Upfront costs of buying your first home in VIC and Queensland
Saving your deposit is a big step. Before you start making offers, it helps to know what else needs to fit into your budget.
Alongside your contribution to the purchase price, you may need money for duty, legal work, inspections, lender and registration charges, insurance and moving. Some costs arrive before settlement. Others continue after you get the keys. The amount depends on the property, your finance and any concessions you qualify for.
Is a 5% deposit all you need?
A 5% deposit is not the same as your total buying budget. Eligible first-home buyers may be able to use the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, but the participating lender still assesses the application and property. You remain responsible for buying costs and repayments.
There are also two different deposit questions: what your sale contract requires you to pay, and what your lender requires you to contribute. The amounts and payment dates may differ. Ask your solicitor or conveyancer and lender to line them up before you commit.
The official 5% Deposit Scheme guide explains the guarantee and ongoing obligations. It is not a cash payment towards your fees.
Which buying costs should you allow for?
Start with itemised quotes rather than one general estimate. Check what is included, what is extra and when each payment is due.
- Legal and conveyancing costs: contract review, searches and settlement work. Ask whether the quote includes searches, other outlays and GST where applicable.
- Property checks: building and pest inspections, and relevant owners corporation or body corporate records. The checks you need depend on the property.
- Transfer duty: often called stamp duty. Your state, property type, dutiable value and eligibility determine what you pay.
- Registration and lender charges: title transfer, mortgage registration and any lender application, valuation or settlement fees. Ask which apply to your loan.
- Lenders mortgage insurance, if required: confirm the amount and how it would be paid. A small deposit does not automatically mean you qualify for an LMI exemption.
- Settlement adjustments: ask your legal adviser whether an adjustment for rates, water or other property outgoings is payable.
- Insurance, moving and connections: get quotes and confirm when cover must start. Allow for removalists, utility connections and essential setup costs.
Consumer Affairs Victoria’s buying guidance provides a useful starting checklist. In Queensland, the government recommends independent legal advice before buying.
What changes for first-home buyers in Victoria?
Eligible first-home buyers can receive a duty exemption on a property with a dutiable value up to $600,000, or a concession from $600,001 to $750,000. The property can be a new home, an established home or eligible vacant land.
For vacant land, the State Revenue Office assesses the land’s dutiable value without including the building contract. That is different from a combined land-and-build budget.
These benefits have eligibility and residence requirements. A grant and a duty concession are separate benefits; qualifying for one does not automatically confirm the other. Ask your legal adviser to check your circumstances before putting a zero in the duty column.
Read the official Victorian duty rules and our Victoria first-home buyer guide.
What changes for first-home buyers in Queensland?
Queensland has separate duty concessions for different purchase types.
Buying an established home
For eligible agreements from 9 June 2024, the first-home concession can reduce duty to nil for homes valued at $700,000 or less. Partial relief is available above $700,000 and below $800,000. A separate home concession may still apply outside the first-home concession threshold.
Check the Queensland first-home concession rules.
Buying a new home
For eligible contracts from 1 May 2025, the first-home new-home concession can reduce duty to nil. There is no value cap for the home and its residential land under this concession. Additional non-residential land can still attract duty.
That does not remove the separate limits or conditions for a grant or loan scheme. See the new-home duty concession.
Buying vacant land to build
Eligible agreements from 1 May 2025 can receive nil duty on residential vacant land. Conditions include building your first home and moving in within two years of settlement. Non-residential portions are treated separately.
Read the vacant-land concession requirements.
Across these concessions, prior ownership, occupation and other eligibility rules matter. For transactions from 1 August 2026, QRO also specifies citizenship or residency requirements, including its category of specified foreign retirees. Have your solicitor check the applicable rules for every buyer.
Our Queensland first-home buyer guide explains how the different benefits fit together.
What extra costs should you check if you are building?
A package price is a starting point for checking the contracts. Ask what is included for site works, service connections, flooring, fencing, driveway and landscaping. Identify allowances, exclusions and how variations are priced.
Also plan for the period between buying the land and moving in. Depending on your arrangements, you may have rent and loan costs at the same time. Leave room for delays and costs that are not yet fixed.
Use our house-and-land package checklist to compare the scope of each offer. A lower advertised price is not enough to establish the lower total cost.
A simple example: avoid counting your deposit twice
Suppose the purchase price is $600,000 and your lender confirms that you need a $30,000 contribution towards it. That is 5% of the price.
If you have already paid an agreed $10,000 contract deposit that counts towards that contribution, the remaining contribution is $20,000. You would then add the other unpaid buying costs and the reserve you want to keep.
The $10,000 is part of the purchase price, not an extra fee on top of the $30,000. Ask your lender and legal adviser to confirm how payments are credited.
This is an arithmetic example only, not a property offer or confirmation that you qualify for a loan or scheme.
Your upfront-cost worksheet
Copy or print this checklist and fill it in using your quotes. Keep amounts already paid separate from amounts still due.
| Budget item | What to record |
|---|---|
| Contribution towards the purchase | Lender-confirmed total and remaining amount |
| Contract deposit already paid | Amount credited towards that contribution; do not add it twice |
| Transfer duty | Amount after your eligibility and concession are checked |
| Legal work and searches | Itemised quote, including applicable outlays |
| Inspections and property records | Quotes for the checks relevant to your home |
| Registration and lender charges | Applicable fees and any LMI |
| Settlement adjustments | Amount your legal adviser confirms is payable |
| Insurance, moving and connections | Quotes and payment dates |
| Building extras, if applicable | Exclusions, allowances and agreed variations |
| Cash reserve after purchase | Money kept aside for ongoing costs and unexpected expenses |
For each unpaid item, write down the due date and how it will be funded. Your settlement statement and lender’s figures should agree before you transfer funds.
Can you subtract a grant from your savings target?
Do not assume a grant will be available for an early contract payment. Confirm eligibility, the amount, payment timing and how the lender will treat it first.
Our grant-as-deposit guide explains the VIC and Queensland timing differences. Keep the grant on a separate line until you know when it can actually help fund the purchase.
What should you check before committing?
- What money must be available before settlement?
- What is included in each quote, and what could change?
- Which duty concession applies to this property and these buyers?
- Which costs will your lender fund, and which must you pay yourself?
- What will your budget look like after moving in?
Allow for repayments, rates, insurance, maintenance and any owners corporation or body corporate fees in your ongoing budget. ASIC’s Moneysmart home-buying guide explains why purchase costs and ongoing affordability both matter.
Take the next step with a clearer budget
Your Property Pathway helps you understand the first-home buying process and compare property pathways in Victoria and Queensland. Home-loan assistance is provided separately by My Finance People.
Explore our first-home buyer help to see what the initial conversation covers. Bring your questions about the property, the costs and what needs checking next.
This guide provides general information. Your lender and solicitor or conveyancer can confirm the finance and legal requirements for your purchase.