A conveyancer handles the legal side of transferring real estate from one owner to another: verifying that the seller actually owns what they’re selling, clearing anything that might cloud the title, coordinating the money and paperwork, and recording the new deed so ownership officially changes hands. In the United States this work is done by a real estate attorney, a title agent, or an escrow officer, depending on your state. The job itself doesn’t change with the title on the business card. So when you ask what does a conveyancer do, the short answer is: they protect your money and your ownership rights through a transaction that would otherwise be full of ways to lose both.
Throughout this piece, “conveyancer” means whichever professional runs the legal transfer work in your deal. About a dozen states require a licensed attorney to conduct or supervise the closing, including Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia. A smaller group requires attorney involvement for specific tasks like certifying title or preparing the deed. Everywhere else, a title company or escrow agent can handle the whole closing without a lawyer, though buyers often retain one anyway when the deal is complicated.
What a Conveyancer Does for the Buyer
Searching the Title
The most important thing your conveyancer does is prove the seller has the legal right to sell and that nobody else has a claim against the property. A title search pulls public records to trace the chain of ownership and surface problems: recorded deeds, old mortgages, court judgments, tax liens, easements, and surveys going back decades. A gap in the chain, an unpaid contractor’s lien from a prior renovation, or a neighbor’s easement cutting through your intended backyard all turn up here.
The search extends into local government records too. Zoning restrictions, pending assessments, environmental contamination notices, and unpaid property taxes can all affect what you can do with the property or what bills follow you after closing. Your conveyancer reviews all of it before you commit.
Reviewing the Contract
Most of your legal risk lives in the purchase contract. A conveyancer reads it for clauses that could hurt you: inspection contingencies that are too narrow, closing timelines that leave no room for financing delays, repair obligations that shift cost onto the buyer. An attorney can negotiate changes directly. Title agents and escrow officers typically can’t give legal advice on contract terms, which is why some buyers in non-attorney states hire a lawyer just for the contract.
Coordinating with Your Lender
If you’re financing, the conveyancer works alongside the mortgage lender’s checklist: a clean title commitment, proof of hazard insurance, a satisfactory appraisal, and a completed closing disclosure that itemizes every dollar changing hands. Each item has to arrive on time or the closing slips. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act prohibits certain practices during this stage, including kickback arrangements between settlement service providers and charging fees for required disclosure documents.
Arranging Title Insurance
Some defects are invisible even after a thorough search: forged signatures somewhere in the ownership chain, undisclosed heirs, recording errors from decades ago. Title insurance exists for these, and your conveyancer typically arranges it.
There are two policies. A lender’s policy protects the mortgage lender’s investment and is almost always required to get financing; it covers the loan balance and shrinks as you pay the mortgage down. An owner’s policy protects you from financial loss if a title defect emerges after closing, covering ownership disputes, undiscovered liens, and boundary problems. The owner’s policy is optional but widely recommended, and it covers your full purchase price for as long as you or your heirs own the property.
Getting You to the Closing Table
In the days before closing, your conveyancer prepares or reviews the transfer deed, confirms final settlement figures with everyone involved, and makes sure every document is ready to sign. They verify that conditions from inspections and contract negotiations have actually been met. A missing signature, an incorrect legal description, or a misspelled name on the deed can delay recording and create problems that take months to unwind.
What a Conveyancer Does for the Seller
Assembling Disclosures and Documents
The seller’s conveyancer puts together everything the buyer needs for due diligence: the title deed, disclosure forms covering known defects, and details about what’s included in the sale. For homes built before 1978, federal law requires the seller to disclose known lead-based paint information, provide available records and reports about lead hazards, give the buyer a copy of the EPA’s informational pamphlet, and allow at least a 10-day window for a lead inspection or risk assessment.1U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X) The conveyancer makes sure these requirements are met and documented, because non-compliance exposes the seller to liability after the sale. Exemptions exist for housing built after 1977, zero-bedroom units, short-term rentals of 100 days or less, certain senior housing, and foreclosure sales.2eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
Paying Off the Existing Mortgage
Most sellers still owe money on the property. The conveyancer obtains a payoff statement from the lender showing the exact amount needed to clear the loan on a specific date, including accrued interest and fees. At closing, the buyer’s funds go first to satisfy that debt, and the seller receives what’s left.
