Why is your settlement statement asking for more cash than you planned?

You saved what you thought you needed. Then the settlement statement arrives and the number's bigger.

That's not always a mistake. Adjustments, duty, other costs and what the bank pays can change the figure. A higher number is a reason to check the sums, not proof a charge is wrong.

Your approved loan limit isn't always what's available for the purchase. Fees or other approved payments can come out of the loan. Ask your broker for the expected net loan funds: what's available after those payments.

Selling your old place? Take off the loan payout and selling costs before treating the sale price as cash. Our upgrading your home guide covers the buying-and-selling decision.

Ask your solicitor for your final contribution, and make sure solicitor and broker are using the same settlement date and loan amount. Count the loan funds, sale proceeds and deposit already paid once each.

In Queensland, the seller generally pays rates through settlement day and you take over the next day. Your solicitor should work from the contract and actual notices, not a rough annual estimate.

Ask your solicitor to mark each line as something you pay or a credit you receive. That depends on the contract, billing period and what's already been paid. These aren't fixed charges every buyer pays.

A changed settlement date can change the adjustment period. Check costs already paid outside settlement too.

These are hypothetical figures, not a Queensland duty quote. Check each line rather than just comparing totals.

The buyer needs $57,000, not just the $40,000 remaining contribution to the price. The totals show a $3,000 gap. Checking each line explains it.

For this example, assume the earlier budget allowed $15,500 for costs and adjustments, not $18,500. Everything else stayed the same: $40,000 + $15,500 − $1,500 = $54,000. The revised costs add $3,000; the deposit and $1,500 already paid are not payable again.

Rates and water adjustments share expenses between buyer and seller. A negotiated price reduction, repair credit, rebate or seller cashback is different: it changes the deal the lender assessed. Calling it a 'settlement adjustment', or leaving the headline contract price unchanged, does not remove the need to disclose it.

1. Tell your broker and solicitor as soon as a change is proposed—not on settlement morning. Give them the original price, revised price or credit, reason, supporting inspection report or repair quote, and proposed finance and settlement dates.
2. Have your solicitor document the agreed terms properly, using an executed variation or other appropriate written agreement. Send that document to your broker for the lender. Don't arrange an undisclosed side payment or assume the agent has told the bank.
3. Ask the lender to confirm the accepted price/value, loan amount and available funds, and whether approval, valuation or loan documents need updating. These steps depend on the case; a new valuation is not automatic for every adjustment. Check any effect on LVR, mortgage insurance or scheme eligibility.
4. Have your solicitor recalculate the final statement, duty treatment and remaining contribution, crediting the reduction once. Allow time for lender confirmation before relying on the old approval or promising an earlier settlement. Your solicitor handles any agreed extensions.

As a separate variation of the example above, suppose the price falls from $800,000 to $790,000. Assume the lender confirms net funds of $711,000 instead of $720,000, maintaining 90% funding, and the $40,000 deposit, $18,500 costs/adjustments and $1,500 already paid stay unchanged.

The revised cash needed is $790,000 − $40,000 − $711,000 + $18,500 − $1,500 = $56,000. That's $1,000 less than $57,000, not $10,000 less, because the loan funds also fell by $9,000. This is hypothetical, not a lender rule or duty calculation; your costs and funding may change differently.

A useful reconciliation separates:

• The purchase price and deposit already paid.
• Available loan funds.
• Your cash and any confirmed sale proceeds.
• Transfer duty (stamp duty), registration and legal costs.
• Adjustments between you and the seller.
• Anything already paid outside settlement, so it isn't counted twice.

An unexpected special levy or a wrong duty-concession assumption needs its own explanation. A vague "settlement fees" label won't tell you what changed. Our signed a contract of sale guide covers the wider purchase steps.

Already paid the deposit to the agent or deposit holder? Give your solicitor the receipts and check that the full amount appears as a credit before paying it again.

No. In Queensland, transfer duty is the tax commonly called stamp duty. Registering the transfer of title or a mortgage is a separate charge. A registration entry on your loan account is not, by itself, proof that duty was charged twice.

Ask your solicitor and broker to match each disputed item to its assessment or invoice, payee and funding source. Was it paid from the loan, from your cash, or already paid separately? Reconcile the net loan funds and cash contribution so the same charge is not counted twice.

Follow the deadline and account instructions confirmed by your solicitor and lender. Ask which account must hold the funds, whether the lender debits it, the cleared-funds deadline and the reference to use.

There is no universal rule to send the whole contribution to a solicitor's trust account. Your arrangement may use a lender-nominated shortfall account or a settlement account instructed by your solicitor. Confirm the route with both parties; don't fund the same shortfall twice.

A repayment direct-debit account, an offset account and an account authorised for settlement are not automatically the same thing. Ask whether the lender has accepted the nomination and authority, not just whether you've opened an account.

Check your daily transfer limit early. Money in your everyday account isn't necessarily in the settlement account, and a transfer on settlement morning might not clear in time.

If you're an eligible CommBank customer, you need the funds in the nominated account 48 hours before settlement. That's one lender's instruction, not a deadline for everyone.

Before paying, call your solicitor on a number you already trust or obtain independently. Confirm the amount, account name, BSB and account number, especially if an email says the bank details changed.

Don't verify a suspicious email by replying or calling the number in it. Scamwatch has documented payment-redirection fraud during property settlements.

If you think money went to the wrong account, call your bank immediately and tell your solicitor. Our house settlement checklist can help you track the remaining tasks, but follow the actual payment instructions you've independently confirmed.

1. Get the latest dated statement from your solicitor. Check the settlement date, deposit credits, costs already paid and the exact remaining cash required.
2. Have your broker confirm the expected net lender funds against that statement. Resolve any difference before treating an earlier estimate as final.
3. Independently verify the payment instructions with the solicitor or lender responsible, using an existing trusted or independently obtained number—not new contact details in a payment email. Ask your solicitor whether they use PEXA Key for secure bank-detail exchange.
4. Confirm the cleared-funds cutoff, transfer limit and reference. Keep the receipt and ask the responsible party to confirm receipt; a transfer screenshot alone does not prove cleared funds.

If the loan funds differ from what you expected, speak to a Brisbane mortgage broker and have your solicitor check the final statement at the same time. You need to know the amount and why it changed before transferring it.

A lender may need to verify where your contribution came from as well as whether you have enough to settle. With Bendigo, you need to verify the full settlement contribution and have it available at settlement.

The genuine-savings test isn't identical across banks. When checking the above-90% LVR genuine-savings threshold, ANZ home loans leave capitalised lenders mortgage insurance out of the calculation, while ING includes it. LVR is the loan amount compared with the property value accepted by the lender.

So a premium added to the loan can affect the test differently. We can check the proposed loan, premium and evidence together before you rely on a deposit figure. Neither genuine-savings evidence nor a deposit bond replaces missing settlement cash.

Ask your solicitor to separate an error in the statement from a genuine extra cost. Then give your broker the revised contribution, available cash and settlement deadline. A correct statement can still reveal a funding problem.

Don't apply for a personal loan or increase a credit limit to plug the gap without telling your broker. New debt needs to be considered in the home-loan assessment. Any proposed contract extension belongs with your solicitor.

Call Hunter Galloway on 1300 088 065 for help checking the loan funds. If you haven't chosen a property yet, request a free assessment so your purchase budget includes more than the deposit.

Related guides: signed a contract of sale guide · first home buyer loan guide

This is general information, not legal advice or a payment instruction. Hunter Galloway can help reconcile the lending figures; your solicitor handles the legal statement. Use your own verified solicitor and lender instructions for the amount, destination and deadline.