If you're buying your first home, it helps to know the order things happen in. Before you start looking, you'll work out what you can borrow, check which government schemes you can use and get pre-approval. Then you find a home, have it inspected and the contract checked, make an offer or bid, and settle.

On top of your deposit, you'll pay stamp duty (a one-off state tax on buying property, which first home buyers in most states pay less of, or none), registration fees, a conveyancer to handle the legal side, and inspections.

Which grants you can get and whether you have time to change your mind both depend on your state, so each step below says what differs.

The moment to plan around is when you sign the contract or win at auction. After that, pulling out usually costs money or isn't possible, so finance, inspections and the contract check need to be done before then, or written into your offer.

1. Work out what you can borrow and the deposit you need

How much you can afford to borrow depends on your income and financial commitments, your deposit and other savings, and your credit report, according to Moneysmart. It suggests saving a deposit of 20 per cent of the price, plus your buying costs.

A 20 per cent deposit usually means you avoid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). It's charged when you borrow more than 80 per cent of the home's value, and it's usually a one-off cost. LMI protects the lender, not you.

You can buy with less. The government scheme in step 2 lets you buy with 5 per cent and no LMI, and with some lenders a parent can guarantee part of your loan.

A guarantor may have to repay what they guaranteed, or all of the loan if the guarantee isn't limited, Moneysmart warns. Read how buying with help from your parents works before you ask.

What it costs: nothing yet. You can get your credit report free every three months from each credit reporting body, according to Moneysmart. Its mortgage calculator shows your repayments, and you can test them at a rate 2 percentage points higher.

2. Check which government schemes you can use

As a first home buyer, you can get help from the federal government and from your state, and in most cases you can use both.

• The 5 per cent Deposit Scheme (formerly the Home Guarantee Scheme) lets you buy with a 5 per cent deposit and no LMI, because the government guarantees part of your loan to the lender. Since 1 October 2025 there's no income cap and no limit on places.
• Help to Buy opened on 5 December 2025. The government pays up to 40 per cent of a new home's price (30 per cent of an existing one) for a share of its value, so you need a 2 per cent deposit and a smaller loan. You own the home, and repay the government's share when you sell, or sooner.
• The First Home Owner Grant is a cash grant for a new home, or one you build. It isn't paid on an established home (one that's been lived in or sold as a home before), and the ACT stopped paying it in 2019. Some states count a home substantially renovated for sale as new, if no one has lived in it since the work.
• First home buyer stamp duty concessions cut or remove the duty, usually up to a price limit, and in most states they apply to established homes too.
• The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you withdraw voluntary super contributions, plus earnings, for a deposit. Up to $15,000 a year, and $50,000 in total, can count (before-tax contributions at 85 per cent). Ask the ATO for a determination (how much you can release), then request the release before you sign or within 90 days after (for determinations since 15 September 2024).

As a first home buyer, you can use the 5 per cent Deposit Scheme if you're a citizen or permanent resident aged 18 or over, you'll live in the home, you haven't owned property in Australia in the past 10 years and you have less than 20 per cent saved after buying costs.

Single parents and single legal guardians can buy with 2 per cent, under different rules. You apply through a participating lender, and both the price and the lender's valuation have to be at or under the cap for your area (table below).

Help to Buy is only for Australian citizens earning up to $103,000 single or $165,000 as a couple or single parent (2026-27). It has its own price caps, which are sometimes lower ($1.3 million in Sydney). You can't own any other property (with limited exceptions for single parents), and you can't use it with the 5 per cent Deposit Scheme.

What differs by state (checked 21 October 2026):

Every grant and concession has conditions, such as citizenship or residency, never having owned property, and moving in within a set time. Check yours with your state's revenue office before you sign: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT.

If you're buying in Queensland on a contract signed since 1 August 2026, each buyer who claims a stamp duty concession must be a citizen or permanent resident (or a specified foreign retiree). If a co-buyer isn't, they pay full duty on their share, and may also pay the additional foreign acquirer duty (a surcharge for foreign buyers).

