2025 Guide for First Time Home Buyers (Australia)

Like many others, you may be looking to purchase a home for the first time here in Australia. Chances are this decision will likely be the biggest financial decision in your life up to date and can feel overwhelming to start. In this article we will simplify the steps you need to take and understand if you are to be an Australian first time home buyer.

Step 1 : Understand Your Finances & What You Can Afford

If you're like me, the start of my journey simply consisted of me casually scrolling through property listings on a daily basis. I would imagine what it would be like to own all the various properties that caught my eye, and would continue to scroll for hours.

My advice is before you start your search, narrow it down by figuring out exactly what type of properties would be in your financial range, simply calculate with these 3 steps.

Deposit: Typically most lenders are gonna ask for a deposit of at least 5 - 20%. For example a house worth $600,000 you would need between $30,000 and $120,000.
Stamp Duty: This is a cost that often catches people off guard. If you're a First Time Home Buyer most states offer stamp duty exemptions or concessions. Always best to research the grants and programs in your specific state. This can save you tens of thousands.
Extra Costs: If your deposit is less than 20% you have to consider lender’s mortgage insurance,also known as (LMI). In addition to this there will be conveyancing fees, building inspections and moving expenses that will be essential to your purchase. Our rule of thumb for budgeting is that you want to set aside around 5-7% of the property price if you want to confidently cover these costs.

For myself to get a crystal clear picture, I used easily accessible mortgage calculators and various free budget apps to track my spending. Tracking is important because you may not realize where your money is going, things such as little subscriptions, or small expensive habits can make a world of difference in saving towards a deposit.

Step 2: Getting a Loan Pre-Approved.

With a pre-approval, sellers definitely take you more seriously and will prevent you from the let down of the century if you find out you can’t borrow enough for that dream home.

For those unfamiliar a pre-approval is when a lender has already accessed your financing and has authorized you for a determined borrowing amount. Speaking with a broker is the easiest and most optimal way to get this done as they tend to represent a wide range of lenders opposed to a traditional bank. You’’ll need to provide items such as proof of income, history of savings and records of existing debt. Your pre-approval generally only lasts 3 months so its ideal to time this for when you actually will need it.

Some extra advice is that you want to look for hidden fees, not just interest rates. Also keep in mind there are other benefits to consider such as flexible repayment options and offset accounts that can help you save your money in the long term. Again, typically it is much better to go through a reliable broker rather than a bank, as they will navigate you through a variety of different options in one go and explain the difference of each lender.

Step 3: Researching Locations and Properties

This is probably the most enjoyable step for most people, it certainly was for me. This is where you’ll get to window shop around for the place you want but keep in mind here that the stakes are high.

The best thing to do is start with a list of what elements will be most important for you and your family: proximity to schools, work, transportation or other things you enjoy. If you're in a more densely populated area like I was, you may want to consider that being close to the public transportation could save you hours of soul draining traffic each day.

Once you have an idea of what you want this makes it easy to narrow down various suburbs or areas that would fit the criteria of what you're looking for. Keep in mind things like market trends and development happening in the area that could affect you and your home in the future.

Step 4: Building Your Team

Trust me when I say, having the right team around you is one of the most crucial things you can do buying your first home. These are the professionals you’ll need to assemble your roster :

Mortgage Broker: Having a broker will make the loan process simple. They will have access to all the various lenders and loan options, and work with you to find the best rates and deals. They will also give you the best financial advice when it comes to purchasing your home.
Conveyancer/Solicitor: Will be essential in handling the legal side of things for you, its important to always review contracts to make sure there’s no hidden surprises if you plan on buying a home.
Building Inspector: Probably the most crucial step before buying a house, I will never recommend anyone skipping a building inspection. You don’t have to go far to find nightmare stories that could have been prevented by a building inspector. Thankfully when I was starting out I chose not to skip this step, which inspector has saved me from ten to hundreds of thousands in overlooked issues with a home.
Buyers Agent (Optional): In most cases this can be completely unnecessary expense. At our site homebuyerhelp.com.au we give you all the information and tools you need to purchase a home without a Buyer’s Agent. Although there are still some cases where you might want to consider an agent such as getting help with negotiating, especially if you are in an extremely competitive market and don’t feel comfortable negotiating yourself.

Step 5: Making an Offer and Negotiating the Price

When looking for a home there will be a moment where you feel you might have come across “the one” this is when you know it's time to make an offer. This can be nerve-wracking at first especially if there is a lot of competition. You should never be afraid to negotiate for an investment at this scale.

If the offer you submit happens to get accepted, you’ll have to pay a deposit (5 - 10%) then you will enter into what we call the settlement phase. Thankfully by now you should have a rockstar conveyancer to completely handle this process for you. He will be ensuring that all the legal documents will be in order and assess hidden liabilities.

Step 6: Surviving the Settlement Period

Something to note is that the settlement process will take 30 - 90 days.

During this time you will want to ensure the following:

Home insurance is arranged. (Often can be a condition of a loan)
Finalize your loan with your lender.
Organize a building and pest inspection. (This is extremely important)
Conduct the final walk through of the home.

I cannot stress this enough: you always want to keep in touch with your conveyancer and lender through this period. Delays often happen if paperwork cannot be completed on time.

Additional Tips for 2025

Understanding Market Trends: It’s never a great idea to underestimate the unpredictability of the Australian property market. 2025 although has been a lot more steadier compared to previous years but best to watch for the booming suburbs.
Take advantage of Government Schemes: First time home buyer grants and stamp duty exceptions can save you thousands. Make sure you research and understand the First Home Owner Grants (FHOG) and First Home Guarantee Scheme when buying your home.
Patience is key: Finding the right home can take a long time. It took me 9 months of searching before I was able to land the right home for me. I never advise rushing as buying a home maybe one if not the biggest investment of your life.

Buying a home is definitely a journey with its own hurdles to deal with. If you found this useful visit www.homebuyerhelp.com.au where you can get all the step by step support, guides and resources you need for absolutely free. Good luck on your homebuyer journey!