Mohammed Sheikh Awarded the AIC Vic Men in Property Award 2026

Fast Settle Conveyancing and Property Law Austrlia is proud to announce that Mohammed Sheikh has been awarded the Men in Property Award 2026 by the Australian Institute of Conveyancers, Victorian Division.

It is a recognition we received with a great deal of pride and, in equal measure, a considerable sense of humility. Awards of this nature are conferred on an individual, but they are never earned by one. This one belongs to a great many people, and the purpose of this article is as much to acknowledge them properly as it is to announce the result.

About the Men In Property Award

The Australian Institute of Conveyancers is the peak professional body representing conveyancers across Australia. Its Victorian Division supports practitioners throughout the state, sets and upholds standards of professional conduct, provides ongoing education, and advocates on behalf of the profession and the consumers it serves.

The Division's annual awards recognise practitioners who demonstrate excellence across a number of dimensions: technical competence and accuracy, quality and consistency of client service, ethical conduct, and a genuine contribution to the advancement of the profession.

Nominations are assessed by people who understand the work intimately, practitioners who know precisely what a complex settlement demands, who have managed difficult matters under pressure, and who cannot be impressed by anything other than substance.

That is what makes recognition of this kind meaningful. It is not a marketing exercise or a popularity contest. It is an assessment made by peers, against standards set by the profession itself. To be acknowledged in this way by the people who do the same work, and who know where the difficulties genuinely lie, is an honour we regard as significant.

Our congratulations go to every winner and finalist across all categories for 2026. The calibre of practitioners recognised this year speaks well of the direction the profession is heading, and every Victorian buying or selling property benefits from a profession that holds itself to a rising standard.

The Work Behind the Recognition

From the outside, conveyancing can appear to be an administrative process. Contracts are exchanged, searches are ordered, funds are transferred, keys change hands. Viewed as a series of steps, it looks procedural.

In practice, it is nothing of the sort.

Behind every settlement date is a family waiting on possession of a home they have committed years of savings toward. Behind another is a first-home buyer who has saved, sacrificed and been outbid repeatedly before finally succeeding, and for whom every unexplained delay produces genuine anxiety.

Behind another is someone concluding a difficult chapter, a separation, a bereavement, a business that did not survive and attempting to begin again. Behind another is an investor whose financial position depends on a transaction completing on time and without complication.

The consequences of error in this work extend well beyond the financial. A missed condition, an unnoticed encumbrance, a poorly explained special condition, a settlement that fails to complete on the appointed day, these are not administrative inconveniences. They are events that can cost people their home, their deposit, their finance approval, or simply their peace of mind at a moment when they have very little to spare.

That understanding shapes how we approach every matter that comes through this practice:

We explain things properly. Clients should never feel that they have signed something they do not understand. Legal documents are technical by necessity, but the explanation of them need not be. If a client leaves a conversation with us still uncertain about what they have agreed to, we have not finished our work.

We identify issues early. The overwhelming majority of settlement problems are visible well before they become urgent, provided somebody is looking. Careful, early review of the contract, the title, the certificates and the surrounding circumstances prevents a great deal of difficulty later. Diligence at the beginning is considerably cheaper than crisis management at the end.

We communicate directly. Clients should not have to chase their conveyancer for information about their own transaction. Where there is news, we provide it. Where there is a delay, we explain the cause and what is being done about it. Where there is genuinely nothing to report, we say so rather than allowing silence to be interpreted as neglect.

We treat every file as consequential. There is no such thing as a routine matter to the person whose home is involved. A straightforward transaction still deserves the same rigour as a complicated one, because the client's exposure is identical either way.

None of this is remarkable. It is simply what competent, conscientious practice looks like when it is applied consistently rather than occasionally.

If this award recognises anything, it recognises consistency and consistency is only possible with support.

To Our Clients: This Is Yours

We want to be entirely clear about this. There is no version of this award that exists without our clients.

Every matter we have handled has been an opportunity to demonstrate the standard we hold ourselves to, and every one of those opportunities was granted by a client who chose us. In a market with no shortage of alternatives, you placed one of the most significant financial decisions of your life in our hands. That is not a small thing to entrust to anyone.

We are grateful for more than the instruction itself. We are grateful for the patience shown when matters became complicated through no fault of anyone involved. For the candour when circumstances changed and plans had to be reconsidered. For the questions asked, which invariably made our advice sharper.

