Coming to a desk near you. Property transactions can now be finalised outside the walls of the Land Titles Office
On a high after recently completing regional South Australia’s first ever e-Conveyancing transaction, a country-based firm says going digital will remove geographical barriers to undertaking business from anywhere in the State.
Marshall Conveyancing Group is located in the State’s south east, 70 kilometres from Adelaide’s Land Titles Office, but swiftly settled Jim and Chris Pinningtons new home in Mannum from the comfort of a desk-top. Mason Westover Homburg, also in Murray Bridge, acted for the other party.
“The Pinningtons were almost instantaneously registered as the new owners. It’s much more streamlined than in the past – an era when registration could take place up to six weeks after the financial settlement,” said Melanie Kempe, Marshall Conveyancing Group Conveyancing Manager.
“The new technology is a game changer. It helps close the State’s country and city gap. Some SA conveyancers are as much as eight hours from Adelaide in locations such as in Port Lincoln. Until now we have only had one settlement location being the Adelaide Land Titles Office.
“It’s transformational for our industry. Transactions can now be finalised outside the walls of the Land Titles Office. We can settle online anywhere including outside the restricted window of 11am to 2pm – which applies for paper lodgements. We can do the pre-work on PEXA at any time of the day. I can dial into a computer from home and finalise settlement with the digital certificate ready for the next day’s settlement.
“If we send someone to Adelaide it’s close to half a working day of lost productivity – or more if there are issues to be resolved at settlement – plus their travel costs. While if we hire settlement agents to attend on our behalf we lose control of the process. The very nature of settlement is that transactions are dynamic and can change at the last minute. PEXA brings convenience and total control – alleviating the double handling of paper-based work. We can get on with our working day.
“The labour and time saved from not needing to travel to Adelaide will be dramatic for country businesses. If you’re based outside Adelaide’s CBD area and want to avoid the traffic, you can now settle online with PEXA.
“This represents a new world for conveyancing. Property is the greatest investment our clients will probably make. We’re taking a huge step forward to help them have a better property sale experience in an industry that until now was paper driven.
“There will be people who won’t stay on and won’t upskill. The beauty for those that join going forward is that the process is streamlined and there’s no drawback from being in a regional area.
“My advice to others is don’t be afraid of this new era. Take the opportunity to constructively look, as an industry, at what other dealings can also go online with PEXA. We’re breaking down barriers for the regional industry sector and at the same time we now have an opportunity to improve the settlement process as a whole.”
Many of your South Australian peers are now part of the PEXA network. Make the switch online by registering here, or, send an email to Josh Radford, Executive Manager, SA Practitioner Markets.
