These are many and varied, but largely the main advantage is that the costs are known prior to even starting the process, giving certainty and no surprises.

In addition, there are the following advantages;

▪ You are dealing with one entity from beginning to end
▪ You are dealing with professionals who know their stuff
▪ We come to you if required – stay home and enjoy the roses
▪ There are no ongoing bills, physical works to organize, tradesmen to deal with
▪ Plus, we love dealing with people, especially you!

Simply. And that is our intention. You make an initial inquiry on our website, freephone, or email and provide a few details about yourself and your property (street address is all we usually need). We will investigate the property, existing leases, and relevant details. Then we provide you with a combined fee proposal to undertake the job from beginning to end.

Yes, it is the intention, and one of the main reasons efficiencies can be made, that our affiliated lawyer undertakes the legal work for all parties. We can do this because it's in all your interests to have the titles converted to fee-simple, so all your interests are aligned. That's why we work on the basis that this is a pure conversion of title, so the owners all agree that whatever covenants are on the lease for the protection of one property, those same covenants, word-for-word, are transferred to the new title. Then everyone is in exactly the same position with respect to height covenants, etc, but simply with a much, much better tenure of title. If anyone did want to renegotiate this, then we would not be able to act for all property owners, as your interests may not align. This is why we need the owner’s agreement upfront to make sure everyone is on the same page.

This is completely up to you and your neighbours. Usually, we find that the property owners want to share the fee equally, as everyone is being advantaged. However, there can be some instances where one owner can see a value uplift as being hugely advantageous for them alone and is prepared to invest the entire fee to get that uplift. Or sometimes there is more benefit to one owner, and the owners agree to split the fee in a way that works for them.

Absolutely, and we can even help with this. Our experience is that banks much prefer lending on a fee-simple property. We have contacts with many mortgage brokers and can arrange for someone to get in touch to assist with this.

To avoid disputes, and a neighbour later changing their mind and causing issues for the others, we do ask that the fee is paid into the lawyer's trust account before work starts. This is a solicitor's trust account, regulated by the New Zealand Law Society, and protected by the Lawyers' Fidelity Fund.

Payments are then made out of that account over the duration of the project as set out in our proposal. We keep you fully informed as this occurs.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time is waiting for Council and Land Information approvals. Overall, we recommend that you allow 10-12 months from any drainage repairs being completed.
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If you have a cross-lease property you are thinking about selling, please get in touch with us as soon as possible so we can kick off this process for you.

It is also possible to start the process and to transfer your rights and obligations under this process to a purchaser while it's ongoing. Please get in touch if you'd like to ask about this, as we can supply wording for special conditions in your sale and purchase agreement.

Yes, and that's one of the key reasons efficiencies can be made. We can do this because it is in all your interests to have the titles converted to fee simple -- so all of your interests are aligned.
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This is why we work on the basis that this is a pure conversion of title - so the owners all agree that whatever covenants are on the lease for the protection of one property, those same covenants, word-for-word, are transferred to the new title. This has the result that everyone is in exactly the same position with respect to height covenants, etc, but simply with a much, much better tenure of title.