract for sale of land, speak to your lawyer or licenced conveyancer and to your bank to ensure that the completion date is practical and achievable – on a worst case scenario assessment. Most experienced operators will be able to factor likely holiday season delays into ‘normal’ operating conditions to give you a realistic assessment of what is probably against what is possible. Taking this simple step will be well worth the effort.

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

Contract for Sale of Land – Review for Buyers

Legal advice BEFORE signing a contract

It’s simple, yet probably the best advice you could get – and it’s free!

Buying property is a big financial commitment for most people, yet many people sign a contract to buy property without fully understanding or considering the legal consequences – often while they’re in the real estate agent’s office. For residential properties under private treaty, there can be some protection under the statutory cooling off period, however this doesn’t always apply (ie, buying at auction). See my previous posts regarding “What are my Cooling Off right? and “Why do I need a Cooling Off period?”.

But why would you need to rely on a cooling off period in the first place if you’re fully aware (or at least think you are) and appreciate the consequences of signing a contract to buy property in the first place? Knowing what you’re doing is important regardless of whether you’re a first home buyer or an experienced property investor, and one way to get that knowledge is through professional legal advice.

Lawyers or conveyancers may be able to assist you because of their ‘legal expertise’, the reality is that the value these professionals (my team of property lawyers and myself included) can provide is through their experience in handling many different transactions over many years. The last thing you’d probably want is to be frustrated and bogged down in legal technicalities when all you want to do is ‘buy that property’. Therefore, it’s necessary for your professional adviser to be able to provide you with advice and guidance that’s not only legally sound, but practical and has the best chance of achieving your goals while minimising the costs and the risks. Wow – sounds like an impossible task?

But, that’s what we do. Providing advice in relation to contracts, especially a contracts to buy property is what we do best as property lawyers. That advice is available to you, and BEFORE you sign a contract is the best time to get that advice. Once you’ve signed a contract, it’s presumed that you accept the terms and conditions of that contract. As mentioned previously, you might have an opportunity to pull out under a cooling off period, but even then you’ll be forfeiting 0.25% of the purchase price. There’s always a cost.

The best way to save is to get the right advice at the right time, and make an informed and advised decision when you’ve got the opportunity to do so.

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

It’s Never Too Late To Buy Property

When should you buy property?

If you’re in Sydney, you might have heard that if you had bought property 10-15 years ago just before the Sydney 2000 Olympics and before the property boom that followed, you’d be enjoying some significant capital gains in your investment. Also a few years ago, the changes to the First Home Owners Grant also created a little ‘buying fever’ resulting in a little boom – especially around the lower end of the market. But were these ‘good times’ to buy property?

Some investors try to read the market and naturally look to buy when the price is low and sell when the price is high. That’s a logical way to make a profit. If you were able to gaze into your crystal ball and pick the lowest point as well as the highest point, then you’d be maximising your possible return from your property transactions – that’s simple, yet effective mathematics.

I appreciate that commercial property may be a little risky at the moment, but have you seen some of the new residential suburbs lately? Maybe only 5 years ago, some of these suburbs were just farmland – and now they’re a bustling suburbia, and the farmland beyond them are prime for development. The Australian population is continuing to grow whether naturally or by migration (people want to come to this country) and they all have to live somewhere, right?

In Australia, I think it’s safe to say that there’s a common desire to own your own home (and I’m told it’s different in other countries especially some parts of    Europe which have a renting culture). The government supports that with its policies like the first home owner benefits, and the banks also support this through its lending products for home loans. Of course this may eventually change over time due to the increasing challenge of housing affordability, but at least for now there’s always someone somewhere buying property regardless of whether you are or not.

Of course, I don’t say that you should because someone else is, but if you’re asking me whether it’s too late to buy or whether you’ve missed the market, my simple answer is ‘No. Don’t stress or over think whether you should or you shouldn’t. If you want to buy and you can afford to buy, then buy’.

Anyway, I don’t proclaim to be a property investment advisor or a prophet of profit – but there is a saying, “When’s the best time to buy property? 10 years ago. When’s the next best time to buy property? Today!”

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

Important Changes from 1 July 2012

So you would have probably all heard about the carbon tax being introduced on 1 July 2012. It is the political hot topic and has been reported on in every media outlet at every opportunity, and while the carbon tax may have stolen all of the attention, there have also been some significant changes in the property market around 30 June 2012 and 1 July 2012. Here are some examples.

