Conveyancing

Business Lawyers

Buller McLeod Lawyers has been helping Victorians buy or sell real estate for over 30 years, and our conveyancing lawyers have a combined total of over 70 years personal experience in conveyancing and property law.  During this time we have successfully completed thousands of conveyances for clients all over Victoria.

The past year has been tough for everyone due to the effects of Covid-19. For this reason we have decided to cap and fix our our fees for our standard services for residential conveyancing for properties with a sale price of up to $2 million* at $930.00 incl. GST.

This fixed fee offer is available regardless of the value or type of the property involved (any Torrens system freehold property whether it be a house, townhouse, unit or apartment) and includes all usual professional services required to complete a normal and standard residential conveyance . It does not include additional or supplementary services that may be requested or needed by a client involving the issuing or receipt of Rescission Notices, or the provision of a Solicitors Certificate of Legal Advice or witnessing of mortgage loan documentation, as is sometimes required by a purchaser’s lending bank (see below for more details of what is not included in this offer). Please note that the above price is for our fees only. Apart from our fees there are out of pocket expenses (called “disbursements”) payable to third parties that we have no control over – these include fees for Title searches, property certificates, and Titles Office and Pexa fees – these usually come to between $200.00 and $250.00 but vary depending on the location and type of property. Owners Corporation (Body Corporate) certificates for apartments and units also can cost between $150.00 and $260.00depending on how urgently it is it is required.

*For properties being sold for more than $2 million please contact us to ask for a customised quote of our fees.

The conveyancing services included in the offer depend on whether you are a Vendor or a Purchaser.


For Vendors our standard fixed fee services include:

  1. Preparing the Section 32 Vendor’s Statement including applying for and checking all necessary Searches & Certificates for inclusion in the Statement.
  2. Preparing the Contract of Sale.
  3. Preparing the Section 27 Deposit Release Statement.
  4. Checking Transfer of Land received from Purchaser and obtaining Vendors execution of Transfer.
  5. All normal legal advice and legal work required in the conveyancing.
  6. All office costs (postage, faxes, phone calls, photocopying).
  7. all necessary communications whether in person or by correspondence, telephone, fax or email.
  8. Preparation of a discharge/release authority to any mortgagee on title and obtaining of mortgage “payout figure” from the mortgagee.
  9. checking Statement of Adjustments and Settlement Statement received from Purchaser.
  10. Booking of settlement with client’s bank or lender and with the Purchaser.
  11. Settlement online via Pexa or, if it is a "paper settlement", at our office. If a paper settlement cannot be at our office an additional settlement agents attendance disbursement will be incurred (this is usually about $60.00 plus GST)
  12. Processing and distribution of settlement funds received as instructed.
  13. Submission of Notices of Disposition.

For Purchasers our standard fixed fee services include:

  1. checking the Vendors Statement and Contract of Sale and advising.
  2. conducting all necessary Title searches and applying for and checking all necessary Rates, Water, Planning, Vicroads, Owners Corporation and other  certificates concerning the property as necessary (but not including disbursements incurred for fees paid to third parties for searches & certificates).
  3. Preparing the Transfer of Land.
  4. Advising regarding any deposit stake hold release authority received from the Vendor.
  5. All legal advice and legal work forming part of the conveyancing.
  6. All office costs (postage, faxes, phone calls, photocopying).
  7. all necessary communications whether in person or by correspondence, telephone, fax or email.
  8. Providing of a copy of the Transfer of Land document to client’s bank or lender.
  9. Booking of settlement with client’s bank or lender.
  10. Submission of Notices of Acquisition.

What is NOT Included?

The above offer is for all the usual and normal conveyancing work required to complete a standard residential conveyance of land in Victoria.

If one or other of the parties commits a breach of the Contract or some other issue arises outside the steps normally required in a conveyance then we  have to charge for any additional work we have to perform to deal with the situation. Examples where additional charges would apply include:

  • the Purchaser defaults by failing to settle and a Rescission Notice has to be issued;
  • a Vendor defaults by failing to settle and a Rescission Notice has to be issued;
  • a Purchaser claims that the Vendor has breached the Contract by damaging the property or removing fixtures or included chattels from the property before settlement;
  • problems arise over a Building Inspection or Timber Pest report obtained by the Purchaser which require us to enter into negotiations with  the other party;
  • a dispute arises between the parties over other terms in the Contract which require us to enter into negotiations with  the other party;
  • a Vendor refuses to vacate the property and provide vacant possession to the Purchaser upon settlement;
  • the proceeds of sale are insufficient to discharge all mortgages or other monies secured by Caveat on the Title;
  • there is a restrictive Covenant on the Title
  • a Purchaser's lending bank requires that we witness their mortgage loan or loan guarantor documentation and provide a Solicitor's Certificate that we have explained the documents to them.
  • a Purchaser wishes to take possession of the property before settlement with the agreement of the Vendor, and a Licence Agreement has to be prepared.
  • for whatever reason (usually because one of the parties or their bank is not ready to settle)  settlement does not occur when planned and has to be rescheduled.

The amount of such additional charges will depend on the nature of the problem and how much extra work we have to do.

If you would like to take up our fixed fee offer and have us start work on your new purchase or sale please click on the Portal button at the top of this page or go to the Portal page, select the type of matter and provide us with enough basic information for us to get started, or just email us through any of the email links available on our website to let us know.

Almost all conveyancing settlements are now conducted online via Pexa and Buller McLeod are a registered and accredited member of Pexa. All of our conveyancing staff have attended Pexa training workshops and are fully trained in operating on Pexa. The benefits of Pexa include reduced paperwork and instantaneous & secure online delivery of electronic property title documents in exchange for immediate payment of settlement monies, i.e. for Vendors no more waiting for cheques to arrive or clear after settlement and for Purchasers immediate confirmation that settlement has been completed and that they can move into their new home. All of our staff are fully qualified and trained to operate on Pexa. For more information about Pexa and its benefits please download their information brochure here .

We can provide a comprehensive "one stop" conveyancing service and advice in all aspects of Victorian residential and commercial conveyancing and property law including:-

  • all property Title systems including Torrens, old system, Strata, Stratum or Crown title.
  • Legal advice in regard to real estate property law & contract law
  • Drafting and reviewing contracts
  • Execution of contracts
  • Auction contracts and purchases off-the-plan
  • Building contracts, owner builder issues and the Building Act 1995
  • preparation of Section 32 or Vendors Statements
  • preparation of Contracts of Sale including all necessary Special Conditions
  • advice about the cooling off period
  • advice about the stake hold of deposits and preparation of Section 27 Deposit Release Statements.
  • Liaising with financial institutions in regard to deposit bonds, loans, mortgages and discharges of mortgages
  • all attendances needed to organise and book settlement
  • attending at settlement to effect exchange of Title documents for settlement funds
  • Adjustments to the purchase price in regard to rates and allowances
  • Advice in regard to easements and covenants on title searches.

Using a conveyancing lawyer instead of a conveyancer for your conveyancing makes sense - if legal problems arise with your transaction a conveyancer is not qualified to provide legal advice and would have to transfer the case to a lawyer anyway. Having a lawyer involved from the outset may mean that any potential legal issues are identified early and resulting problems possibly avoided. A lawyer can also provide legal advice about how your property purchase or sale may affect other aspects of your "legal health" - such as Wills and Estate Planning.