What to ask your Lawyer when purchasing property

When you are purchasing property you will need to engage a lawyer to act for you and complete certain legal aspects of the purchasing process. There are a few questions that you should consider asking your lawyer before you sign a sale and purchase agreement.

  1. Are there any conditions related to the property? 

Your lawyer will be able to tell you specific details regarding a property that will have an impact on whether you choose to purchase or not. These could include body corporate agreements and fees when purchasing an apartment or unit, any conditions when it comes to a cross-lease property, rules when purchasing in a new development and so forth. 

  1. Should I get a builders report? 

There are properties built in certain time periods that require extra caution, for example properties built in the 1990’s may be considered a leaky-home due to problems with weather tightness and so a thorough building report will identify such issues. 

  1. What timeframes do I/we need to work within? 

In order to meet the conditions of your agreement or be ready to settle on the agreed upon settlement date, there are certain processes and documents that need to be submitted, some of which require a longer turnaround times than others. For example, if you are applying to use Kiwisaver towards your house deposit, you will need to provide completed documentation to your lawyer to submit at least 10 days prior to your settlement date.

  1. Anything at all that you don’t understand. 

If there are terms or processes that you don’t understand, don’t be afraid to ask your lawyer to explain these to you. No question is a silly question when it comes to purchasing property!

At Home Transfer Centre we work on a fixed fee basis and so there are no additional charges for time spent going through these questions and specifics with you. If you’d like to chat to the team at Home Transfer Centre about purchasing a property, contact one of our branches or send us an email at [email protected].