Starting

From 1 July 2012, the New South Wales government introduced a $5000 grant to anyone buying new homes, whether off the plan or newly built, with a value up to $650,000 or to anyone buying vacant land valued up to $450,000 with the intention that it is to build a new home.

Ending

The NSW Home Builders Bonus was introduced to stimulate the construction of new homes in New South Wales by offering exemptions and concessions on new homes, off the plan purchases, and vacant land. There was a full concession on stamp duty where the building work had not commenced, and a partial concession of 25% where building work had commenced. The NSW Home Builders Bonus ended on 30 June 2012.

The future

The First Home Owner Grant as we know it (currently $7,000) is coming to an end. From 1 October 2012, the grant will only apply to new homes but increases to $15,000. The cap also reduces from $835,000 to $650,000.

From 1 January 2014, the First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) will reduce from $15,000 to $10,000.

These changes follow the already implemented change to the stamp duty exemption and concession when the First Home Plus Scheme was replaced by the First Home New Home Scheme on 1 January 2012.

What does this mean?

In the past, we have witnessed the trends and experienced the flow-on effect in terms of the number of property transactions due to announced changes to stamp duty and first home owner benefits.

There have been times when those announcements have results in significant changes in the market. For example, when the First Home Owner Grant of $21,000, first home buyers literally flooded the market with unrealistic expectations and ridiculous offers, many offering beyond their capacity and much higher than advertised asking prices just so that they could be the successful buyer (please note that at the time interest rates were also at an all time low).

There have been other times when the effect has been less dramatic, but still noticeable – like when the First Home Plus Scheme came to an end on 31 December 2011 we also experienced an increase in first home buyers hoping to take advantage of the stamp duty exemptions before it ended.

No doubt, the announced end to the First Home Owner Grant on 30 September 2012 will encourage some first home buyers to take action rather than wait – but with any change, there are always going to be perceived winners and perceived losers.

First home buyers entering or leaving the market because of the various benefits also influences whether investors enter or leave the market. Maybe for an investor, waiting until after 1 October 2012 means there are less first home buyers to contend with or compete against. In any case, only time will tell.

Fortunately, we assist first home buyers and home buyers alike, as well as property investors and so from our perspective we see a full spectrum of how changes to law and policy influence different parts of the property market at different times. Our insight is your benefit, so if you are in the property market regardless of whether you are buying or you are selling, we should talk and hopefully our experience proves to be valuable to you in your property dealings.

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.

Conveyancing Services for First Home Buyers

Take advantage of First Home Plus before 31 December 2011

You may have already heard that the stamp duty exemptions and concessions for the existing First Home Plus Scheme will end on 31 December 2011. It will be replaced by the First Home New Home Scheme as announced in the recent NSW Budget. So if you are already in the market to buy your first home, now might be the time to act.

Buying your first home can be both daunting and exciting at the same time. For most people, buying their first home is generally their first major investment and while the process of buying property may be unfamiliar, it is important to get the right advice to ensure that this investment is properly protected.

Over the last few months, we have experienced a clear increase in the number of first home buyers in the market, more enquiries for conveyancing services from first home buyers, and more clients who are first home buyers. Our reputation precedes us. First home buyers find our simple and hassle free approach to professional conveyancing services to be especially suited to meet their needs time and time again.

While there will always be first home buyers, the current first home benefits in the form of stamp duty exemptions and concessions under the First Home Plus Scheme ends soon. Take advantage of these first home benefits today.

Whether you are considering buying a house or an apartment (or anything in between), our experienced property lawyers can provide you with practical and plain language advice to guide you through the conveyancing process. Our fixed professional fees means you can accurately budget for your transaction expenses and be confident in your expectation of the outcomes.

Conveyancing Enquiry

For more information on our conveyancing services and quotes on our professional fees, please request a Conveyancing Fees quote. One of our experienced property lawyers will contact you to explore how we can assist you with your property transaction.

Ern Phang

Ern Phang
Director - Property Lawyer

This website is supported by Phang Legal, an incorporated legal practice based in Parramatta CBD providing conveyancing services across Sydney and New South Wales. is the solicitor director of Phang Legal.