How to read a title

A Title is an official document that states ownership, property description, and any interests on the property. Your lawyer should really be reading this, but you can save fees by knowing a few things.

There are only a few things you need to look at before dismissing it or passing it to your lawyer:

- Estate: Is it freehold? Crosslease? Leasehold? If its not an acceptable title, you can bin it now.

- Interests: What sort of covenants and interests are present? It’s usually pretty hard to know what’s present, and your lawyer can dig deeper into this for you if needed. Sometimes if its things like a fencing agreement, or a building line restriction, it won’t be much of an issue.

You can DIY by paying $6 to LINZ for more details, available here: Landonline (linz.govt.nz)