Conveyancing · Queensland
What does a conveyancer do in Queensland?
Short answer: everything between the handshake and the keys — and in Queensland, unlike most other states, that work has to be done by a solicitor. Here is the job in full, what it costs, and where it usually goes wrong.
In Queensland there is no licensed conveyancer. New South Wales and Victoria license conveyancers as a separate profession. Queensland does not. Conveyancing here is legal practice, so it must be carried out by a solicitor with a current practising certificate. When you hire a Queensland "conveyancer", you are hiring a law practice — the only real question is whether you speak to the solicitor.
The job, step by step
Reads the contract before you sign
Special conditions, the settlement and finance dates, what is included, disclosure attachments, body corporate material and anything the agent has drafted in by hand. This is the only point where terms can still be changed.
Orders and reads the searches
Title, registered plan, easements and covenants, council rates and water, land tax, transport and contaminated land registers, and body corporate records for units. Searches exist to find the things nobody mentions at the inspection.
Runs the conditional period
Cooling-off, finance approval and building and pest, each with a date and a consequence. Extensions, objections and terminations all have to be given in the right form, to the right person, before the deadline.
Deals with duty
Assessing transfer duty, applying the home or first home concession you qualify for, and paying it so the transfer can be lodged.
Prepares the adjustments
Rates, water and body corporate levies are apportioned to the day of settlement, and the balance owing is calculated to the cent with the other side.
Settles and reports
Electronic settlement through PEXA, then notices to council, the water authority and the body corporate, and a final statement showing exactly where the money went.
What it costs
Our fees are fixed and agreed before any work starts: $990 incl. GST on a residential sale, $1,499 incl. GST on a purchase, plus searches, PEXA and Titles Registry fees at cost. Reviewing your contract before you sign is free, with no obligation. Transfer duty is a government charge on top — you can estimate it with our Queensland stamp duty calculator.
Solicitor-led, not a processing centre
The cheapest national operators run high volumes through call centres, and for a clean transaction that works out fine. It stops working when the title carries an easement nobody mentioned, when the deck was never approved, when the seller has died mid-contract, or when a special condition has been written to favour the other side. At Coastside Law you deal with the solicitor doing the work, from 40 Theresa Street, Golden Beach QLD 4551 on the Sunshine Coast and 15 Fortune Street, Scarborough QLD 4020 on the Redcliffe Peninsula.
Where we act
- Golden Beach and Caloundra conveyancing
- Redcliffe and Moreton Bay conveyancing
- How PEXA settlement works
- Fixed-fee conveyancing across Queensland
Who will act for you
Michael Klein
Legal Practice Director
Admitted 2003. Based in Redcliffe, Moreton Bay.
Read Michael's profile
Common questions
What does a conveyancer do in Queensland?
A conveyancer handles the legal transfer of property ownership: reviewing the contract before signing, ordering and interpreting searches, managing the cooling-off, finance and building-and-pest conditions, assessing and paying transfer duty, calculating rates and water adjustments, and completing electronic settlement through PEXA before notifying council and the water authority of the change of ownership.
Can you be a licensed conveyancer in Queensland?
No. Queensland is different from New South Wales, Victoria and most other states — there is no licensed conveyancer profession here. Conveyancing in Queensland is legal work that must be done by, or under the supervision of, a solicitor holding a current practising certificate. Businesses trading as 'conveyancers' in Queensland are either operating under a law practice or restricted to clerical work.
Do I need a conveyancer or a solicitor in Queensland?
In Queensland the question does not really arise: the work is done by a solicitor either way. What varies is who you actually deal with — an admitted solicitor who reads your contract, or a processing centre where a paralegal moves the file along and a solicitor signs off at volume. If a title problem, an unapproved structure or a dispute over a special condition appears, that difference matters.
How much does conveyancing cost in Queensland?
Our professional fee is fixed and agreed before we start: $990 incl. GST on a residential sale and $1,499 incl. GST on a purchase, plus searches, PEXA and Titles Registry fees at cost. Reviewing a contract before you sign is free. Transfer duty is a separate government charge.
When should I involve a conveyancer?
Before you sign, not after. Once the contract is signed your options narrow to whatever the conditions allow. A pre-signing review costs you nothing with us and is the one point at which a special condition can still be added, a date made workable or a disclosure gap raised.
How long does conveyancing take in Queensland?
A standard REIQ contract runs 30 to 45 days: five business days cooling-off, finance and building and pest usually at 14 to 21 days, then settlement. Off-the-plan purchases run to plan registration instead and can take months, which makes the sunset date the important one.
Have a contract in front of you?
Send it through before you sign — we read it at no charge and tell you what needs to change. Call 0488 340 853.