Property & Conveyancing Lawyers Melbourne

How We Can Help

We provide property law and conveyancing services for home buyers, sellers, owners, and tenants. Whether you’re reviewing the contract on your first home or settling a dispute over your title, we take care of the legal side, so you don’t have to.

Conveyancing
Property Disputes
Strata and Community Title
Owners Corporation Matters

Conveyancing

Our dedicated conveyancing team handles residential, off-the-plan, rural and developer-sourced transactions across Victoria. We help with contract review before signing, finance condition deadlines, GST and foreign buyer surcharges, vendor statement (Section 32) review, and electronic settlement on PEXA.

If you’re a property buyer looking for assistance with your property purchase read our Complete Guide to Conveyancing in Melbourne.

What we do

Residential conveyancing including purchase and sale

Off-the-plan purchases and sales

Rural property conveyancing

Developer-sourced purchase conveyancing

Pre-signing contract review

Section 32 vendor statement review

PEXA electronic settlement

Finance condition and cooling-off period advice

Foreign buyer surcharge and FIRB coordination

Discuss your matter

Property Disputes

Property disputes cut across residential, commercial, and industrial real estate.

For homeowners, the issue might be a fence in the wrong place, a tree dropping branches, an easement someone is misusing, an off-the-plan purchase that fell apart at settlement, or a co-owner you can no longer work with. For businesses, developers and investors, those same disputes can carry commercial consequences, such as stalled projects, contested titles, and capital tied up in real estate. We act for homeowners, businesses, buyers and sellers, co-owners, landlords and tenants, and mortgagees on either side of a dispute. Where a matter can be resolved through a letter or mediation, that’s almost always quicker and more cost-effective than litigation. Where a dispute can’t be settled, our team has the experience to represent you in the relevant tribunal and or court.

What we do

Boundary, easement and encroachment disputes

Caveat, adverse possession and priority claims

Partition applications between co-owners

Vendor and purchaser disputes (including off-the-plan)

Commercial and residential lease disputes

Mortgage enforcement and mortgagor defences

Nuisance and trespass claims

VCAT and Supreme Court representation

Discuss your matter

Strata and Community Title

Strata and community title schemes run across apartment buildings, mixed-use developments, retail centres, master-planned estates and industrial parks. If you own an apartment, townhouse or unit in Victoria, you own a lot inside an Owners Corporation under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic), which brings voting rights at general meetings, the right to inspect financial records, and obligations to pay quarterly levies and comply with OC rules.

We act for all parties involved in a scheme: developers establishing new schemes, Owners Corporations on operations and disputes, and corporate and individual lot owners on their rights.

For developers and new schemes, we handle staged-development structuring, strata renewal, mixed-use management arrangements, and the building defect claims that often follow practical completion in larger, more complex schemes.

For individual lot owners, we act on the issues that can arise such as disputes with the OC or manager, special levies that look unreasonable, by-law disputes, building defect claims affecting your lot or common property, and the buying-and-selling questions around strata lots.

What we do

Off-the-plan contracts and disclosure statements

Scheme establishment and structuring

Community management and building management statements

Staged strata and community title development

Layered and mixed-use development structuring

Management rights documentation

Owners’ corporation procedural governance advice

Body corporate and OC disputes

Building defect claims affecting common property

Corporate lot owner rights and disputes

Discuss your matter

Owners Corporation Matters

Owners Corporation matters arise inside multi-owner developments, apartment blocks, townhouse complexes and mixed-use scheme.

For an Owners Corporation, manager or committee, the issue is usually governance: drafting and enforcing rules, raising special levies for major repairs, recovering unpaid levies, and managing common property. Whereas for an individual lot owner, the issue is often about your rights, which could include things such as a special levy that looks unreasonable, a decision made at a general meeting you want to challenge, a defect affecting your lot, or a debt-recovery claim brought against you.

We act for both Owners Corporations, managers, committee members, lot owners, developers, and adjoining owners. Where a matter can be resolved through a letter, a meeting or mediation, that’s almost always quicker and more cost-effective than litigation. Where it cannot, our experienced Owners Corporation team can represent you in VCAT or court.

What we do

Owners Corporation establishment

OC rules drafting, review and enforcement

Common property licences, leases and disputes

Special levies and major repair / upgrade advice

Debt recovery for unpaid levies (VCAT and Magistrates’ Court)

Building defects affecting common property

Advice on your rights as a lot owner

Disputes with the Owners Corporation or manager

Discuss your matter

Frequently Asked Questions

Disclaimer : The information contained in these FAQS is of a general nature only and does not constitute legal advice. It has been prepared by KPA Lawyers without considering your specific objectives, circumstances or needs, and should not be relied on as a substitute for tailored legal advice.

