Top Queensland law firm HopgoodGanim in conjunction with the Lennium Group break new ground, opening the state’s first property development via PEXA Projects.
Leading law firm HopgoodGanim Lawyers and property developer the Lennium Group have recently completed their first paperless real estate settlements as a combined industry team. The move will help to drive an overhaul of the often complex and time-consuming paper-based way that real estate deals have been finalised to date.
Historic manual way can incur postal, courier, cheque and settlement agent expenses
Currently, many Queensland home sales are completed using a 160-year-old, manual method that relies on exchanging bulky paper documents and cheques. Digital-savvy lawyers acting for property consumers are frustrated with the historic manual way that can incur postal, courier, cheque and settlement agent expenses. But that’s all expected to change if the Queensland Government follows the lead set by Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia. These states have announced deadlines to modernise property exchange.
We’re calling on the Queensland Government to get on board
HopgoodGanim’s Chief Operating Officer, Martin Kingston, is looking to the Queensland Government to set its own deadlines to hasten digital property settlement to remove one of the most stressful experiences from the property buying and selling chain. “Queensland needs to keep pace with the rest of the country. If we don’t, our real estate sector may come off second-best,” he said. “We’re calling on the government to drive the solution. Queensland has had electronic titles since the 1990s and online stamping for years.”
Online transactions can be settled anytime, anywhere – even while staff are on holiday
“HopgoodGanim has just completed the initial round of settlements for the Lennium Group’s latest townhouse development at Cannon Hill ‘Wattle Grove’, five kilometres east of Brisbane. Thanks to the new Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) platform, we were able to enter all transactions details ahead of time and see settlement complete online without the need to have a physical settlement. Banking and titles office lodgement are all handled within the PEXA platform,
Property practitioners don’t want to do ‘nickel & dime’ conveyancing for the rest of their career
“Innovation is one of the draw cards for legal industry recruitment. It is also an important part of staff retention. Law recruits don’t want to do ‘nickel & dime’ conveyancing for the rest of their career. I’ve been to the traditional crowded, noise-filled settlement rooms where some 50 plus conveyancing professionals can meet on a busy settlement day – calling out to find the agent acting for the purchaser or seller. It’s an intimidating environment with a flurry of paperwork exchanging hands, like a scene from the old share trading floors, which interestingly the ASX did away with twenty years ago. We are overdue for electronic settlements. By finalising property sales online, we can free up our team members to focus on the more rewarding parts of their roles. This new PEXA technology also helps us to manage work flow across our entire real estate team and make sure we are achieving the right balance in the busy times.
Online property settlement is positive for both developers and buyers alike
“At HopgoodGanim we know that a large share of the market is already deeply engaged with ecommerce. They’ve been banking online for decades and using a multitude of technology to manage their busy lives, including transaction specific apps. These clients expect ecommerce as part of their daily lives. We’re bringing efficient settlement in a timely way for our property developer clients and their end customers – seamlessly and quickly.”
Clients are tired of the current paper-based system’s flaws
“Online settlement is a breakthrough for property developers, banks and law firms who manage high volume property transactions. Digital conveyancing improves productivity but removing time spent preparing and posting forms and automating titles office lodgements and banking.”
Queensland property lawyers transacting in the digital era can capture cost benefits and efficiencies
“The digital way means that we can predict when settlement will occur and seamlessly and quickly bank funds on behalf of our end customers. With PEXA’s platform we can settle anytime – anywhere. Our developer clients can bank funds promptly after settlement and fund their next project. No more waiting days for cheques to clear and settlement times blowing out due to avoidable errors.”
