First Home Buyer Checklist: What Australians Actually Need to Sort Out

Buying your first home in Australia involves more moving parts than most guides let on. Between deposit requirements, government schemes that change every budget, inspections that can save or sink you, and a settlement process with its own jargon, it’s easy to miss something that costs you later.

This checklist walks through the order most first home buyers should tackle things – from finance through to your first weeks in the property.

1. Sort your deposit and borrowing capacity

Most lenders want a 20% deposit to avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), though several first home buyer schemes let you in with as little as 5%. Before you start looking at properties, get a clear picture of:

• Your genuine savings (lenders typically want to see 5% saved over at least three months)
• Your borrowing capacity, based on income, expenses, and existing debts
• What LMI would cost if your deposit is under 20%
• Stamp duty in your state – NSW, VIC, and QLD all have different first home buyer concessions

Talk to a mortgage broker or two before committing to a lender. Pre-approval is usually valid for 90 days and gives you a realistic budget to shop with.

2. Book the right pre-purchase inspections

Once you’ve found a property you’re serious about, this is where you spend a few hundred dollars to potentially avoid a six-figure mistake. The standard inspections are:

• Building inspection – structural issues, roof condition, dampness, cracking
• Pest inspection – termites, borers, evidence of past treatment
• Strata report for apartments – financial health of the owners’ corporation, planned special levies, ongoing disputes

For older homes, also consider a separate Plumbing inspection from a local company like Dial Up Plumbing. Building reports cover what’s visible, but they rarely include a camera down the drains or pressure-testing of the supply lines. In Sydney terraces, Melbourne workers’ cottages, and pre-1980s homes generally, the original cast iron and earthenware pipework is often near the end of its life. Tree root intrusion, corroded stacks, and leaking shower membranes are common and expensive to fix retrospectively.

If the property has a pool, septic system, or is on tank water, factor those into your inspection list as well.

3. Check which government schemes you qualify for

Australia has several first home buyer schemes, and the eligibility rules shift regularly. The main ones to look at:

• First Home Guarantee – buy with a 5% deposit, no LMI, subject to price caps
• Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee – similar, but for regional postcodes
• First Home Super Saver Scheme – save for a deposit inside super at a lower tax rate
• State-based stamp duty concessions – full or partial exemptions depending on property value

Price caps vary by city and region, so check whether properties in your search area actually fall under the threshold. Sydney and Melbourne caps are higher than regional caps but still leave plenty of suburbs out of reach.

4. Get your legal work sorted

The legal and settlement side is where first home buyers most often underestimate the work involved. You’ll need a solicitor or Conveyancing specialist like Entry Conveyancing to review the contract of sale, check the title and any encumbrances, handle the exchange, and run the settlement process with the bank and the vendor’s representative.

Costs typically sit between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on the state and property complexity. Strata properties, off-the-plan purchases, and any property with easements, covenants, or heritage overlays take more work. Get a fixed quote in writing before engaging anyone, and ask what’s included – some quotes exclude search fees, which can add several hundred dollars.

In NSW and VIC, contracts can be reviewed before signing, and this is worth doing. Issues like unapproved building works, restrictive covenants, or unusual special conditions are easier to address before you’ve committed.

5. Define what you actually want

Before inspecting properties, write down:

• Maximum price, including stamp duty, legals, inspections, and moving costs
• Non-negotiables (bedrooms, parking, outdoor space)
• Preferred suburbs, plus one or two backup areas
• House vs apartment vs townhouse
• Whether you’re prepared to renovate

Older terraces, weatherboard cottages, and 1970s brick veneers all come with different maintenance profiles. Apartments shift the work onto strata but introduce body corporate costs and bylaws you’ll be bound by.

6. Make your offer and negotiate

Auctions and private treaties work differently. At auction, your bid is unconditional – no cooling-off period, no subject-to-finance clause. You need pre-approval, inspections done, and a deposit ready before bidding.

Private treaty gives you more room to negotiate terms. You can include conditions like subject to finance, subject to building and pest, or a longer settlement period. In a soft market, vendors often accept reasonable conditions. In a hot market, unconditional offers win.

Either way, don’t show your hand on price. Agents work for the vendor, and casual comments about your maximum budget tend to come back as the asking figure.

7. Plan your first month in the property

Settlement day usually involves a final inspection a few hours before keys are handed over. Check that included items are still there, no new damage has appeared, and the property is in the agreed condition.

In your first month:

• Connect electricity, gas, internet, and water accounts in your name
• Update your address with Medicare, the ATO, your driver’s licence, super, banks, and insurance
• Set up home and contents insurance (technically you need building cover from the day of exchange, not settlement)
• Test smoke alarms and replace batteries
• Locate and label the water mains, gas mains, and electrical switchboard
• Get keys re-cut or locks changed if you want fresh security

For older properties, the first few weeks are also when latent issues surface – gutters that leak in the first storm, hot water systems that don’t quite recover, switchboards that trip under modern loads. Budget a maintenance buffer for the first year, not just for the purchase itself.

Final thoughts

The buyers who come through this process least stressed are the ones who treat it as a sequence rather than a sprint: finance, research, inspections, offer, legals, move-in. Skip a step and it usually catches up with you in the months after settlement.