For most private sales of residential property in Victoria, buyers have a three clear business-day cooling-off period from the day they sign the contract. If they change their mind, they can end the contract by giving written notice to the vendor or the agent within that period, and they get back any money paid, less a small penalty (the greater of $100 or 0.2% of the purchase price). There is no cooling-off for auctions or commercial/industrial properties, as well as some other excluded circumstances, so buyers should ensure they understand their rights to cool off before signing a contract.

If you buy as Joint Tenants, each owner has an equal interest in the whole property and there is a “right of survivorship”, meaning if one owner dies, their share automatically passes to the surviving owner(s) regardless of their will. In contrast, if you buy as Tenants in Common, each owner holds a separate share (for example 50/50 or 30/70), and when one owner dies their share forms part of their estate and is dealt with in accordance with their will. Joint tenancy is often used by couples, whereas tenants in common is used where the intention is to keep defined shares, such as family members or business partners.

Conveyancing property searches are formal checks ordered from government departments, councils, water authorities and others to confirm key details about the property, such as the title and plan, any mortgages or easements, planning controls, rates, land tax and water charges.

They are essential for due diligence because they reveal issues that might affect value or future use (for example unpaid rates, proposed road works, restrictive planning overlays or infrastructure affecting the land). The fees you pay for searches are “disbursements”, being out‑of‑pocket costs our firm incurs on your behalf and then passes on to you.

Stamp duty (called land transfer duty in Victoria) is a tax paid to the State Revenue Office when property changes ownership, calculated on the dutiable value (usually the purchase price) using a sliding scale, with the higher the value, the more duty payable.

Eligible first‑home buyers may currently receive a full exemption on duty for homes up to $600,000 and a concession for homes between $600,001 and $750,000, provided they meet residency and eligibility criteria.

Other concessions (such as pensioner duty concessions) may also apply depending on the buyer’s circumstances.

You can use the State Revenue Office’s online duty calculator to accurately work out exactly how much duty you will need to pay.

Settlement day is when the buyer pays the balance of the purchase price, the seller’s mortgage (if any) is discharged, and the title is transferred into the buyer’s name. In the majority of transactions, this is usually done electronically through the PEXA system. The buyer’s lender sends funds, both parties’ conveyancers check and exchange documents, and once everything is completed the agent is authorised to release the keys to the buyer. Common causes of delay include the bank not being ready, last‑minute document or identity issues, unresolved contract conditions (like finance or building and pest), or unexpected problems with rates, title or settlement figures that need to be fixed before funds can safely be released.

Why KPA Lawyers for Property Law and Conveyancing

The firm that puts your outcome first

We combine senior expertise with genuine care, your matter will be handled by an experienced lawyer every step of the way.

Senior property lawyers on every matter

A senior lawyer is involved at every stage, working alongside our wider team to ensure your matter is handled the right way.

friction free property settlements

Our team is dedicated to making your property settlement as friction free as possible for both sides.

Three conveniently located offices

Visit our Sandringham or Mornington offices or meet with us in the Melbourne CBD, whichever location is most convenient for you.

KPA handled our business sale with precision and care. They explained every step clearly and achieved a result we were truly happy with.

Business owner, Melbourne · commercial Law client

Client Stories

What our clients say

We used KPA for our property settlement and could not be happier.The team were professional and efficient, and genuinely cared about our outcome every step of the way.

Sarah & Mark T.Property settlement, Sandringham

The KPA team guided us through a complex commercial lease negotiation with genuine confidence and expertise. I would highly recommend them to any business looking for reliable,knowledgeable legal support.

James L.Commercial leasing, Melbourne CBD

After a difficult family separation, KPA handled every aspect of my matter with real sensitivity and skill. They took the time to understand what mattered most to me and delivered an outcome I am truly grateful for.

Michelle K.Family law, Mornington Peninsula

Firstly, I wanted to say that our team at Invescasa has been very impressed with the support and service you have provided thus far. As our business grows, we seek to partner with highly experienced conveyancing professionals who can help us deliver exceptional service, advice, and outcomes for our clients. We believe you could be a valuable part of that process

CEO, InvescasaProperty Law

Our Team

The property law and conveyancing TEAM

You get direct access to senior legal minds who actively steer your strategy, giving you the clarity and financial certainty you need to move forward with confidence.

Boris Escobar

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Boris joined KPA Lawyers in 2018 and is part of the Property and Commercial Law team. He practices...

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Amelia Takacs

LAWYER

Amelia is a property lawyer with a structured, thoughtful and commercially aware approach to client work. She focuses...

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Liesel Sparrius

SENIOR CONVEYANCER

Liesel is a Senior Conveyancer in the Property team at KPA Lawyers, bringing over three decades of experience...

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Carolyn Taylor

SENIOR CONVEYANCER

Carolyn is a key member of KPA Lawyers' property department, with extensive experience in property transactions and conveyancing....

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