What are the costs associated with buying a house?

To help you prepare for buying a house or apartment we’ve created a list of the potential costs of buying a house below. Make sure you factor all of them in your overall buying or moving budget before you take out a mortgage.

Deposit

You’ll most likely be asked to pay a 5-10% deposit upfront, especially if you buy via auction.

Stamp Duty

This is the state government’s fee for transferring the land from one person to another. Duty must be paid within three months of the date of exchanging contracts, unless buying ‘off the plan’ or a house and land package.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)

If you are borrowing more than 80% of the purchase price, you will need to allocate a budget for LMI. This one-off, non-refundable premium protects your lender in the unfortunate event of you defaulting on your home loan.

Building and Pest Inspection/Strata Report Inspection

A building and pest inspection (for houses and separate dwellings) or a strata report inspection (for units and strata dwellings) is strongly advised. These reports will provide information on the structural integrity of the building (including pest infestations for houses) and inform you of any problems which might bring costly repairs later on.

For a unit block, a strata report inspection will let you know what work has been done on the building and if any is planned for the future (including all costs paid and due to be paid).

Valuation Fees

Your lender will employ an external valuer to do an assessment on the property you’re purchasing, which will determine how much the lender is willing to lend you.

Mortgage Registration Fees

The mortgage registration fee is a State Government charge for the registration of a home loan. Because the property acts as security for a home loan, the government requires a home loan to be registered so that all claims on a property can be checked by any future buyers of that property.

Loan Protection Insurance

This insurance protects you as the borrower in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as getting seriously ill, injured or involuntarily unemployed and you are unable to make the mortgage repayments. This type of protection is different from LMI, as it will pay you not the lender in the event you need to claim. To find out more about our Loan Protection Plan visit here.

Home, Building and Contents Insurance

Protect the items in your home from the unexpected with home and contents insurance.

Conveyancer/Solicitor Fees

Conveyancing is the process of transferring the property from the seller to the buyer. There are no set fees charged for conveyancing – you should get a written estimate of the likely costs before engaging a solicitor or conveyancer.

Connecting Gas, Electricity and Telecommunications

Try to negotiate with the vendor so that the power stays on (and you’re not hit with reconnection fees).

Moving Furniture Costs

A professional removals team will take the stress out of the process, although costs can be reduced by hiring a trailer or truck to move your home contents yourself.