Raelene McDonald from Bolt Burchill Tranter (Mossman), discusses her initial e-Conveyancing experience and how working digitally can deliver time savings and settlement efficiency to regional offices.
There can be challenges with attempting something for the first time. But equally, there’s an opportunity to profit and progress.
Property in Queensland is currently undergoing a digital shift, with settlements gradually transitioning from traditional, paper-based methods to an electronic process.
Bolt Burchill Tranter – Mossman’s Raelene McDonald recently made a first foray into the world of online property exchange. With the support of her PEXA Practitioner Specialist Morvanna Jones, one of several on-the-ground staff working as e-Conveyancing specialists in the state, she was able to navigate her first transaction.
“We’ve been constantly keeping an eye on it and we’ve always been aware of it. We always had the intention of signing up and with more and more being put through the Queensland area, we decided to look into it. Having Morvanna locally made a big difference as well.”
“It got a little bit tricky only because some mortgage documents hadn’t been received. But otherwise putting in cheque directions and booking in the settlement – it was quite easy.”
A key lure for the Far North Queensland based firm, and others servicing Queensland’s regional areas, is the prospect of digital settlements reducing the need for travel, something Raelene noted as an immediate takeaway.
“There’s definitely a benefit to regional areas. For example, here in Mossman, our closest settlement place is in Port Douglas.”
“We’re lucky we have a Port Douglas office that can do it for us, but that also means that the staff there have to take on my settlements. And because we are so far in between other law firms, working online does make it simple.
“There’s no travel or trying to work out where you’re actually going to complete settlement to make it easier for everyone. That’s a definite advantage.”
Now having made the initial steps into exploring e-Conveyancing, Raelene shared some learnings to pass on to fellow industry peers who are similarly new to online settlements, as Far North Queensland continues to experience growth by the week.”
“I think it’s just embracing change. Because we are regional, it does make lining up settlements much easier. You’re not relying on the post to get transfers back in time and I do think it’s better to start trialling.”
