What is a settlement statement?

A settlement statement is basically a statement that contains all the apportionment of outgoings and liabilities attached to the property and required by the contract to be adjusted. The items that are usually included in the settlement statement are mortgage discharge fees, rates, water charges, body corporate levies, rent, etc. The information that is needed to prepare a settlement statement is collected by your conveyancing lawyer from the contract, searches, other professionals that are related to the transaction, such as the property manager.

The settlement statement will tell the buyer how much they need to pay the seller at settlement, which would then help the buyer determine how much they will need to prepare in their short fall account. The settlement statement is generally available to the parties to review about 5 days before settlement.

It is important to understand though that the settlement statement is subject to change prior to settlement and is only a draft until settlement date. Hence, it is always important to make an allowance for this when you are preparing funds for settlement. It is always good to overestimate than to underestimate the funds needed for settlement.

Published first here: https://leadconveyancing.com.au/guide/qld-buyers-guide-articles/what-is-a-settlement-statement/

The Value of a Conveyancer

When you first meet with a conveyancer about your conveyancing matters, it is easy to assume that it’s as simple as just arranging the transfers of property, a lease, property development advice or a land division, but as it turns out – this is just the tip of the iceberg. When talking to your conveyancing services team you will more than likely be overwhelmed by their knowledge of the industry and application to your files.

Here are 2 things you should know about the Conveyancing industry:

1. Conveyancers don’t earn enough.

OK a bold statement, but let me explain. There is much more to completing a conveyancing transaction properly than you might think. Your Conveyancers are not only the person coordinating the settlement process between the lender and the purchaser/vendor’s Conveyancers – they are also your legal representative in the transaction to make sure that you are fully protected and that there are no legal repercussions down the track. They spend countless hours on the phone negotiating with banks and other Conveyancers so you don’t have to, just to make sure your property makes it to settlement and then, on the actual day of settlement they can take hours waiting in line with the archaic system with the manual swapping of cheques, titles and legal documents.

If you broke down what a conveyancer does to represent you properly to an hourly rate – you’d be surprised how much time is spent and how little reward they actually get for that time.

2. Conveyancers are their own worst enemies.

It seems to me that it is accepted within the Conveyancing industry to discount everything just to get business. Obviously, like other industries – those businesses that provide a valuable service to their clients (probably the most valuable service in the whole purchase of the property) will always charge what they are worth and you, as the customer, will be happy to pay for their services because you know that everything will be done properly.

Read More: The Value of a Conveyancer