Settlement Agents for Henderson Buyers and Sellers

The settlement side of buying or selling

Part of Perth’s southern suburbs, Henderson sits roughly 25 km south of the Perth CBD. When a property goes under offer, someone has to search the title, deal with the rates and water, arrange duty and get the transfer registered. That is our job.

We are based in Myaree, roughly 14 km to the north, and home appointments are part of the service.

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 Henderson. 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.

Why these settlements are not all the same

Henderson 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.

Typical local settlements look like this:

• coastal strata schemes with higher levies for building maintenance
• 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

The practical consequence for a Henderson buyer is that the important dates are often not the ones you would expect. Finance approval has to stay valid while titles are pending, and the timing of duty, first-home concessions and any grant depends on what is actually being bought and when it settles.

So the work here is as much about tracking and communication as it is about paperwork. Titles issue when they issue, and the value of having someone on it is that you find out early rather than on the day.

We also act for buyers and sellers nearby in Munster settlements, Coogee, Spearwood, Beeliar and Wattleup.

The work behind a settlement that runs on time

A settlement agent takes over once the offer is accepted and carries the transaction through to registration. We search the certificate of title and check what is registered against it, raise enquiries with the local shire or council, Water Corporation and any strata company, prepare and lodge the transfer documents, attend to transfer duty through State Revenue Online, calculate the adjustments so rates, water and levies are shared fairly to the day, and complete settlement electronically.

If settlement is going to be late, the contract usually has something to say about it, including interest. Telling us early gives us room to sort it out; telling us on the day does not.

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.

Conveyancing services, start to finish

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

• 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.
• Title searches – Shelley can search a title and explain what is registered against it before you commit.

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.

Meeting and signing, made simple

We come to Henderson clients rather than expecting them to come to us. From our Myaree office, roughly 14 km away, we can meet you at home, including on weekends, to go through the documents and complete the verification of identity check required of sellers.

Prefer to keep it simple and do it all by phone and email? That is entirely workable. Settlement itself is completed electronically in WA, so nobody has to attend in person. Call Shelley on 0428 336 878 to sort out a time.

We offer cost-effective and stress-free settlement

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

Common questions from clients

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.

Can I use a settlement agent if there is no real estate agent involved?

Yes. Private sales are common and we handle them regularly. Without an agent in the middle, having the contract and the paperwork done properly matters more, not less.

What happens if the other side is not ready on settlement day?

It happens, and the contract usually deals with it, including interest for the delay. The important thing is that you tell us as soon as you know, because a problem raised early can normally be worked around.

Don’t have time to get to an office?

Our services include Henderson 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.