If you're selling your home, before it goes on the market, you should line up a conveyancer to handle the legal side of the sale (or a lawyer in Queensland and the ACT), ideally while you're choosing your agent.

That's because in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT, your contract, or the documents a buyer must see, have to be ready before you advertise or before a buyer signs.

Your conveyancer needs searches and certificates back before they can prepare those documents, so starting early means your home can go on the market when you planned.

If you're buying, have one before you sign an offer or a contract, or bid at auction. Once you've signed, it can be too late to change the terms.

No state or territory makes you hire one. But in NSW and Victoria, you can't complete an ordinary sale without a conveyancer or a lawyer. Here's what's due when in your state, and what your conveyancer does at each step of selling a property.

When do you need a conveyancer when selling?

Line up your conveyancer before your home is advertised or offered for sale. NSW and the ACT need your contract or disclosure documents ready by then, and Victoria and Queensland need them before a buyer signs.

In South Australia, your seller's statement (the Form 1) is due at least 10 clear days before settlement (the day the sale is completed and the buyer pays the balance), or before the auction if you're selling at auction.

NSW: the NSW Government says you must prepare a contract before advertising, whether you sell through an agent or privately. If the contract isn't ready, neither you nor your agent can advertise.

The government recommends having a solicitor or conveyancer prepare it, because they'll need to represent you at settlement anyway.

Victoria: the due diligence checklist is a standard form from Consumer Affairs Victoria, and your agent must make it available from the day your home is offered for sale (if you sell without an agent, it's your job). The section 32 statement must reach the buyer before they sign, and it's usually prepared by a lawyer or conveyancer.

Queensland: since 1 August 2025, most sellers must give the buyer a disclosure statement and certificates before the buyer signs. Only a lawyer can do your conveyancing for a fee in Queensland, so you'll be looking for a solicitor.

South Australia: the Form 1 is due at least 10 clear days before settlement. The buyer's cooling-off period (their time to change their mind after signing) doesn't start until they've received it, so it's worth having it ready by the time the contract is signed.

ACT: where the reports are required, they must come from inspections done no more than three months before your home is first advertised, offered or listed with an agent. That's the building report, plus a pest report if the home has been lived in. Some units and new homes have different rules, so check with your lawyer before listing.

WA, Tasmania and the NT: there's no vendor's (seller's) statement to prepare for a house. If you're selling a strata lot in WA, though, you must give the buyer a disclosure statement before they sign.

One thing to plan for in the NT: the standard contract usually has a building status report attached, so your conveyancer will want one before a contract is signed.

In all three, you'll still want a conveyancer, or a settlement agent (what WA calls a licensed conveyancer), in place before you accept an offer, to check the contract and run settlement.

Our guide to the legal steps of selling a house covers the rest of the process.

When do you need a conveyancer when buying?

Before you sign anything binding or bid at auction. That's the point where a conveyancer can still check the contract, the seller's documents and the special conditions, such as "subject to finance" or a building and pest inspection.

When you're bound, and whether you can change your mind afterwards (the cooling-off period), depends on your state:

There's no cooling-off period when you buy at auction. In NSW, Queensland, SA and the ACT, there's usually none either if you sign soon after a home is passed in (fails to sell at auction). That's especially so if you bid or were registered to bid.

In Victoria, there's also none if you sign within 3 clear business days before or after an advertised auction.

Pulling out during cooling-off usually costs you something, such as 0.25 per cent of the price in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. In NSW, SA and the ACT, you need a certificate from a lawyer (or, in NSW, a conveyancer) to waive cooling-off, so if a seller asks you to, get advice before you sign.

In Victoria and WA, your written offer is usually the contract. In Victoria you make it by signing a contract of sale, and in WA by signing an offer and acceptance form. Either one binds you as soon as the seller signs, so have it checked before you make an offer.

At auction, the contract is generally unconditional, so you can't add conditions such as finance unless the seller agrees. Ask for a copy of the contract before auction day and have your conveyancer check it.

Do you have to use a conveyancer to sell or buy a house?

No, not by law in any state, and you can do some or all of the work yourself. But in NSW and Victoria, an ordinary sale needs a lawyer or conveyancer to complete it, because only they can register the transfer of ownership with the land titles office there.

Everywhere else, you can usually complete a sale yourself on paper forms. In WA and Queensland, you'll first need the land titles office to agree to accept paper.

If you do your own conveyancing, Consumer Affairs Victoria points out, you won't have a professional's indemnity insurance to fall back on if something goes wrong. Regulators in the other states and territories also recommend using a conveyancer or lawyer.

If you pay someone else to do it, they must be licensed or registered in your state, or be a lawyer. In Queensland and the ACT, only a lawyer can act for you for a fee. If you're weighing up a solicitor against a conveyancer, see whether to use a solicitor or a conveyancer.

What does a conveyancer do when you sell or buy?

A conveyancer handles the paperwork and the deadlines from your first legal document to settlement day. Expect identity checks along the way: since 1 July 2026, lawyers and conveyancers generally have to verify who you are, so have your ID ready.

When you're selling

1. Before you list: prepare the contract or your state's disclosure documents, and order the title searches and certificates they need.
2. When offers come in: check the buyer's proposed conditions and dates, and answer questions about the contract.
3. At exchange or signing: finalise the contract, and check the deposit is paid and held the way the contract says.
4. Before settlement: answer the buyer's enquiries, arrange to pay off your mortgage, and work out adjustments (splitting council rates and similar bills up to settlement day). In NSW, your conveyancer also arranges the land tax clearance certificate, which you must give the buyer at least 14 days before settlement.
5. Alongside all this, your ATO clearance certificate: each owner who's an Australian resident for tax purposes generally needs one, and it's free. Apply for it early and give it to the buyer before settlement. Without it, the buyer generally has to hold back 15 per cent of the price and pay it to the ATO.
6. On settlement day: settle with the buyer's side, usually electronically, and make sure the money reaches you.

When you're buying

1. Before you sign or bid: review the contract and the seller's documents, and advise on the conditions to include.
2. After signing: manage the deposit and the cooling-off period, and run searches on the property.
3. Before settlement: check finance, inspections and other conditions are met, arrange stamp duty (transfer duty) and work out adjustments.
4. On settlement day: pay the balance and have the property transferred into your name.

There's more on settlement day in what to expect during settlement. You'll usually pay searches and government charges on top of your conveyancer's fee.

How do you choose a conveyancer?

Get written quotes from two or three conveyancers, and check each one is licensed or registered in your state (in Queensland and the ACT, check they're a lawyer). Then ask each one:

• whether preparing the contract or disclosure documents is included
• what searches and other costs come on top (our guide to how much a conveyancer costs has published fees for each state)
• who'll handle your file, and how they'll keep you updated
• whether they can have your documents ready by the date your agent plans to list

If you're selling, your agent may suggest a conveyancer, but the choice is still yours.

Where this information comes from

The state rules on this page come from the states' sale of land laws, their consumer regulators' own pages and their land titles offices, read in October 2026.

They're general information, not legal advice. Rules have exceptions, for example for deceased estates and some related-party sales, so ask your conveyancer how they apply to you.

Conveyancing FAQs