Property Searches Explained: What Your Conveyancer Checks Before Settlement

Why searches exist at all

A property can carry other people's problems: debts, easements, building restrictions, strata debts or planning changes that would derail your plans. Searches bring those onto your desk while you can still renegotiate or walk away — instead of at settlement when it is too late.

The core searches for an NSW purchase

• Title search — confirms the legal owner and lists everything registered against the land: mortgages, caveats, easements, covenants and leases.
• Plan and survey checks — confirm boundaries, encroachments and that the land matches what you think you are buying.
• Council certificate (section 10.7 planning certificate) — what the land may lawfully be used for, zoning, and whether council has issued orders or notices against the property.
• Rate and land tax clearances — make sure outstanding council rates or land tax are dealt with at settlement rather than becoming yours.
• Sewer and service diagrams — where Sydney Water mains, sewers and easements run, which kills renovations and pools in the wrong spot.
• Strata records (units) — levies owing, past insurance and financials, disputes, past repairs and the state of the building itself.

What happens when a search finds something bad?

It depends what it is, and this is where a conveyancer earns the fee. Some findings are routine and priced in. Others — a council order, a caveatable interest, structural strata issues, contamination — need negotiation, further enquiries, or a decision to walk. When we find issues we notify you immediately, explain the implications in plain English, then resolve it by negotiating with the vendor, coordinating the relevant authority, or — where necessary — by ending the contract while protecting your deposit.

A real example of why timing matters

Searches take days and some certificates only order after exchange under the standard contract. Leaving them until the last week of a six-week settlement compresses every safety buffer into days. Ordering early and reviewing properly is the difference between a negotiation and an emergency.