We are particularly grateful to the clients who have returned to us for a second property, an investment purchase, a transfer between family members, or a downsize years after the first transaction. There is no more meaningful endorsement of professional work than a client who comes back. It says, more convincingly than any award can, that the experience was worth repeating.

And to those clients who have taken the time to leave a review, send a note after settlement, or mention us to a friend, thank you. Those gestures cost you time you did not owe us, and they have contributed materially to the growth of this practice.

We genuinely could not have done this without you. That is not a courtesy; it is a statement of fact.

To Our Referral Partners

A conveyancing practice does not operate in isolation, and much of the work we are proudest of arrived through the confidence of others.

To the real estate agents who have recommended us to their vendors and purchasers: we understand what that recommendation costs you if it goes badly. Your client relationships and your reputation are on the line every time you suggest a name. That you have continued to put ours forward is a form of trust we take seriously, and we have always regarded protecting your reputation as part of our brief, not incidental to it.

To the mortgage brokers and lenders whose transactions we have worked alongside: the coordination required to bring finance and settlement together on time is considerable, and it works only when both sides are responsive, organised and willing to communicate. Thank you for the professionalism you have consistently brought to that process, and for the referrals that have followed from it.

To the accountants, financial planners and advisers who have directed clients to us: you are frequently the first professional a client speaks to about a property decision, and the recommendation you make carries significant weight. We appreciate the confidence you have shown in sending clients our way.

To the solicitors and law firms who have referred conveyancing matters, and to the fellow conveyancers who have referred work outside their capacity or geography: professional generosity of this kind is not obligatory, and we do not take it for granted.

To the builders, developers, buyers' advocates, surveyors and property professionals we work with regularly: thank you for the collaboration, and for making complicated transactions considerably more manageable than they would otherwise be.

Referral relationships are built slowly and can be lost quickly.

Every one of ours represents somebody who decided that our work was good enough to attach their own name to. That is a responsibility we have never treated lightly, and this recognition is shared with all of you.

To Our Colleagues, Mentors and the Wider Profession

Conveyancing is a profession in which knowledge is passed down. No amount of formal study prepares a practitioner for the practical realities of a difficult settlement, an uncooperative counterparty, or an unusual title issue arising at the worst possible moment. That understanding is transmitted by practitioners willing to share what they have learned.

To the mentors who took time they did not have to explain how something worked, to talk through an approach, or to offer a second opinion when one was needed, thank you. Your generosity shaped how this practice operates, and its influence appears in the way we handle matters every single day.

To our colleagues across the profession, including those we encounter on the other side of transactions: the standard of professionalism and goodwill in Victorian conveyancing is genuinely high, and it makes difficult work substantially easier. A cooperative practitioner across the table is worth a great deal.

And to the Australian Institute of Conveyancers, Victorian Division: thank you for the work you do in maintaining standards, providing education, supporting practitioners and advocating for the profession. The Institute's efforts benefit every conveyancer in this state, and by extension every consumer who relies on one.

To Our Team and Our Families

To everyone within Fast Settle: the standard this award recognises is maintained by the whole of this practice, not by any single person. Thank you for the care you bring to the detail, for the composure you maintain when matters become difficult, and for treating each client's transaction as though it were your own.

And to our families, thank you for the patience through the late nights, the settlement-day pressure and the phone calls that arrive at inconvenient hours. This profession asks a great deal of the people who live alongside it, and that contribution rarely receives acknowledgement. It is acknowledged here.

What Happens Now

An award is a milestone, not a conclusion, and it changes nothing about the way we intend to practise.

The client whose settlement is scheduled for next week is not interested in what we won in 2026. They are interested in whether their transaction completes properly, whether their questions are answered clearly, and whether the person handling their matter is paying attention. That will always be the real measure of this practice, and it is assessed one file at a time.

So our commitment remains exactly what it has been: clear communication from the outset, rigorous attention to detail, early identification of problems, and a settlement process managed properly from initial instruction through to completion.

Recognition of this kind is an encouragement to maintain that standard, not a licence to relax it.

To everyone who has been part of this journey, our clients, our referral partners, our colleagues, our mentors, our team and our families, thank you. We are genuinely grateful, and we are looking forward to what comes next.

Considering a property purchase, sale or transfer?

We would welcome the opportunity to assist. To discuss your matter with our team, please contact us or book a consultation.

Fast Settle Conveyancing and Property Law. Member of the Australian Institute of Conveyancers, Victorian Division.