Crafting LegaciesLand Governance · Property · Legacy

Property & conveyancing · 8 June 2026

Before you pay the deposit

The questions worth asking before money moves, and why the sequence matters more than the checklist.

Buyers often ask for a checklist. Checklists are useful, but they hide the more important point: in a property transaction, the order in which you do things determines how much leverage you have when something turns out to be wrong.

Money paid early is difficult to recover. Questions asked early cost nothing.

The sequence

Establish the seller's capacity to sell before negotiating the price. Confirm the description of the property before agreeing to it. Understand what liabilities attach to the land before assuming they are the seller's problem. Each of these is straightforward on its own. Taken out of order, each becomes a negotiation you are conducting from a weaker position.

On urgency

Pressure to move quickly is not always a warning sign, but it is always worth naming. A transaction that cannot survive reasonable enquiry is telling you something about itself.

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Crafting a legacy begins with understanding what you have, what it means, and what you want it to become.

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