Before you make an offer, check the title

Your conveyancer searches the title before settlement. In NSW the contract must include a title search, in Victoria the vendor's Section 32 statement includes one, and in Queensland the seller's disclosure statement does. But that copy can be weeks old, and you may want answers before you make an offer, or before an auction where you usually can't back out.

A fresh search shows the register as it is today, including anything lodged since the contract was drawn up. Buyers have found a caveat lodged the day before they signed.

• Owners: do the names match the seller? If not, ask why. It may be an estate, a company, a trust or a lender selling under its mortgage, all of which can be fine.
• Mortgages: normal. The seller's mortgage is paid out and discharged at settlement. Several mortgages, or private lenders, are worth mentioning to your conveyancer.
• Caveats: a caveat is a notice that someone claims an interest in the property. It can stop the sale being registered until it's removed, so ask how it will be cleared before settlement.
• Easements: rights for someone else to use part of the land, such as a sewer, drainage line or right of way. They can limit where you build or extend.
• Covenants: restrictions on what can be built or how the land is used, such as building materials or the number of dwellings.
• Pending dealings: documents lodged but not yet registered. They mean something is happening on the title right now.

The title lists easements and covenants by dealing number, but not their full terms or where they sit. The terms are in the registered document (in NSW often an 88B instrument), and the position is on the plan. The title also doesn't cover zoning, building approvals, flooding, sewer lines, or strata matters such as by-laws and levies.

We don't sell plans or registered documents on their own yet. Your conveyancer can order them, or you can buy them from the state registry. Our guides explain caveats, easements, covenants and 88B instruments.

Order a title search by the property's address. Through Title Desk you get the registry's own title PDF, untouched, emailed usually within minutes, nights and weekends too, so you can have it before a weekend auction. Check the lot, plan and title reference we show you against the listing or contract before you pay. Prices start at A$69, GST included, and your card is only charged once the title arrives.

Go through it with the list above. Our free guides show where each entry sits on your state's title, such as how to read a NSW title or how to read a Queensland title. Take anything you're unsure about to your conveyancer.

A title search tells you what's registered. It doesn't tell you whether to buy. If you see a caveat, a covenant that could block your plans, a pending dealing, or owners who don't match the seller, ask a conveyancer or solicitor what it means for the contract before you sign.