The Conveyancing industry has recently gone through some massive changes and the deregulation of fees has created a very competitive market. With this, came the advertised “flat fee“ for conveyancing which may well have produced the first evidence of companies closing down.

This week the Australian Financial Review reported the embattled law firm Slater and Gordon will be shutting down the conveyancing arm of the business, which will affect around 70 staff nationally.

This company entered the conveyancing market in a blaze of price promise, and similar to a few of the discount type operators they offered sellers from $470 and Buyers from $660.

But clear evidence of dissatisfaction has set in when the small print was read, in the form of the “Product Disclosure statement“... that’s if you got to read this document before you made your decision.

Like some airlines the small print doesn’t allow you to take baggage, that will cost you an extra $50.00… and so the extras would climb in costs and fees, till ultimately the cost was far more than the original lured fee.

Like the response of the real estate industry to Purple Bricks, the key is, and always will be service.

At West Coast Conveyancing our focus is on service and always will be, with all our quotes we attach the following to educate our clients on what our fee include.

Settlement fees: some warnings and simple explanations

When comparing quotes - it is important to understand that while the ‘settlement fee’ is the fee to be negotiated and compared, statutory costs cannot be negotiated.

Our research has discovered - that the ‘Big 3 Discounters’ in our industry only provide quotes for what they class as a ‘standard settlement’ and fall short of explaining some of their real fees. Only with research of their Product Disclosure Statements will you discover examples of extra costs to be charged similar to the following.

Description of work

Lodge contract for OSR assessment - $70

Pay Stamp Duty 7 days before settlement - $275

Identify the client in the office - $39

Bank the proceeds of your sale - $15 

Attend to rent adjustment - $205

Assist parties to prepare an Offer & Acceptance - $185

Longer than 20 minutes of consultation - $385 per house

Rebook & attend settlement up to 3 times - $220 each time

At West Coast Conveyancing, the costs of this work are included in the fee.

These examples are taken from a range of product disclosures.

We warn our potential clients that cheap is not always best and, if it appears too good to be true, it usually is!

Happy selling.

See also:

The hidden costs of buying a home

Four questions you should ask your conveyancing lawyer

Conveyancing vs solicitors

The Facebook of property law