3. Add up the costs of buying, on top of your deposit

Stamp duty is usually your biggest cost, unless your state's first home concession covers it. Then come government registration fees, a conveyancer, inspections and loan fees.

If you're buying in SA or Queensland, the transfer fee rises steeply with the price, and in SA it runs to several thousand dollars on a $700,000 home. In those two states, and in Tasmania, the ACT and the NT, ask your conveyancer for the current figure.

Once you own the home, add insurance, council rates and any strata levies (the fees owners in a unit or townhouse block pay for shared areas) to your budget.

Our guides to the costs of buying in NSW, Victoria and Queensland cover the common costs in those states, and our guide to stamp duty explains how it's worked out.

4. Get pre-approval

Pre-approval, also called conditional approval, is a lender's indication of how much it may lend you, based on your finances. It usually lasts 3 to 6 months and isn't a guarantee: the lender still assesses you and the property before it gives formal (unconditional) approval.

It helps you set a price range and shows agents you're serious, without committing you to the loan. If you're using the 5 per cent Deposit Scheme, you have 90 days from pre-approval to sign a contract.

What it costs: some lenders charge no application or set-up fee, and others charge several hundred dollars to set up the loan.

5. Find the right home

Moneysmart suggests keeping your search within the price range your pre-approval helps you set. Our suburb profiles can help you compare areas.

Not every home is advertised. OpenAdvantage is OpenAgent's free buyer network: tell us your suburb and what you're after, and you can get early access to homes before they're listed. We don't act as your agent when you buy.

If you'd rather have someone search and negotiate on your behalf, a buyer's agent works for you, for a fee.

What differs by state: what agents can tell you about price. In Queensland, agents can't give a price guide for a home going to auction. In Victoria, since 16 October 2026, agents must publish the seller's reserve price at least 7 days before an auction.

6. Inspect the home and get the reports

Once you're serious about a home, book a building and pest inspection before you're committed to buying it. A building inspection looks for structural problems, damp and electrical safety issues, and a pest inspection looks for termites. For a unit or townhouse, ask for a strata report too.

Where there's a cooling-off period (a short window after signing to pull out, step 9), you can inspect during it. There's none by law in WA or Tasmania, none in the NT once your conveyancer handles the exchange, and none at any auction, so inspect before you bid or make your offer subject to a satisfactory report.

What it costs: most building and pest inspections for a 3 to 4 bedroom house cost $495 to $650, and more in the ACT. Our guide to building inspection costs has more.

What differs by state: in the ACT, the seller generally must have building and pest reports available before you make an offer. If you buy, you repay the cost of the required reports at settlement.

7. Have the contract checked before you sign

Ask a conveyancer or solicitor to review the contract before you sign it, or before auction day. They'll spot risks in it and handle the legal work through to settlement.

What it costs: published conveyancing fees for a purchase ran from $880 to $2,750 in October 2026, plus searches and settlement fees. See what a conveyancer costs and when to choose one.

What differs by state: the documents the seller must give you, which your conveyancer checks alongside the contract. In NSW they're attached to the contract, in Victoria you get a Section 32 vendor statement, and in Queensland a seller disclosure statement (since 1 August 2025).

In SA, the seller's Form 1 statement must reach you at least 10 clear days before settlement. If you get it after you sign, your cooling-off period runs from when you get it. WA and Tasmania have no required vendor statement for a house, so your own checks matter more.

8. Make an offer or bid at auction

In a private sale, you make an offer through the agent. You can make it conditional, for example subject to finance approval, a satisfactory building and pest inspection or a valuation.

An auction sale is generally unconditional. If you win, you sign straight away, pay a deposit on the day and get no cooling-off period. Moneysmart suggests first home buyers watch a few auctions before bidding, and our auction tips for buyers cover what to do on the day.

