YFX Lawyers is a trusted law firm established in 2011 in Sydney. We are a proud member of the Law Society of New South Wales and have been a long-standing participant in PEXA since its inception. Our firm is fully equipped to manage all aspects of property transactions with confidence and expertise.

Over the years, we have assisted hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in buying and selling all types of property—from residential homes and off-the-plan purchases to commercial premises and rural land. With extensive experience, professionalism, and a steadfast commitment to client care, we ensure that your conveyancing matter is handled efficiently, accurately, and with complete peace of mind.

YFX Lawyers is fully insured by LawCover with comprehensive professional indemnity coverage. Our trust account is strictly regulated by the Law Society NSW, providing security, transparency, and peace of mind at every stage of your property journey.

PEXA is a secure digital platform that allows property transactions — such as the transfer of ownership, registration of mortgages, and payment of settlement funds — to be completed electronically instead of using paper documents and in-person bank cheques.

PEXA was developed in collaboration with the NSW Government, Land Registry Services, major banks, and the property industry to modernize how settlements are handled.

Official site: www.pexa.com.au

Step 1. Workspace creation

• Your conveyancer or solicitor creates an online “workspace” on PEXA.

• All parties (the buyer’s conveyancer, seller’s conveyancer, and lenders) are invited to the same workspace.

Step 2. Document preparation

• Digital versions of the Transfer of Land, Discharge of Mortgage, and Mortgage documents are prepared within PEXA.

• The system links directly to the NSW Land Registry (NSW LRS), so everything aligns with the government’s title records.

Step 3. Financial settlement setup

• Settlement figures (purchase price, adjustments, rates, stamp duty, loan payouts, etc.) are entered.

• Each party confirms their side of the funds (e.g., bank provides the loan money; buyer pays the balance).

Step 4. Digital signing

• Conveyancers and bank representatives apply digital signatures using secure certificates.

• No physical signatures or cheques are needed.

Step 5. Automated settlement

• At the scheduled time (often 2–4 pm on settlement day), PEXA:

• Lodges documents with the NSW Land Registry electronically.

• Transfers funds between parties (via the Reserve Bank of Australia’s electronic payment system).

• Pays stamp duty directly to Revenue NSW.

Step 6. Confirmation

• Settlement takes only a few minutes.

• Each party receives immediate confirmation that:

• The property title has transferred, and

• All funds have cleared.

In NSW residential property sales, the cooling-off period is a short time after you exchange contracts during which the buyer can change their mind and cancel the contract, for any reason — with only a small financial penalty.

It gives you a legal “grace period” to:

• Finalise finance approval,

• Conduct building/pest or strata inspections, and

• Get final legal advice before you’re fully committed.

The standard cooling-off period in NSW is 5 business days (not including weekends or public holidays). It starts the day after exchange of contracts and ends at 5 pm on the fifth business day.

E.g. If contracts are exchanged on Monday, the cooling-off period ends at 5 pm on the following Monday (assuming no public holidays).

If you decide to rescind (cancel) the contract during the cooling-off period:

• You lose 0.25% of the purchase price to the vendor as a penalty, and

• The rest of your deposit is refunded to you.   

E.g. If the property price is $1,000,000, you’ll forfeit $2,500 (0.25%) if you cancel within the cooling-off period.

There is no cooling-off period in these cases:

1. You buy at auction, or exchange contracts on the same day as the auction.
2. You’re a company buyer (not an individual).
3. You buy non-residential or commercial property.
4. You sign a Section 66W Certificate, which waives the cooling-off period.

A Section 66W Certificate is a legal document (signed by the buyer’s solicitor or conveyancer) confirming that the buyer:

• Understands their cooling-off rights, and

• Chooses to waive (give up) them.

Once this certificate is handed over at exchange, the contract becomes immediately binding — you cannot pull out without breaching the contract. This is common in competitive Sydney markets where sellers prefer “unconditional” offers and strata levies, if applicable.

“FRCGW” stands for Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding. It is a tax regime overseen by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) which requires purchasers to withhold part of the sale price when the vendor is a foreign resident (or the vendor fails to provide a clearance certificate) for certain taxable Australian real property.

A vendor who is an Australian resident can apply for a clearance certificate from the ATO, which enables the purchaser not to withhold (or to withhold less). Without it, the purchaser must withhold up to 15% (as of 1 Jan 2025) of the sale price at settlement. Its purpose is to ensure tax obligations on capital gains are captured even if the vendor leaves Australia.

In NSW when more than one person acquires property, they can hold it either as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

Joint Tenants: All co-owners share equally in the whole property, and there is the right of survivorship, meaning if one dies their interest automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant(s).

