First home buyers
First Home Buyer Hub
Whether you're looking for advanced strategies, tips for getting started, or tactics for negotiating your first home, this is your hub for Home Buying knowledge.
Start with where you are
Plan your budget, search well, settle confidently, or run the numbers.
Start with the decision in front of you
Plan your budget, compare deposit pathways, understand the scheme, or run the numbers.
- Guide
First-home loan planning
Compare rent with an indicative repayment, then understand the deposit, costs and lender checks that shape the answer.
Read the first-home guide - Guide
Buying with a smaller deposit
Compare deposit pathways, lender requirements, LMI and government scheme considerations without assuming one route suits everyone.
Read the low-deposit guide - Guide
Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme
Understand the scheme rules, the role of Housing Australia and the difference between possible, eligible and recommended.
Check the scheme guide - Tool directory
Home loan calculator library
Open the full set of borrowing, repayment, deposit, LMI and stamp-duty calculators in one place.
Browse all calculators
What you'll learn
From planning to settlement
Each stage keeps the original hub guidance and links together in the order they are most useful.
- PlanI'll show you how you can go from 'clueless' to 'clued in' when it comes to knowing how much you can really afford. It goes beyond just plugging a few numbers into an online calculator. Using this strategy you will understand the true costs of buying and owning a home, including a few sneaky hidden fees that you might not expect.
Would you like to learn about your situation?
- SearchI'll show you how to turn your property search from a random mess into a structured framework which will filter out the time-wasters and let the cream of the property crop rise to the top. This will save you time and energy, allowing you to focus on choosing the best option from just a few top candidates.
- SettleYou're going to learn how to make an offer on a property, and get it settled! Instead of worrying if you're underbidding or overbidding, you'll come to the table confident that you're making an offer that is a fair price. When it comes to negotiation, you'll know all of the tricks they use (and have a few tricks of your own) so you can come out on top.
- CalculatorsHere you'll find all of our free calculators, tools and resources. Crunch the numbers to see if what you're currently paying in rent is more (or maybe even less) than what you could be paying for your own home!
Choose by goal
Browse every first-home buyer resource.
Choose the part of the first-home journey you are working through. The library includes guides, calculators and practical checklists.
12 of 32 resources
Start here
4 resources- First-home loan planningCompare rent with an indicative repayment, then understand the deposit, costs and lender checks that shape the answer.Read the first-home guide
- Home loan calculator libraryOpen the full set of borrowing, repayment, deposit, LMI and stamp-duty calculators in one place.Browse all calculators
- Step-by-step home buying processA downloadable sequence covering the main decisions from initial planning through to settlement.Open the home buying process (PDF)
- Home loan FAQA downloadable collection of common questions about deposits, applications and home loan decisions.Open the home loan FAQ (PDF)
Plan
6 resources- Borrowing capacity calculatorEstimate a starting borrowing range from household income, expenses, debts and other core assumptions.Estimate borrowing capacity
- Personal mortgage reportWork through your situation, finances and priorities to receive a guided mortgage-planning report and next steps.Build my mortgage report
- Queensland stamp duty calculatorEstimate transfer duty and compare common buyer and occupancy assumptions for a Queensland purchase.Estimate stamp duty
- Mortgage versus rent calculatorCompare weekly rent with an indicative scheduled loan repayment using visible rate and term assumptions.Compare rent and repayments
- Loan application checklistA practical document checklist to use before a lender assesses an application.Open the application checklist (PDF)
- Building a house checklistA planning checklist for the extra decisions involved in land, construction and progress payments.Open the building checklist (PDF)
Compare
2 resources- Independent lender review libraryRead structured lender profiles covering product fit, policy considerations, trade-offs and who may need another option.Browse lender reviews
- Home loan comparison checklistPrompts for comparing more than the headline rate, including fees, features and loan structure.Open the comparison checklist (PDF)