Settlement Agent Byford

Buying or selling in Byford? Here is what settlement involves

Byford sits roughly 35 km south-east of the Perth CBD, in Perth’s south-eastern suburbs. Once an offer on a Byford property is accepted, the transaction moves from the real estate agent to a settlement agent, and that is where we come in.

Our Myaree office is roughly 27 km to the north-west. A home appointment is usually possible, and the whole settlement can just as easily be done remotely.

Buying or selling a house is a lengthy and complex process and obtaining professional advice will help ensure your smooth and successful property settlement in Byford. The main job of a settlement agent is to transfer the ownership of the property and depending on whether you are buying or selling has various different components.

The local detail behind your settlement

Byford is on Perth’s growing edge, where a meaningful share of transactions are vacant land, house-and-land packages and homes only a few years old rather than long-established properties.

That has a direct effect on timing. Where a contract is conditional on titles issuing, the settlement date is set by when the plan is registered and the title is created, not by a date in the contract, and that date can move. We track it, keep your lender informed and give you as much notice as we can.

Settlements we regularly handle around here include:

• keeping finance approval valid while titles are pending
• vacant land purchases where the title has not yet issued
• house-and-land contracts and the timing between land settlement and build start
• new-lot titles created from a deposited or survey-strata plan
• first home buyer duty concessions and grant timing, confirmed with RevenueWA

Practically, that means we keep an eye on the plan and the title rather than waiting to be told, keep your lender informed so finance does not lapse, and give you realistic notice rather than optimistic notice about when settlement is likely to happen.

We also act for buyers and sellers nearby in Darling Downs settlements, Cardup, Karrakup, Whitby and Mundijong.

What a settlement agent actually does

Settlement is a process with a fixed date and a lot of moving parts. Searching the title and any restrictions on it, arranging for anything that should not stay on the title to be removed, obtaining rates, water and levy figures, preparing the settlement statement and the transfer, attending to duty, completing settlement and notifying the authorities afterwards, all sit with us rather than with you.

Rates, water and strata levies are adjusted at settlement, so a buyer reimburses the seller for the portion of the year already paid. It surprises people, so we set it out clearly in the settlement statement rather than leaving it as a line item.

Electronic settlement is now the standard process in Western Australia, so nobody has to physically attend a settlement any more. It happens online, and we confirm it with you as soon as it is done.

Settlement services we provide

Not every transaction is a straightforward house sale, so we cover the rest of it too:

• Lodgement at Landgate – Preparation and lodgement of documents for registration.
• Vacant land settlements – Land purchases and sales, including contracts that are conditional on the title issuing.
• Home settlements – Transfers of established houses, duplexes, townhouses and villa strata, for buyers and for sellers.
• Buying – Everything from the accepted offer through to registration of your name on the title.
• Transfer duty through State Revenue Online – We arrange stamping, so duty does not need to be paid before settlement.
• Strata settlements – Apartments, villas and survey-strata lots, including strata information and levy adjustments.
• Selling – Private homes, commercial property and deceased estates, with documents signed at a time that suits you.

If what you need is not on that list, ask anyway. Most property questions have a straightforward answer, and it costs nothing to find out.

Distance is not a problem

Byford is roughly 27 km from our Myaree office, which is comfortably within reach for a home appointment. We can come to you, including on weekends, to sign documentation and complete the verification of identity check that sellers need.

Just as often, clients here prefer to do the whole thing by phone and email, and that works perfectly well. Documents can be sent, explained over the phone and signed electronically, and settlement itself is completed online, so there is nothing to attend. Whichever suits you better, call Shelley on 0428 336 878 and we will set it up.

We offer cost-effective and stress-free settlement

We are licensed in all aspects of conveyancing in Western Australia. Other services that we offer:

Quick answers before you call

Am I eligible for first home buyer concessions?

That depends on the property, the price and your circumstances, and the rules are set by RevenueWA rather than by us. Tell us what you are buying and we will point you to the current position rather than quoting figures that change.

What does a settlement agent cost for a Byford property?

Our fee depends on the property and what the transaction involves, so we quote before you commit. Ask for a quote and you will get a clear figure rather than an estimate that moves later.

Do I pay transfer duty before settlement?

Not with us. We arrange stamping through State Revenue Online, so duty is dealt with as part of the settlement rather than needing to be paid beforehand.

Don’t have time to get to an office?

Our services include Byford home appointments, including weekends to sign confusing documentation and to conduct a verification of identity check for sellers to avoid going to Australia post. However, we are also able to work remotely to do all this over the phone or in person.