Conveyancing Transfers Ownership

Conveyancing is the process of transferring the legal ownership of real estate from one person to another. While the definition of conveyancing is simple enough, the fact that conveyancing is a legal procedure does introduce a number of complexities. To properly understand the concept of conveyancing, and why a simple conveyancing transaction can become extremely complex, we must first examine the nature of real estate itself.

Conveyancing Is About Real Estate Interests

Real estate is permanent. It cannot be moved, or hidden or destroyed. These features make real estate extremely valuable, and they also mean that real estate represents one of the best forms of security. If a bank lends money, and accepts real estate as security for the loan in the form of a mortgage, it doesn’t matter if the owner of the real estate flees the country and refuses to repay the loan. The bank has an “interest” in the land, and is entitled to sell that interest in order to recover the loan money.

A mortgage is just one form of interest a person can have in real estate, but there are many others, such as caveats, easements and covenants. It is part of the role of person providing the conveyancing services to ensure that the property is transferred or “conveyed” to the new owner free of any other interests. If the property cannot be conveyed free of other parties’ interests, then the purchaser or transferee of the property should be alerted to the interests as part of the conveyancing service.

Conveyancing Is About Keeping Things on Track

A simple way to state the situation is to say that conveyancing procedure involves, not only doing the conveyancing, but also keeping the conveyancing process on track.

As mentioned above, conveyancing can be a very simple process when everything is simple and straightforward, and anyone can complete the processes and procedures necessary to effectively transfer ownership of a property. However, the real skill in conveyancing is not so much knowledge of conveyancing procedures or even conveyancing law. Rather, the real skill in properly completing a conveyancing transaction is in anticipating potential problems, both legal and procedural, and addressing them before they materialize.