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The whole first home buyer journey, in order
Read this page start to finish for the full picture, or jump straight to the part you are up to. Each link goes to a detailed guide of its own.
Getting the deposit together
- How to save a house deposit. How much you need and how long it takes
- Using super for your deposit. The First Home Super Saver Scheme, explained
- Rent as genuine savings. How paying rent can count towards your savings record
- Guarantor loans. Buying with help from family, and what they are risking
Government help
- First home buyer grants, state by state. What every state pays in 2026, and the stamp duty rules with it
- Buying with a 5% deposit. The government scheme that removes the insurance premium
- The 2% deposit for single parents. The Family Home Guarantee
The costs people forget
- Lenders mortgage insurance. What it costs, and four ways to avoid paying it
- Stamp duty for first home buyers. What you pay and what you are exempt from
- Stamp duty exemptions and concessions. The thresholds in every state
- How stamp duty works in NSW. The detail for New South Wales buyers
Choosing the loan and the people
- Best home loans for first home buyers. Deposit, loan type, features and what lenders check
- Do you need a mortgage broker. What a broker does and what they cost you
- Best mortgage brokers in Sydney. Our ranked list, reviewed regularly
- The buying process step by step. From first inspection through to settlement
Run your own numbers
- Budget planner. Work out what you can put aside each month
- Stamp duty calculator. What duty costs on the place you are looking at
Most people buy their first home once. The people on the other side of the table do it every week, and that gap is where first home buyers lose money and sleep.
This guide covers what you actually have to decide, in the order you have to decide it. The detail behind each step sits in its own guide, linked above and throughout.
What is different in 2026
Three things changed the maths for first home buyers, and plenty of advice online still has the old version.
- The 5% deposit scheme has no income test and no cap on places. That took effect on 1 October 2025. You put in 5%, you pay no lenders mortgage insurance, and the only real gate left is the property price cap for your area. Sydney is $1.5 million.
- The grants are almost all new-build only. They run from $10,000 in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia to $50,000 in the Northern Territory. Buy an established house and in most states you get nothing, even though the stamp duty concession may still apply. The current figures for every state are in our first home buyer grants guide.
- Lenders still test you at 3 percentage points above the actual rate. APRA confirmed in May 2026 that the buffer stays. On a loan advertised at 6% you are assessed at 9%, which is why borrowing power feels lower than the rate suggests.
The cash rate has sat at 4.35% since the August 2026 board meeting. Our rate index tracks where the market and the economists think it goes next.
Work out what you can actually afford
Start with the repayment rather than the purchase price. A number that works on a spreadsheet and not in your week is the fastest way to hate the house you bought.
Two figures matter before you look at a single listing: what you can put aside each month, and what you have saved. Our budget planner does the first. For the second, work backwards from the deposit positions that exist: 20% and no insurance premium, 5% under the government scheme, or somewhere between the two and a premium on top. Our guide to saving a house deposit goes through each one.
James Haywood
Financial Services Expert
“One of the biggest advantages first home buyers can give themselves is clarity before they start looking at properties. A pre-approval isn’t just about knowing your maximum borrowing amount, it helps you understand repayments, lender requirements and what price range genuinely suits your circumstances.
We often see buyers fall in love with a property first and organise finance second, which can create unnecessary stress. Getting your finance strategy sorted early puts you in a much stronger position when the right home comes along.”
James Haywood – Director | Approved Finance
Getting your finances ready
Genuine savings
Most lenders want to see money you accumulated yourself, usually over three months or more. A lump sum that landed last week counts towards the purchase but not towards this test. Gifts from family are treated differently again and often need a letter confirming the money is not repayable.
Some lenders will count a rental history instead, which matters if you have been paying someone else’s mortgage for years. We cover that in rent as genuine savings.
Pre-approval, and the kind that counts
There are two things called pre-approval. One is a number a website generates in thirty seconds. The other has been read by a credit officer who has seen your payslips. Only the second one tells you anything, and only the second one carries weight with an agent.
It usually lasts 90 days. Get it before you bid, not after you fall in love with a place, because doing those two things in that order is what keeps you in control of the negotiation.
What the lender looks at
Income, existing debts, living expenses and dependants, then a stress test on top. The surprise for most people is the credit card: an unused $15,000 limit is assessed as though you owe it, so closing it can lift your borrowing power more than a pay rise would.
Employment history matters more than a credit score. Most lenders want you past probation, and self-employed buyers usually need two years of returns. A default does not end the process, it narrows which lenders will look at you.
The people you will deal with
A mortgage broker
Four out of five new home loans in Australia now go through a broker. They test your scenario against a panel of lenders before anything touches your file, which matters most when something about you is awkward: eight months in the job, a gifted deposit, casual income, a HECS balance. The lender pays them, not you, and since 2020 they have been legally required to act in your best interests. More in our guide to whether first home buyers need a broker, or start from our ranked lists for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The selling agent
Worth remembering who pays them. The agent at the open home works for the seller and is paid on the sale price. They are useful for information about the property and the street, and they are not your adviser.
A buyer’s agent
Paid by you, works only for you, and finds and negotiates the purchase. They earn their fee in tight markets and on off-market stock, and they are an added cost at a point where money is thin. Our city lists of buyer’s agents are a place to start if you go that way.
A conveyancer or solicitor
They handle the legal transfer, review the contract before you sign and claim the stamp duty concession on your behalf. Engage one before you make an offer, not after. Tell them you are a first home buyer at the start, because the concession is claimed on the transfer documents. See what conveyancing costs.