What it costs: the deposit on the contract, usually 10 per cent of the price, although no law sets a standard amount. In SA it's capped at $100 until cooling-off ends. If you've saved less than 10 per cent, ask the agent whether the seller will accept a smaller deposit, before you offer or bid.

In a NSW private sale you may pay as little as 0.25 per cent at exchange (when you and the seller swap signed contracts, step 9) and the balance when cooling-off ends.

What differs by state: you must register to bid, with ID, in NSW, Queensland, SA and the ACT. See the auction rules in your state.

9. Sign, pay the deposit and use the cooling-off period

Once your offer is accepted, you sign the contract and pay the deposit. In NSW this is called exchange. Most states then give you a short cooling-off period to pull out, usually at a cost, as the table below shows.

A clear business day is a whole business day, not counting the day you sign. In the NT, the standard contract gives no cooling-off if your conveyancer handled the exchange, so have the contract checked before you sign.

There's no cooling-off if you buy at auction. If the home is passed in (fails to sell), you may not get one straight after either. In NSW you get none for a deal done that day, and in SA and the ACT none for a deal that day if you bid at the auction.

In Queensland, if you were a registered bidder, you get none for a deal made up to 5pm on the second clear business day after the auction. In Victoria, there's no cooling-off on a deal made on the day of an auction or in the 3 clear business days before or after it.

You can also waive (give up) your cooling-off period. In NSW, SA and the ACT that takes a certificate from your lawyer (or a conveyancer in NSW), and in Queensland a written notice to the seller.

Tell your lender as soon as your offer is accepted, so it can value the home and give formal approval. If your contract is subject to finance, keep an eye on its deadline.

If the home is destroyed or made unfit to live in before settlement, the law in Victoria and Queensland lets you pull out. In other states, ask your conveyancer when the home becomes your risk and when your cover needs to start. Your lender may also make home insurance a condition of your loan.

10. Settle and move in

Settlement is the day the home becomes yours: your lender pays the seller, ownership passes to you, your mortgage starts and you get the keys. Your contract sets the date, often about 6 weeks after exchange in NSW, and usually 30 to 90 days after signing for a Victorian private sale.

Ask your conveyancer whether your contract gives you a final inspection, and if it does, book it for the last few days before settlement. Your conveyancer handles settlement itself. In NSW it's now electronic, with no cheques or paper title.

What it costs: if you're hiring removalists, two movers and a truck cost a median of $167.50 an hour on a weekday (October 2026), before any extras. Our guides to moving costs and choosing a settlement date go into more detail.

What differs by state: when stamp duty is due. In NSW it's due within 3 months of signing, or at settlement if that's sooner. In Queensland you lodge the duty documents within 30 days of becoming liable, usually when you sign (or when the contract becomes unconditional).

Wherever you buy, ask your conveyancer for your deadline when you sign.

If you used a grant, a concession or the 5 per cent Deposit Scheme, you'll need to move in by a deadline and live there for a set time.

Under the 5 per cent Deposit Scheme, you need to move in within 6 months of settlement (or, for a new build, of the occupancy certificate) and keep living there for as long as the guarantee applies. Grants and duty concessions usually need you to move in within 12 months and stay for 6 to 12 months in a row.

If you're selling a home as well

You'll need to decide which comes first and line up the two settlements. Our guides to buying before you sell and to selling cover each side.

Frequently asked questions about buying a house in Australia

Where these figures come from

Scheme rules, grants and stamp duty concessions are from Housing Australia's first home buyer site, the ATO and each state and territory revenue office, checked on 21 October 2026. Cooling-off and contract rules are from each state's law and consumer regulator, checked between 16 and 21 October 2026.

Prices are from businesses' published price pages (building and pest inspectors, conveyancers and removalists, collected on 19 and 20 October 2026), the land titles offices' 2026-27 fee schedules and lenders' fee pages. Rules and fees change, often on 1 July, so check with your revenue office and conveyancer before you sign.