Lorne sits on Louttit Bay where the Erskine River comes down out of the Otways, an hour and a bit from Geelong along the Great Ocean Road. It has been a holiday town for well over a century, and its property market is a holiday market first. Jeannette Ernst Conveyancing Professionals has acted on Great Ocean Road property from Geelong for more than 30 years, under licence number 001780L, and the whole job runs by phone and email, so distance is not an issue.

Before you sign for anything in Lorne, send us the contract and Section 32. Our free 24-hour Section 32 and contract review comes back within a day, free of charge and with no obligation.

What we see in Lorne property

Lorne is steep. Most of the town climbs the hill behind the bay on bush blocks, and that brings two overlays that turn up on almost every contract: a Bushfire Management Overlay and, on the slopes, erosion and landslip controls. Both must be disclosed in the Section 32 and both shape what you can build, what it costs to build and what your insurer will want to know. We read them on every Lorne title and tell you plainly what they mean before you commit.

The other big category is apartments and units. Lorne has more strata property than any other Surf Coast town, from small blocks near the pier to resort-style complexes with pools and managed letting. Buying one means buying into an owners corporation, so we go through the certificate in the Section 32 for fees, the state of the maintenance fund, upcoming special levies and any rules on short stays, and if the unit is sold with a management or letting agreement we explain exactly what you are taking on.

The foreshore and much of the surrounding bush is Crown land managed by the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority. A caravan park site or a licence over foreshore land is not freehold, and if that is what you are being offered it is a different transaction altogether. Talk to us before you pay a deposit.