Settling home loans 8,500 metres above sea level

Completing property transactions while sitting on an aeroplane 8,534 metres above sea level is all in a day’s work for Craig Green, a Gadens Brisbane Banking and Finance Partner. And rest assured, this is a work-life balance story about technology bringing banks, lawyers, conveyancers and land registries together – irrespective of location.

Australia-wide, PEXA Subscribers are already transacting property settlements online proving that physical borders are no barrier to participating in the digital era. Craig recently put PEXA’s technology to the test on an international scale during a trip spanning several countries.

Transacting in different time zones proved to be a benefit for the Gadens team regularly transacting in PEXA.

“Technology has come a long way from the time when mortgage documents were typed in triplicate with carbon paper,” he said (recalling a past story when he binned his firm’s old telex machine one weekend to stop an old Partner resisting using the new-fangled fax machine).

“Between Singapore, Dubai, Milan, Florence, Cortona and Portofino I authorised 21 transactions from aeroplanes, villas and hotel lobbies. These were time sensitive matters that the team from home were working through. Everything went smoothly. My electronic approval travelled around the globe. When I was asleep the home-based team were at work settling the next day. Our transactions followed the sun.

“The technology is there. It’s too easy. The question is – why wouldn’t you use it?

“We should be simplifying not over complicating our working lives. Good lawyers spend their time dealing with our clients’ problems, questions and queries. Let technology take the time-consuming, manual work off our hands.  Technology allows me to have a mobile working day, I find my Telstra Air hot-spot or a Wi-Fi connection and I instantly have a virtual workplace.

“I’ve undertaken a cost benefit analysis of using PEXA; there’s no doubt in my mind, the benefits stack up! A case in point is a recent transaction that involved Macquarie Bank paying out CBA. There were no payout faxes, no phone tag chasing payouts, everything simply happens through PEXA.

“Even better, there was no travel to settlement. And with 11 bank cheques to be posted to different parts of Australia paying out a variety of debts, we cut right back on postage costs, bank cheque expenses and potential delays paying out debts. Now we simply make the payout to a B-Pay or loan account number. And one of the main benefits? No more bank cheques lost in the post.

“The PEXA system is also easy to navigate. I find the drop down boxes quick to action.”

Gadens Brisbane continues to innovate since it completed its first PEXA discharge in December 2015. Indeed the firm first ‘went global’ in February 2016 when the first discharge was completed from Bali.

Back then one paralegal had responsibility for completing discharges in PEXA. Now Craig has trained a large team that transacts on the PEXA network.  PEXA has created new opportunities for existing team members.

In several months Gadens Brisbane has completed about 150 new loan advances and some 200 discharges.

In 12 months’ time Craig expects Gadens nationally to be completing up to 1,000 transactions per month.  Gadens is already working with PEXA to build a data interface which will bring even greater efficiencies to the process.