Perth Conveyancing and Property Lawyers

If you live in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane and you are buying in Perth, the first document you will see is an Offer and Acceptance form from the selling agent. In Western Australia that form is the contract. There is no cooling-off period behind it.

Optimum Lawyers is a Parramatta property law firm that acts on purchases, sales and transfers of Western Australian property for clients who live somewhere else. Settlement is completed electronically through PEXA, so you do not need to be in Perth for any part of it.

How buying in Perth differs from buying in NSW

In NSW your lawyer usually reads the contract before you are committed. In WA the document the agent asks you to sign is the commitment. WA Consumer Protection warns that some finance clauses treat a loan offer as finance approval, which can make the contract binding earlier than a buyer expects. A standard building inspection condition may only cover structural defects. Those are things to fix before the seller accepts, because afterwards they cannot be changed without the seller’s agreement.

What we do on a Perth purchase

1. Read the offer before you sign. We start with the free initial assessment, then carry out a full review if you go ahead with us.
2. Write the conditions properly. A finance condition that names the lender, the amount and the date. An inspection condition that covers what you need it to cover. Anything specific to the property, such as a tenancy or an unapproved structure.
3. Search the title at Landgate. Title type, easements, caveats, covenants, and the strata documents if it is a strata lot.
4. Handle duty and the settlement figures. Transfer duty through RevenueWA, and adjustments for council rates, water and strata levies.
5. Settle through PEXA and register the transfer.

Selling a Perth property from interstate

If you own a Perth rental you have not walked through in years, check these early. WA puts specific obligations on a seller that are easy to miss from the other side of the country.

• Safety switches. At least two RCDs protecting the power point and lighting circuits must be installed before the title transfers to the buyer.
• Smoke alarms. Compliant mains-powered smoke alarms, no more than 10 years old, must be in place before the sale.
• Strata disclosure. If it is a strata lot, the buyer must be given the prescribed disclosure information before they sign. If that is missed, the buyer may be able to avoid the contract.
• Tenancies. The lease, the bond and the rent need to be dealt with correctly in the contract and at settlement.

You sign from home and your identity is verified where you live.

Checks that are specific to Perth property

• Title type. Most WA houses are on green title. Units, villas and many subdivided lots are strata or survey-strata, which bring by-laws, levies and shared obligations. Purple title is rare and works differently again.
• Outer corridor estates. North along the coast towards Alkimos and Yanchep, north-east around Ellenbrook, south-east around Byford and Armadale, and south through Baldivis and Rockingham to Mandurah. Newer estates often carry restrictive covenants and developer building guidelines, and some lots are sold before the title has issued.
• Bushfire prone land. Parts of the Perth Hills and the urban fringe are designated bushfire prone, which affects what can be built and what it costs to insure.
• Older suburbs. Homes in places such as Fremantle, Subiaco and Mount Lawley can be heritage listed or sit inside a heritage area, which limits what you can change.
• Pools and unsewered lots. Pool barriers must comply, and some hills and semi-rural lots rely on septic systems.

Transfers without a sale

We also act on transfers of Perth property where no sale is involved: adding or removing a spouse or partner, transfers after a separation, transfers from a deceased estate, and moving property into or out of a trust or self-managed super fund. WA duty rules for these differ from the NSW rules, so get advice before any document is lodged.

Lawyer or settlement agent?

WA has a long-established settlement agent profession, and on a straightforward purchase a good settlement agent does the job well. The difference is scope. A property lawyer can advise you on the contract before you sign, negotiate its terms, and act for you if something goes wrong, such as a dispute over a defect, a delayed settlement or a deposit. For a buyer who cannot inspect the property and is working from a contract format they have never seen, that advice is the part that matters.

What clients say about our WA work

“Wisam and team are fantastic, supported a tenanted dual-occupancy WA settlement and delivered well!”

Mia Charles, Google review

“He managed so well SMSF property buying process in WA while in NSW!”

Inderjeet Gulati, Google review

Questions about conveyancing in Perth

Is there a cooling-off period when you buy property in Perth?

No. WA law does not require property contracts to include one. You can ask for a cooling-off clause in your offer, but the seller does not have to accept it.

Can a NSW law firm act on a WA property?

Yes. NSW and WA are both part of the Legal Profession Uniform Law, so a solicitor holding a current Australian practising certificate can act on a Western Australian matter.

Do I need to travel to Perth?

No. Documents are signed where you live, your identity is verified locally, and settlement happens electronically through PEXA.

I have already signed the Offer and Acceptance. Is it too late?

Call anyway. We check the conditions and their deadlines, because a finance or inspection condition is only useful if it is exercised correctly and on time.

What does the free initial contract assessment cover?

A brief first look at whether your contract appears ready for a full paid legal review. It is not a complete review of the contract.

How much duty will I pay?

WA transfer duty is calculated on the dutiable value of the property. A foreign person buying residential property pays a further 7%. We work out the figure once we have the contract.

Do you act outside the Perth metropolitan area?

Yes, including Mandurah, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

Related: Property lawyers Perth | Settlement agent Perth | WA interstate conveyancing | Interstate conveyancing | Why interstate buyers need building inspections in Perth | Off-the-plan duty concession WA | Contract review | Property lawyers Australia