Legal

Lawyers

A good property lawyer is worth their billables. Some lawyers will charge per title / property you send their way to review, while others will come to a goodwill agreement that you will definitely go with them when you buy, and they’ll bill you a slightly above average price when that occurs. Budget around $2000 for this. You’ll look at a few properties so make sure to do some pre-vetting before sending to your lawyers.

Your lawyer will do the following for you:

1. Advise you on whether there's any issues with the property, and things to consider.

2. Prepare Kiwisaver withdrawals if you meet the criteria and opt-in for this.

3. Handle the sale and purchase agreement post-sale to conduct settlement.

4. Bring you into their office to sign:

   1. The mortgage documents

   2. Title transfer documents

   3. Anti money laundering verification

   4. Proof of funds for AML

5. Facilitate the transfer of funds to the seller on settlement day, including handling the money from the bank.

Your lawyer is the most important person to have with you as you buy your house. Pick a good lawyer, one that you trust fully, and trust them to do their job.

Lawyer costs

So, lawyer prices vary all over the place. I use Avondale Law as they have been our family lawyers for many years - they charge us $1650 + gst, and don't charge for property due diligence before settlement (many lawyers charge each time you want them to evaluate a property). Our lawyer has also kindly sorted out settlement issues free of cost, but most lawyers charge for this too. Consult your lawyers on their fees early and often - you don't want lawyer fees to exceed the cost of handling an issue yourself.