Amanda Edmonds, Principal & Licensed Conveyancer, started Edmonds Conveyancing 16 years ago from her garage. She has grown the business to office premises in Ballina and Lismore, and also serves property buyers in Byron Bay, Alstonville, Casino, Kyogle, Evans Head and surrounds.
With a booming Northern Rivers property market, Amanda and the Edmonds Conveyancing team’s focus is on providing a stress free, welcoming and professional environment for people who are buying or selling their home. Supporting first home buyers through to retirees, we asked Amanda to share her expertise on how to be prepared when purchasing or selling property.
How do you support first home buyers through the purchase process?
We find first home buyers need additional time and explanations, so we encourage them to come in for face to face appointments if possible. We find that they have a greater understanding face to face, and are more comfortable asking questions.
Edmonds Conveyancing liaise with their banker / broker / agent and any other parties involved on their side of things to ensure all runs smoothly. We find with first home buyers it is usually difficult for them to arrange time off work to come for appointments, or they are not comfortable asking for time off to do so. To alleviate this issue, we offer appointments before and after hours when necessary.
What are the key considerations for property investors in Northern NSW?
This question is a hard one to answer as we are not advisers on what is a good or bad investment. Our role as a conveyancer is to advise our clients on the legal implications of the purchase, or to ensure that they have disclosed everything required on their sale.
As property in the Northern Rivers is moving very quickly, an investor needs to ensure that they have their finances in place. This includes:
- creating a good relationship with a banker or broker,
- having finance approved up to the point of just finding the property, and
- the bank obtaining a valuation to satisfy their requirements.
Finding an agent that they like to deal with who can keep their eye out for new properties as they hit the market is helpful. And most importantly, find a Conveyancer who will work with you to close the deal. One who is knowledgeable and can explain things in plain English. Ensure you are dealing with a qualified, experienced Conveyancer.
Share your top 3 tips for retirees who are transitioning into a retirement village.
- Do plenty of research. Visit and inquire at all local retirements villages find out what they offer and chat to friends.
- Know what you want. Write a list of what you want out of a retirement village so when you visit them you can then check this list off when choosing where to go, and what features are attractive and are not desirable.
- Think it through. Take your time making the decision.
How have you developed the organisational culture of Edmonds Conveyancing as the company has grown?
Our Organisation Culture is ALWAYS evolving and I think this needs to be the case as team members leave and new ones come on board. We promote a relaxed and happy atmosphere, in the office. Conveyancing can get very stressful with constant deadlines that must always be met, so we laugh and sing a lot to get through the day and keep our sanity.
Our team are an extension to our family. We are lucky to have such a wonderful team. We believe if we have fun, we will be able to assist our clients to have fun and enjoy their experience, and therefore reduce their stress.
Your greatest challenge?
Our greatest challenge is finding, building and maintaining a great team. As this is a specialised role, it takes time to train team members, unfortunately once training is complete, sometimes we have to start again straight away. Team members need to be able to cope politely with stress, high work loads, demanding clients and other interested parties, and unfortunately sometimes rude people.
Most proud of?
I am proud of the fact that we have been operating now for over 15 years. We have grown from a business that started at home in our garage to a two office business. We are held in high regard in our industry, and quite often new clients are referred by not just one party but up to 3 (such as their neighbour, banker, real estate agent or family member).
Advice for future female leaders?
Be proud of being a woman in business. Believe in yourself and most importantly, don’t try to fit into the male world of business, welcome them into yours.
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