Property & Leases

The word “property” is usually used in relation to real estate. Real estate includes land, homes, factories, buildings – anything that is located on land. It can also include marinas and areas of the seabed.
Great care needs to be taken about entering into agreements regarding property. There are so many contingencies and things that can go “wrong”.
In our experience, one of the greatest areas of concern regarding property is that parties enter into agreements honestly and genuinely but fail to take into account events that occur that they had not contemplated.

Typical examples of factors that have not been taken into account include death, mental incapacity, divorce, separation, unemployment, bankruptcy, global financial crashes etc. It is always recommended you obtain legal advice before entering into any property transaction.

“Leases” is the term used when a person or entity pays rent to occupy or use property belonging to someone else. The type of property that can be leased includes not only real estate but also plant and equipment, ships, race horses, motor vehicles – the list is literally, endless.

As with property, great care needs to be taken about entering into a lease agreement. There are always clauses in lease agreements that the leasing party had not considered such as the obligation to maintain air conditioning, plumbing, painting and the list goes on.

An increasingly common experience we are finding with leasing real estate is the existence of asbestos in the property that has not been revealed to the tenant before the lease commences. You should always have our office check over any leasing document before you sign.

If you have a question, want further information or would like to speak to someone, make an enquiry now and we’ll be in touch with you very soon.