Tenants in Common: Co-owners hold defined shares (which may be equal or unequal) of the property. There is no right of survivorship — each person’s share forms part of their estate and passes via their will or intestacy.

Which to choose? If you want your share to pass to someone other than the co-owner (e.g., children from another relationship) you may prefer tenants in common. If a couple wants the property to pass to the surviving partner automatically, joint tenancy is typical.

When buying a property that’s part of a strata scheme (unit, townhouse, villa) you’re not only buying the individual lot but factoring in the governance, finances, condition and future costs of the whole strata scheme. A strata inspection report gives you insight into:

• The financial status of the owners-corporation (e.g., sinking fund, special levies).

• Minutes of meetings, possible legal disputes, planned major repairs or building defects in the scheme.

• How well the strata/owners-corporation is managed, future maintenance risk, liability for major works.

Why is this important? Because even if the apartment looks fine, you may face surprise costs (special levies) if the building has structural issues, deferred maintenance or weak funds. A strata report helps you assess risk before exchange.

A building inspection report is a professional assessment of the visible condition of the building/lot (and sometimes surrounds) to identify major defects (e.g., structural cracks, damp, roof leaks) before you commit to purchase. It gives you:

• Knowledge of existing problems you may inherit.
• Leverage to negotiate the price or ask for repairs.
• Peace of mind that you are aware of significant issues rather than discovering after settlement.

Note: It will not cover hidden or inaccessible areas, estimate repair costs, or act as a guarantee of no future problems.

An illegal structure is any building work or fixed improvement that has been carried out without the required approvals or in breach of the approvals that should have applied. That means either:

• no development approval (DA) or Complying Development Certificate (CDC) was obtained when one was required,
• no Construction Certificate / Occupation Certificate (CC/OC) was issued for the works, or
• the completed work doesn’t match the approved plans (built differently, encroaches setbacks, exceeds height, etc.), or
• the structure breaches planning rules (zoning, heritage, bushfire, flood controls) or strata by-laws.

Examples: an unapproved granny flat, a deck or balcony enclosing a balcony without approval, added rooms/garages/ramps, enclosing carports, large awnings, pools without fencing or approval, fences or retaining walls over the permitted height, or unauthorised internal structural changes that affect fire exits or load-bearing walls.

Why it matters (risks to buyer)

• Council can require rectification or demolition — at your cost.
• Fines and ongoing compliance orders may apply.
• Difficulties getting finance or insurance (lenders and insurers may refuse or restrict cover).
• Reduced resale value and delays when selling later (you may have to disclose).
• Title/strata issues — owners corporation may require removal or levy costs.
• Harder to insure defects caused by unauthorised work.

What to do if you find an illegal structure (buyer steps)

1. Don’t exchange (or suspend exchange) until you’ve assessed the risk — if you already exchanged, talk to us immediately.
2. Get copies of approvals from the seller or apply for a council records search.
3. Commission a professional inspection (building inspector, engineer, certifier) to assess safety and the scale of non-compliance.
4. Ask for vendor remediation: seller may be asked to obtain retrospective approval or pay to rectify before settlement.
5. Negotiate a price reduction or special conditions to protect you (e.g., vendor to obtain retrospective approval by a date, holdback of funds into trust until compliance is achieved).

When a Contract for Sale of Land in NSW says that land tax is adjustable, it means the buyer and seller agree to share the land tax for the property proportionally according to how long each party owns the property during the current land tax year.

In other words, the seller pays land tax up to the settlement date, and the buyer reimburses the seller for the portion of the year after settlement, if applicable

When you buy a property in New South Wales, you usually pay a deposit (commonly 10% of the purchase price, sometimes 5%) at the time of exchange of contracts. That deposit is normally:

• Held in trust by the real estate agent, the vendor’s solicitor, or a conveyancer, and

• Not released to the seller (vendor) until settlement — when ownership officially transfers.

An early release of deposit means the vendor requests access to the deposit funds before settlement. Releasing the deposit early can expose the buyer to risks, such as:

1. The contract not settling (e.g. finance falls through, title issues, death, etc.) — the buyer may struggle to recover funds already paid to the vendor.
2. The vendor becoming insolvent or using the funds for other debts.
3. Loss of negotiation power — once the vendor has the deposit, they’re less motivated to accommodate delays or small issues.

Because of these risks, most conveyancers and solicitors strongly advise against early release unless there are very secure conditions.

An early release of a deposit may be acceptable when the vendor is involved in a simultaneous sale and purchase transaction and requests the funds specifically to pay stamp duty or provide a deposit on another property. The buyer should be satisfied that the funds will be used solely for this purpose and that the release is necessary to facilitate the vendor’s onward purchase. If the buyer considers the early release clause unacceptable under any circumstances, they may rescind the contract.