Step 2 · Know your real budget, including upfront costs

Summer Headstart · Step 2 of 10 · Get ready

Your pre-approval tells you what a lender will lend. Your budget is that, plus your savings, minus everything it costs to buy. Know both numbers before you agree to a price.

Why this matters before Christmas

In the last few weeks before the market goes quiet, agents push hard for a decision. The worst time to work out your real number is at an auction or on a phone call with an agent who wants an answer by five o'clock.

What your budget includes

The purchase price is only part of it. Before you settle on your number, add up:

• Your deposit
• Stamp duty (transfer duty), which depends on your state and the price. Some states offer concessions for first home buyers
• Conveyancing or legal fees
• A building and pest inspection
• Lender costs, and lenders mortgage insurance if your deposit is under 20%
• Moving costs, and a buffer for the first few months in the new place

Your maximum and your walk-away

The number a lender will approve and the number you're comfortable with aren't always the same. Your strategy shows your repayments at your maximum. Decide your walk-away price with your partner before you go to inspections, not after you've fallen in love with a kitchen.

What we do

Your strategy already sets out your borrowing and repayments. Give us a price and a state and we'll run the upfront costs with you, so your budget is the real one.

What you do this week

• Re-read the repayments section of your strategy
• List your upfront costs at your target price
• Agree your walk-away number and write it down
• Tell us the price band you're looking in

Use and watch

🧮 Your state's stamp duty calculator: NSW · VIC · QLD · WA

🎥 Upgrading? Chris Bates: upgraders, the longer you wait, the more it's costing you

Next: Step 3 · Line up your team →

See all 10 steps

Want to talk it through?

Book a 30-minute chat with the team →

General information only, not financial or legal advice. Your situation is your own, so talk to us before you act.