Upfront costs beyond the deposit

A 20% deposit generally avoids lenders mortgage insurance. Below that, the lender insures itself against your loan — and you pay the premium, which can run from a few thousand dollars to well over twenty thousand depending on the loan size and how small the deposit is.

There's a genuine trade-off here. Waiting to save 20% means more time out of the market; paying LMI means entering sooner with a thinner buffer. Neither answer is universally right, and it's exactly the sort of thing worth talking through with a broker or specialist before you commit.

Usually the largest single upfront cost after the deposit. Rates, thresholds and concessions differ by state and territory, and investors generally don't get the concessions available to owner-occupiers or first home buyers.

We deliberately don't publish duty tables here — they change and getting them wrong costs you real money. Check your state or territory revenue office calculator for the current figure on the price range you're considering.

A conveyancer or solicitor reviews the contract, handles searches and manages settlement. Budget for their fee plus the disbursements and title searches that sit underneath it. It's not the place to bargain-hunt; a contract read properly once saves you years of trouble.

A few hundred dollars each, spent before you're committed. For apartments, ask for the strata report as well — it tells you about levies, disputes and upcoming major works that never appear in the marketing.

• Application, settlement and valuation fees.
• Mortgage registration and transfer fees charged by the state.
• Loan account or package fees, charged ongoing.
• Landlord and building insurance, often paid before settlement.
• Initial letting fee if you're using a property manager.
• Any immediate repairs, cleaning or compliance work such as smoke alarms.

The most common mistake is spending right to the last dollar to get in. Aim to still have a meaningful cash buffer the day after settlement — enough to cover several months of repayments and an unexpected repair. That buffer is what turns a bad quarter into an inconvenience rather than a forced sale.

Work out your starting position with the usable equity calculator, then look at the ongoing side in holding costs.