Country guide
Buying a home in Australia
Signing at auction is unconditional. There is no cooling off, no finance clause and no way back.
Private treaty or auction, a contract that binds on exchange, and a conveyancer who has to read it before you sign. The buyer carries the risk of the property's condition almost entirely.
Checked August 2026. Thresholds, grants and taxes change with budgets - the sources at the end are the ones to trust over this page.
The essentials
- Deposit
- 20% to avoid mortgage insurance
- 5% is possible under the First Home Guarantee, where the insurance is waived
- Paid on exchange
- Usually 10% of the price
- Government charge
- Stamp duty, set by each state
- First home concessions vary widely by state and change often
- Who does the legal work
- Conveyancer or solicitor
- Binding at
- Exchange of contracts
- Settlement
- Commonly 30 to 42 days
The steps, in order
- 1Work out the deposit and the costs on topTwenty per cent avoids lenders mortgage insurance. Add stamp duty, legal fees, inspections and moving - these are cash, not borrowable.
- 2Get finance pre-approvalConditional on valuation, and it expires. It tells you the ceiling; it does not commit the lender to the specific property.
- 3Search, and read the price guide scepticallyUnderquoting is illegal in NSW and Victoria and still happens. Check every guide against recent comparable sales.
- 4Get the contract reviewed before you bid or offerIn Australia the contract is available before you commit, and it is where the vendor's solicitor has done their work. Special conditions routinely remove the buyer's remedies.
- 5Inspect: building, pest, and strata if applicableThe property is sold as it stands. Nothing found after exchange is the vendor's problem.
- 6Exchange, then settleCooling off applies to private treaty in most states and never at auction. Settlement is when the money and the keys move.
When you are committed
At auction, on the fall of the hammer, unconditionally. By private treaty, on exchange of contracts - after which a short cooling-off period applies in most states, at a forfeit of a small percentage.
- New South Wales: five business days cooling off, 0.25% forfeit
- Victoria: three business days
- Queensland: five business days
- South Australia: two business days
- Western Australia and Tasmania: no statutory cooling off
- No cooling off at auction anywhere
What the seller must tell you
Each state requires a disclosure pack attached to the contract - a title search, planning certificate, drainage diagram and more. A missing prescribed document can give you a right to rescind, which is why the pack is worth reading before you sign rather than after.
Condition is your problem
There is no implied warranty that the house is sound. A building and pest inspection before you commit is the only real protection, and at auction it has to be done before the day.
What to watch for
The things that cost Australian buyers money, in the order they tend to be discovered too late.
- Special conditions that delete 'on reasonable grounds' from the vendor's rescission right
- A contract that bars you from requiring a survey or a building certificate
- Strata minutes showing works discussed but no levy struck yet
- A pool certificate of non-compliance, which transfers a 90-day rectification duty to you
Where these figures come from
- NSW Fair Trading - buying a home
- Consumer Affairs Victoria - buying property
- Housing Australia - First Home Guarantee
Buying somewhere else?
The full Australian walkthrough, in six chapters, starts at the buying guide.
Start with the free price check
Paste a listing and see the likely range against the guide. No account needed, no card.
Information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state, province and territory, and change. Confirm with a qualified professional in Australia before acting. TrueBuy’s document review and price estimates currently cover Australian property only.