Buying or selling a home in NZ? What a conveyancing lawyer or conveyancer does, when to involve them, what happens at settlement and what drives the fee.
By the NZ Lawyers team · Facts checked against the sources listed below on 18 October 2026.
Many people only start looking for a property lawyer when an agent hands them a sale and purchase agreement and wants an answer by tomorrow. That is the worst time to be choosing. The government's home buying and selling guide, settled.govt.nz, recommends choosing a lawyer or conveyancer before you start looking at properties or put your home on the market, because both buying and selling can move fast.
This guide covers who can do your conveyancing, why the sale and purchase agreement matters, what conditions are for, what happens on settlement day, and what makes up the bill.
Conveyancing is the legal work of transferring ownership of property. According to settled.govt.nz, both lawyers and registered conveyancers are legally entitled to carry out property transactions, and it recommends that buyers and sellers use one or the other.
Things that make a purchase more involved include buying through a company or trust (settled.govt.nz notes that identity checks can take longer), using money gifted or lent by family, having someone guarantee your loan, or pooling money with friends. Settled.govt.nz recommends that everyone involved in those arrangements gets legal advice. If you are buying with a partner and putting in unequal amounts, our relationship property guide explains how contracting-out agreements work.
A sale and purchase agreement is a legally binding contract between buyer and seller. Settled.govt.nz says you should always have a lawyer or conveyancer check it before signing and get legal advice throughout the process. There is no single standard form: different agencies use different agreements with different clauses.
The agreement records the price, any deposit, which chattels are included, any conditions and how many working days there are to meet them, the settlement date and the interest rate on late payments. It also sets out what happens if either side defaults; for example, a buyer who settles late may have to compensate the seller. Your offer and its conditions are written into this document, so the time to involve your lawyer is before you sign an offer, not after it is accepted.
Before you sign, the agent must give you the Real Estate Authority's guide to the residential sale and purchase agreement and ask you to confirm in writing that you received it. Sellers need advice too. Settled.govt.nz recommends sellers see their lawyer or conveyancer before signing the agency agreement with the agent, not just the sale and purchase agreement.
An offer can be unconditional, or it can include conditions that must be met by a set date. Common conditions include:
Once every condition has been met, the agreement becomes unconditional.
Settlement is the day you pay the rest of the price, and it is usually the day you can move in. Most of the work is done by your lawyer or conveyancer and your lender. Beforehand you will normally need to:
On the day, your lawyer or conveyancer pays the purchase price to the seller's lawyer or conveyancer and registers the change of ownership, and any mortgage, on the record of title. Property dealings are lodged electronically with Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and the practitioner who lodges them must certify that they have authority to act for you. That is one reason you sign an authority and instruction form. If something goes wrong, such as damage, missing chattels or a delay, your lawyer or conveyancer is the first person to call; they negotiate with the other side.
We don't publish price ranges, because fees differ between firms and change over time, and no official source sets them. What we can explain is how a bill is made up and what drives it.
The New Zealand Law Society says a lawyer's bill usually has two parts: a fee for the professional work, and disbursements, which are costs the lawyer pays on your behalf, such as search fees, bank charges and courier costs. It lists the main things that affect the fee as the lawyer's skill and experience, how complex or urgent the work is, how much time it takes, and administration costs and disbursements.
For a property deal, that means a purchase through a trust or company, a deal with unusual conditions, a tight settlement, or a problem on the day can all add work. A low headline fee is not always the cheapest outcome. Ask what it includes, what would be charged on top, and what happens if the deal becomes more complicated. Settled.govt.nz also reminds buyers to budget for legal and inspection costs even on properties they end up not buying.
Get a lawyer or conveyancer on board before you start house-hunting or list your home, so they can review an agreement at short notice. Choose a lawyer over a conveyancer if there is anything beyond a straightforward transfer: a trust or company, family money, a shared purchase, a relationship property issue, or a property with legal complications.
Questions to ask before you instruct anyone:
Fixed fee or hourly? The Law Society says most lawyers charge an hourly rate, but a lawyer and client can instead agree a fixed fee at the start, sometimes split into stages. Whichever you choose, the lawyer must tell you before work starts how fees will be charged and paid, the terms should be set out in their engagement letter, fees must be fair and reasonable, and if you ask for an estimate they must tell you promptly if it looks likely to be exceeded.
Check they are a practising lawyer. Search the person's name on the Law Society's Register of Lawyers, which shows a lawyer's practising status. If you are using a conveyancer, settled.govt.nz suggests searching the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers.
Ready to talk to someone? Compare property lawyers in Hamilton in our directory.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer about your situation.
The government's settled.govt.nz guide recommends using a lawyer or registered conveyancer, both of whom are legally entitled to do conveyancing. In practice they handle settlement and lodge the electronic title transfer with LINZ, certifying they have your authority.
Yes. It is a legally binding contract, and settled.govt.nz says to always have a lawyer or conveyancer check it, including any conditions, before you sign.
Costs your lawyer pays on your behalf and passes on to you, such as search fees, bank charges and courier costs. They are usually charged on top of the professional fee, so ask what to expect.
Both can carry out property transfers. Settled.govt.nz says a lawyer is better placed for more complex deals or where personal, business or financial issues are involved.
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