Future of a career in Conveyancing

[Timocracy]

Hi Guys,

My Partner has recently started working as a "settlement officer" for a major settlement company in WA. She's considering completing a diploma/Certificate in Conveyancing to become fully qualified.

The question is, is there a future in this industry? From what she tells me the company she works for has near complete market dominance, pays peanuts and has turned the role into sandwich making(They do several hundred settlements a day).

With the system about to go electronic my fear is that it'll become a small workforce of minimum wage factoryline work rather than a lucrative profession with opportunity for advancement it once was.

What do you guys think? any advice/tips would be appreciated.(info on QLD would be good also)

 

[jrc]

Why worry. In a few years it will all be outsourced overseas anyway

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I tend to refer clients to a particular company in Victoria. They're busy with conveyancing, but not the kind of volumes you're talking about. There are also competitors which do huge volumes and charge 20%-30% less.

The reason I don't refer to the cheaper companies is because you do get what you pay for. In many cases the whole deal goes through smoothly. Occasionally though things can get a little side tracked and I've found that a good conveyancer will deal with this effectively, whilst an average one will actually get in the way rather than help.

If you're spending $500k+ on a property, is it worth paying an extra $200 for someone who will spot the problems and have the time and knowledge to deal with it properly, or do you want someone who will ignore the problem because they've only got 20 minutes allocated to your job?

 

[RPI]

In QLD only law firms can do conveyancing.
Until recently conveyancing was the highest claim on QLD lawyers insurance by both number and value each year.

Yes it is going electronic - see http://www.necd.com.au/

A good conveyancing paralegal working under the supervision of a solicitor can get $60-$70k a year.

We are spinning off our conveyancing practice into a stand alone law firm next year so I obviously think that there is a future in the area.

The market is concentrating and the factory type places seem to be cornering it, in those places I doubt very much that the supervising solicitor is on $60-$70k let alone the paralegals.

We run a solicitor only model so no joy with us unless she fancies 4 years of law school first.

There are suburban practices that have a conveyancing clerk that runs that side of the practice and can be paid quite well and I think they will always be around and always be a need for them.

Good luck

 

[Colin Rice]

A good settlement agent is invaluable to a broker and his/her clients.

There will still be a future for skilled operators in this field as an automated electronic process can only do so much.

PT Bear is right. Better to pay a little more and get a smooth result.

 

[fernfurn]

Well as far as I can see from first hand experience, they charge a fortune and just type up all the info you give them. $770 and I have had to provide every document and look up council rates and get the body corp cert etc. etc. I think your partner should go ahead and open her own conveyancing company. Section 32 and contract of sale used to be done by the real estate agent only 2 years ago, now all of a sudden it is costing as much to sell a house as it used to be to buy one. The realestate agent recommended jthis one who was supposed to be fast, she has now taken 2 weeks, and is still only supplying a draft copy and is an officious b..... into the bargain. I swore I wouldnt used her for the sale, but have come to realise she does dot her i's and cross her t's so perhaps I will, just avoid talking to her and use email as much as possible.