After the mortgage is paid, the lender has to record a satisfaction or release with the county recorder to remove its lien. Most states set a statutory deadline, typically 30 to 90 days. If the lender drags its feet, the unreleased lien stays on the property record and causes problems for the buyer later. The seller’s conveyancer follows up to confirm the satisfaction gets recorded on time.
Answering the Buyer’s Side and Preparing the Deed
Once the buyer’s conveyancer finishes searches and contract review, questions come back: boundary clarifications, explanations of prior repairs, utility easements, requests to clean up minor title issues before closing. The seller’s conveyancer handles these and resolves anything that could derail the deal. They also prepare or review the transfer deed, coordinate scheduling, and make sure the seller understands exactly how much they’ll net after the mortgage payoff, transfer taxes, agent commissions, and closing costs.
How Closing Actually Happens
In most U.S. transactions, closing runs through an escrow arrangement. A neutral third party, usually a title company or escrow agent, holds the money and documents until every condition of the sale has been met. The buyer signs the mortgage documents and authorizes the transfer of funds. The seller signs the deed and a closing affidavit. Once everything is in order, the escrow agent disburses funds: the seller’s mortgage gets paid off, agents get their commissions, and the remaining proceeds go to the seller.
The buyer receives the keys and legal ownership changes hands. In practice, the moment of transfer is when the deed is recorded with the county, which usually happens within hours or a few days of signing.
The conveyancer’s work doesn’t end at the signing table. After closing, the transfer deed has to be recorded with the county recorder to make the ownership change part of the public record. Recording fees generally run between $50 and $150. Title insurance policies are issued to both the lender and the buyer. The seller’s mortgage lender receives its payoff and starts the lien release process. And any property transfer taxes owed to state or local governments get paid.
Federal Reporting the Conveyancer Handles
A few federal obligations attach to real estate transactions, and the conveyancer is usually the one who manages them.
Federal law requires someone to report the sale to the IRS on Form 1099-S. The person responsible is typically whoever is listed as the settlement agent on the closing disclosure. If no settlement agent is listed, responsibility falls in order to the buyer’s attorney, the seller’s attorney, or the disbursing title or escrow company.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-S (04/2025) In practice, the closing agent handles this as part of post-closing duties.
When the seller is a foreign person or entity, the buyer’s side has a withholding obligation under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act. The standard rate is 15% of the amount realized on the sale.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1445 – Withholding of Tax on Dispositions of United States Real Property Interests If the buyer plans to use the property as a residence and the sale price is $300,000 or less, no FIRPTA withholding is required.5Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding If the price is above $300,000 but no more than $1,000,000 and the buyer intends to use it as a residence, the rate drops to 10%. The conveyancer or closing agent collects and remits the withheld amount to the IRS. Missing this can make the buyer personally liable for the tax, which is why experienced closing professionals flag foreign-seller transactions early.
What Conveyancing Typically Costs
Total closing costs for a home purchase generally run between 2% and 5% of the loan amount, and the conveyancing portion is a slice of that. A real estate attorney’s fee starts around $400 and climbs for complex transactions or high-cost markets. In states that don’t require an attorney, the escrow fee paid to the title company for handling funds and documents typically falls between $350 and $1,000. Title search and title insurance add a few hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on the property value and location.
Government recording fees are modest. Transfer taxes are the wildcard: nothing in some states, several percent of the sale price in others, with buyer-versus-seller responsibility set by local law and contract negotiation. A good conveyancer gives you a clear breakdown of expected costs early so nothing surprises you at the closing table.