Stamp Duty and Other Costs First-Time Buyers Forget to Budget For
Deposit size gets most of the planning attention, but a real budget needs to include a handful of other costs that catch first-time buyers off guard.
Costs to plan for
- Stamp duty — varies significantly by state and by whether you qualify for a first-home buyer concession
- Conveyancing or solicitor’s fees
- Building and pest inspection, see our guide to what these cover
- Loan application and valuation fees
- Lenders Mortgage Insurance, if applicable — see our LMI guide
- Moving costs and immediate setup costs for the new property
Stamp duty concessions
Most states offer some form of concession or exemption for eligible first-home buyers, though eligibility criteria and thresholds change periodically — check your state revenue office’s current rules before finalising your budget, rather than relying on a figure you’ve seen elsewhere.
Build in a buffer
A simple rule of thumb some buyers use is to budget an additional amount beyond the deposit specifically for these costs, rather than assuming the deposit is the only upfront figure that matters. A broker such as Chamberlains can help model this against your specific numbers.
Plan the whole picture
For how this fits into the wider purchase process, see our first-home buyer’s guide.
