To buy a house in Australia you sort out your finances and deposit, get loan pre-approval, find a property, do your due diligence, then either make an offer (private treaty) or bid at auction before exchanging contracts and settling. From first inspection to keys in hand, expect it to take a few months and a fair bit of paperwork.
Below is the journey in plain English, plus the costs nobody warns you about and the differences between buying by private treaty and at auction. A quick note before we start: this is general information, not personal financial advice, so treat it as a map rather than a recommendation for your situation.
Before you start: money first, house later
It is tempting to scroll listings before you have spoken to a lender. Resist. Working out what you can actually borrow and afford is the single most useful thing you can do, and it shapes every decision that follows.
Lenders look at your income, expenses, existing debts, and the size of your deposit. A 20% deposit is the figure to aim for because it lets you avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), a one-off cost that protects the lender (not you) when you borrow with a smaller deposit. Buying with less than 20% is very common, though, and various government schemes can help eligible first home buyers get in sooner. Eligibility and availability change often, so check the current rules before you bank on any of them.
What it actually costs to get in
The deposit is the headline number, but it is not the whole bill. Budget for these upfront costs as well, all of which vary by state and by property:
- Stamp duty (transfer duty), often the largest single extra cost, though concessions and exemptions may apply for first home buyers
- Conveyancing or legal fees
- Building and pest inspections
- LMI, if your deposit is under 20%
As a very rough guide, upfront costs beyond your deposit can run into the tens of thousands of dollars on a typical capital-city purchase, with stamp duty doing most of the heavy lifting. Use your state revenue office’s online calculator for a figure that fits your price and circumstances, because the ranges here are broad on purpose.
The buying journey, step by step
Here is the path most Australian buyers follow. The order is fairly consistent across the country, even if the fine print differs by state.
- Work out your budget, borrowing power, and deposit. Aim for 20% to dodge LMI, or explore schemes if you are buying with less.
- Get home loan pre-approval. This is a lender’s conditional indication of how much they will lend, and it tells you (and agents) that you are a serious buyer.
- Research suburbs, prices, and inspect properties. Spend time comparing research suburbs and price guides against your budget, and go to plenty of open homes before you commit.
- Do your due diligence. Read the contract of sale closely, arrange a building and pest inspection, and for apartments, review the strata records for hidden costs and disputes.
- Buy by private treaty or at auction. With private treaty you make an offer and negotiate. At auction you bid, and a winning bid is unconditional, with no cooling-off.
- Exchange contracts and pay the deposit. This is the moment the deal becomes binding. The deposit is commonly around 10% of the purchase price.
- Use your cooling-off period (if there is one). Most states give private-sale buyers a short window to change their mind. Length varies, and auctions usually have none.
- Let conveyancing and searches run. Your conveyancer or solicitor handles the legal transfer and checks for anything nasty attached to the property.
- Do a final inspection. Just before settlement, you confirm the property is in the agreed condition and nothing has gone sideways.
- Settle. You pay the balance, ownership transfers, and you get the keys. Settlement commonly happens around 30 to 90 days after exchange.
Private treaty versus auction
These are the two main ways property changes hands in Australia, and they play by very different rules.
Private treaty is the listed-price sale. The property has an asking price, you make an offer, and you negotiate from there. Crucially, your offer can be made subject to conditions such as finance or a satisfactory building and pest inspection, and most states give you a cooling-off period after exchange. It is the lower-adrenaline option.
Auction is the public, on-the-day contest. You bid against other buyers, and if you win, you sign on the spot. There are no conditions and no cooling-off, which means your finance and inspections need to be sorted before you raise your hand. It is faster and more nerve-wracking, and it rewards preparation.
At auction, the contract is unconditional and there is no cooling-off, so do your homework before you bid, not after.
A word on cooling-off
The cooling-off period is a short window after exchange during which a private-sale buyer can pull out, usually for a small penalty. It exists in most states for private treaty sales, but the length differs from state to state, and it generally does not apply to auction purchases at all. Do not assume you have one until you have confirmed it for your state and your sale.
After you exchange
Once contracts are exchanged and your deposit is paid, the back-office work begins. This is where conveyancing earns its fee: your conveyancer or solicitor runs the searches, sorts the legal transfer of title, and coordinates with your lender so the money is ready on the day.
Shortly before settlement you get a final inspection, a last chance to confirm the place is as it should be. Then settlement happens, typically a month to three months after exchange, the balance is paid, and the property is officially yours. Cue the keys.
For the bigger picture and how the pieces fit together, our complete guide to buying property in Australia walks through the whole process in more depth.
The bottom line
Buying a house in Australia is less about luck and more about sequence: get your money sorted, secure pre-approval, do your due diligence, then choose your battlefield (private treaty or auction) with your finance and inspections already in hand. Know that the deposit is only the start of the upfront costs, that stamp duty will likely be the big one, and that cooling-off rules and timelines vary by state, so always confirm the detail where you are buying. Last checked June 2026, the figures here are indicative ranges rather than promises, and processes differ across states and lenders. This is general information only, not personal financial advice, so it is worth speaking to a licensed professional about your own circumstances before you sign anything.