A building and pest inspector
A few hundred dollars against a roof you cannot see. Book the inspection before the contract goes unconditional, and read the report rather than the summary page.
The purchase, step by step
1. Set the brief
Price ceiling first, then suburb, then the list of things you will not compromise on. Two or three non-negotiables, not ten. Everything else is a trade.
2. Inspect, and keep notes
After six Saturdays the houses blur. Photograph the meter box, the wet areas and anything that looks recently painted, and write down the asking price and what it sold for later. That record is what teaches you the market.
3. Make the offer
Private treaty means you negotiate and can attach conditions such as finance or a building report. An auction is unconditional on the fall of the hammer, so your finance, your inspection and your deposit all have to be sorted before you raise your hand. How a private treaty sale works covers the difference properly.
4. Formal approval
The lender now values the property and approves the loan against it, not just against you. A valuation under the contract price is the thing that derails settlements, and it is more common on off the plan purchases.
5. Sign and pay the deposit
The deposit on exchange is usually 10% and is separate from the deposit you have saved for the loan. Your conveyancer checks the contract first. Deposit bonds are one way around a cash shortfall at this point.
6. Settlement
Typically 30 to 90 days after exchange. Do the final inspection in that window, not on the day, and expect the grant to be paid at settlement if your lender lodged it for you.
Four mistakes that cost the most
Borrowing to your ceiling. The bank approves a maximum, not a recommendation. Rates move, and the assessment rate exists because they have to.
Skipping the inspection to look competitive. It happens most at auction, and it is the one saving that can cost tens of thousands.
Forgetting the costs beyond the price. Stamp duty where it applies, legal fees, inspections, lenders mortgage insurance, moving, and the first council rates notice. Run the duty figure through our stamp duty calculator before you set your ceiling.
Buying for this year only. A one bedroom flat that suits you now is a problem in three years if a baby or a dog is on the horizon. Selling and rebuying costs duty twice.
After settlement
Insurance has to be in place from the day you exchange in most states, not from the day you move in. Check the contract, because the risk usually passes to you earlier than people assume.
Then there are the bills that never existed when you rented: council rates, water, strata levies if it is an apartment, and the repairs the landlord used to handle. Budget for them in the first year rather than meeting them one at a time.
One thing worth doing at the twelve month mark is checking the rate you are actually on against what the same lender is offering new customers. The gap is usually worth a phone call.
Your checklist
Before you look
- Work out the monthly repayment you can carry, then the price that matches it
- Check which deposit position you are in: 20%, 5% under the scheme, or in between with a premium
- Check your state grant and duty position, since it decides whether new or established suits you
- Clear or close credit card limits you are not using
- Get pre-approval assessed by a credit officer, and note the expiry date
While you are looking
- Engage a conveyancer before you make an offer
- Book building and pest before the contract goes unconditional
- Ask whether your lender is an approved agent for the grant
- Check the price cap for the suburb if you are using the 5% scheme
- Keep a record of asking prices and sale prices in your streets
Once the offer is accepted
- Send the contract to your conveyancer before signing anything
- Have the deposit ready, or a deposit bond arranged
- Arrange insurance from the exchange date
- Book the final inspection a few days before settlement
- Confirm the grant and duty concession are being claimed at settlement
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FAQs on buying your first home
Five per cent is enough under the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, which also removes the lenders mortgage insurance premium. Outside the scheme, 20% avoids that premium and gets you the sharpest rates, and anything in between means paying it. Single parents can buy on 2%.
A state grant of between $10,000 and $50,000, almost always on new builds only. A stamp duty exemption or concession, which in most states is worth more than the grant. The 5% deposit scheme. Help to Buy, where the government takes an ownership share. And the First Home Super Saver Scheme. Current figures for every state are in our first home buyer grants guide.
Stamp duty where it applies, conveyancing, building and pest inspections, loan fees, insurance from the day you exchange, and moving. Then the first council rates notice. In New South Wales a first home buyer under $800,000 pays no duty, which removes the largest of them.
It tells you your real ceiling and agents treat pre-approved buyers differently. Get one a credit officer has assessed rather than a number a website generated, because only the first survives contact with an auction. It usually lasts 90 days.
Money you accumulated yourself, usually over three months or more. A gift from family counts towards the purchase but is treated differently and often needs a letter confirming it is not repayable. Some lenders accept a rental history instead, which we cover in rent as genuine savings.
The grant pushes you towards new, since almost every state limits it to new builds. Duty concessions often run the other way and cover established homes as well. Work out both numbers for your own state first, because in South Australia the choice is worth around $40,000.
Pre-approval takes a few days to a few weeks depending on the lender and how complete your paperwork is, and it lasts about 90 days. Settlement is usually 30 to 90 days after you exchange contracts. Most people spend longer looking than either of those.
Not for most first home buyers. The 5% scheme does the same job as a 20% deposit in terms of avoiding the insurance premium, without the years of saving. The question now is whether the place you want sits under the price cap for your area.
Yes, through a guarantee over part of their own home, which drops your loan below 80% of the combined value and removes the insurance premium. It also puts their property at risk, so both sides should read what a guarantor is signing up for before anyone commits.
Income, existing debts, living expenses and how many people you support, then a stress test on top. APRA still requires lenders to assess you at 3 percentage points above the actual rate, so a loan advertised at 6% is assessed at 9%. An unused credit card limit is counted as though you owe it.