For better or for worse, we have now been working with electronic conveyancing as the norm for property sales for the last few years, with the days of solicitors and banks getting together in one room for secret handshakes and cheque/title trading now long gone in all but very select circumstances.
The meeting room has become virtual, and rather than being held up by traffic jams, uncooperative printers and (shock horror) the printing of actual cheques, everything is now entered in advance, checked off with digital signatures and can occur literally at the click of a button.
While the downside of this has meant that there are additional costs incurred by each party for the pleasure of using the PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) platform, the convenience has been a pretty big plus. Its not just the meeting room either that has gotten a usability upgrade – with cheques going the way of the Dodo, it also means that funds are transferred on the spot, and an excited seller can see the fruits of their sale straightway – particularly helpful when it comes to simultaneous settlements or tight turnarounds between selling and buying.
As great as convenience is though, electronic settlement has also introduced additional peace of mind around titles – though most buyers wouldn’t know it.
Back in the days of paper settlement, while the title for a property would be submitted for transfer on settlement day, the ACTUAL registration of the transfer could have been days or weeks later. So while you have paid your money (and continuing paying your new mortgage) and you have possession, the property might not technically be 100% yours just yet. This was the state of affairs for forever and a day, and the chances of a problem coming up in between money changing hands and registration of title were pretty slim, but where there’s a gap, there’s a way.
Now – well, often if you exchange at 2pm, the title could already be transferred before you head home at 5pm. Again, many would be blissfully unaware of this time difference in the past (I’ll blame my property lawyer wife for adding this to the list of things to have previously worried about), but it makes me feel a bit better about the money spent on new systems if it takes a genuine risk off the table.
Speaking of risk, sellers – don’t forget the new Seller Disclosure regime kicks off this week (1st August). Talk to your agent, and get your skates on with searches now, for successful contracts later!