The Conveyancing Squeeze: What Vertical Integration Means for Property Settlement

Over the past fifteen years, electronic lodgement has replaced paper, PEXA has become the dominant settlement platform, and the conveyancing industry has moved steadily toward consolidation.

LocalAgentFinder's acquisition of Dott & Crossitt is one example of that trend. It's worth understanding what's driving it and what it means for practitioners who aren't part of the consolidation.

The deal itself

LocalAgentFinder, the platform that helps property sellers compare real estate agents, acquired Dott & Crossitt Conveyancers in February 2024. The terms weren't disclosed, but the strategic logic was clear: vertical integration.

Jared Zak, the founder and principal solicitor of Dott & Crossitt, now serves as Managing Director of Conveyancing for the combined entity. The deal merged Dott & Crossitt's NSW and Queensland operations with LocalAgentFinder's existing Victorian conveyancing practice.

For LocalAgentFinder, the acquisition creates an end-to-end service. A vendor can now find an agent, list their property, and settle the sale through one platform. The referral economics work in their favour at every step.

The industry context

This deal doesn't exist in isolation.

The NSW Productivity and Equality Commission's eConveyancing market study, released in 2024, provides useful context. Electronic conveyancing is now mandatory in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia. The shift to digital has created economies of scale that favour larger operators.

PEXA processes the vast majority of electronic settlements. The Productivity Commission noted competition concerns around this dominance, and interoperability reforms are scheduled for completion by 2025. But implementation has faced repeated setbacks. In August 2025, PEXA took a $14 million impairment on its interoperability program and said it would seek to recover its costs, adding to uncertainty about the regulatory trajectory.

What it means for independents

The bloke running a two-person practice in Parramatta faces a different world than he did a decade ago. Electronic lodgement has reduced some administrative burden, but it's also standardised the service in ways that make differentiation harder. When the settlement process is the same regardless of who handles it, competition shifts to price, volume, and marketing reach.

Larger firms can spread technology costs across more transactions. They can negotiate better terms with PEXA. They can afford search platforms and digital marketing that smaller operators can't match. The fixed costs of compliance, professional indemnity insurance, and continuing education don't scale down for smaller practices.

The strategic options

For mid-sized conveyancing firms, the strategic options have narrowed to three.

Scale up. Build volume through acquisition, franchise arrangements, or aggressive marketing. This requires capital and appetite for risk. It's what Jared did with Dott & Crossitt before selling to LocalAgentFinder.

Specialise. Focus on complex transactions that platforms can't easily commoditise: commercial conveyancing, strata, off-the-plan purchases, or specific geographic areas where local knowledge matters. This limits growth but protects margins.

Sell. Exit to an aggregator, platform, or larger practice while valuations are still reasonable. The risk is waiting too long and finding there are fewer buyers.

The boutique exception

Not every independent practice is under pressure. The sole practitioner doing twenty settlements a month in an expensive suburb, who's known every local agent for twenty years, isn't competing with LocalAgentFinder. Their relationships are their moat.

But those practices are relationship businesses, not scalable businesses. They'll exist as long as the practitioner wants to work. They're not transferable in the way a franchise network or technology platform is transferable.

What happens next

The consolidation trend has further to run. REA Group and Domain both have strategic interests in capturing more of the property transaction value chain. The major real estate franchises have referral arrangements with conveyancing providers. Private equity has shown interest in legal services rollups more broadly.

The regulatory environment remains uncertain. If interoperability succeeds and PEXA faces real competition, some of the scale advantages might diminish. If it doesn't, the platform economics will continue to favour larger operators.

Jared built something that a platform wanted to buy. That's a form of success. The question for the rest of the industry is whether they're building practices that can compete with what he's now part of, or whether they're waiting to see what happens.

The waiting strategy has limited upside.