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Country guide

Buying a home in Australia

Signing at auction is unconditional. There is no cooling off, no finance clause and no way back.

Private treaty or auction, a contract that binds on exchange, and a conveyancer who has to read it before you sign. The buyer carries the risk of the property's condition almost entirely.

Below: the steps in order, then every document you need to get hold of before you are committed - who has it, what it costs, and the things it turns up, with what each one costs and how long it holds you up if you find it late.

Checked August 2026. Thresholds, grants and taxes change with budgets - the sources at the end are the ones to trust over this page.

The essentials

Deposit
20% to avoid mortgage insurance
5% is possible under the First Home Guarantee, where the insurance is waived
Paid on exchange
Usually 10% of the price
Government charge
Stamp duty, set by each state
First home concessions vary widely by state and change often
Who does the legal work
Conveyancer or solicitor
Binding at
Exchange of contracts
Settlement
Commonly 30 to 42 days

The steps, in order

  1. 1Work out the deposit and the costs on topTwenty per cent avoids lenders mortgage insurance. Add stamp duty, legal fees, inspections and moving - these are cash, not borrowable.
  2. 2Get finance pre-approvalConditional on valuation, and it expires. It tells you the ceiling; it does not commit the lender to the specific property.
  3. 3Search, and read the price guide scepticallyUnderquoting is illegal in NSW and Victoria and still happens. Check every guide against recent comparable sales.
  4. 4Get the contract reviewed before you bid or offerIn Australia the contract is available before you commit, and it is where the vendor's solicitor has done their work. Special conditions routinely remove the buyer's remedies.
  5. 5Inspect: building, pest, and strata if applicableThe property is sold as it stands. Nothing found after exchange is the vendor's problem.
  6. 6Exchange, then settleCooling off applies to private treaty in most states and never at auction. Settlement is when the money and the keys move.

When you are committed

At auction, on the fall of the hammer, unconditionally. By private treaty, on exchange of contracts - after which a short cooling-off period applies in most states, at a forfeit of a small percentage.

What the seller must tell you

Each state requires a disclosure pack attached to the contract - a title search, planning certificate, drainage diagram and more. A missing prescribed document can give you a right to rescind, which is why the pack is worth reading before you sign rather than after.

Condition is your problem

There is no implied warranty that the house is sound. A building and pest inspection before you commit is the only real protection, and at auction it has to be done before the day.

The documents to get, and what they catch

5 documents to get hold of before you are committed, and 10 of the things they turn up - each with what it costs and what it does to your timetable if it is found late. Costs are indicative and move with the market.

  1. 1

    Contract of sale, with the vendor's disclosure pack

    Do not skip

    It is the agreement itself, plus the certificates the vendor is required by law to attach.

    Where:
    The selling agent or the vendor's solicitor, free
    When:
    Before you bid or make an offer
    Cost:
    Free

    A special condition deletes 'on reasonable grounds' from the vendor's rescission clause, so they may cancel at will once you raise anything

    Cost: The whole purchase, plus the inspection and legal fees already spent, typically $1,500-$3,000Delay: Back to searching, three to six months

    How TrueBuy catches it: A clause-by-clause read compares the special conditions against the standard form and quotes the words that were removed.

    Item 14 of the List of Documents is unticked, so no building certificate is attached and clause 53 bars you from requiring one

    Cost: $20,000-$150,000 if council later orders rectification or demolition of unapproved workDelay: Months, and the works can prevent occupation

    How TrueBuy catches it: Cross-referencing the list against what is physically attached shows the gap, which reads as an omission rather than a disclosure.

    A certificate of non-compliance for the pool is annexed instead of a certificate of compliance, transferring a 90-day rectification duty to you

    Cost: $3,000-$15,000 for barrier works, plus re-inspectionDelay: 90 days from settlement, with council penalties after

    How TrueBuy catches it: The certificate is read rather than counted: which boxes are ticked, whether the operative fields are blank, and whether it has expired.

  2. 2

    Building and pest inspection

    Do not skip

    The property is sold as it stands. Nothing found afterwards is the vendor's problem.

    Where:
    A licensed inspector you engage, not the vendor's
    When:
    Before exchange, and before an auction
    Cost:
    $400-$900 combined

    Active termite activity, or previous damage in structural timber with no transferable treatment warranty

    Cost: $3,000-$10,000 to treat, $20,000+ if structural timbers need replacingDelay: Weeks, and it is excluded from almost every home insurance policy

    How TrueBuy catches it: The report's exclusions and 'areas not accessible' are read as findings, because that is where undetected activity sits.

    The report recommends a structural engineer, which is the inspector saying they found something they cannot price

    Cost: $600-$1,200 for the engineer, then $15,000-$80,000 for underpinning if it is subsidenceDelay: One to three weeks for the engineer, which auction buyers do not have

    How TrueBuy catches it: Every 'further inspection recommended' is surfaced as an unpriced item rather than buried in a list.

  3. 3

    Strata report and owners corporation records

    Do not skip

    You are joining a body corporate with its existing debts, defects and decisions.

    Where:
    A strata search company, for a unit or townhouse
    When:
    Before exchange
    Cost:
    $250-$500

    Minutes show quotations obtained for facade remediation, but no levy struck yet

    Cost: $15,000-$80,000 per lot depending on unit entitlementDelay: The levy usually lands within a year of settlement

    How TrueBuy catches it: Three years of minutes are read against the capital works balance, so a foreshadowed levy is reported before it exists on paper.

    Capital works fund holds a fraction of what the ten year plan calls for

    Cost: The gap becomes a special levy, commonly $10,000-$50,000 per lot

    How TrueBuy catches it: The fund balance is compared with the plan and the building's age rather than reported as a number on its own.

  4. 4

    Planning certificate and title search

    Do not skip

    Zoning, heritage, flood, bushfire, road widening and contamination all start here.

    Where:
    Attached to the contract; a fuller 10.7(5) is ordered separately
    When:
    Before exchange
    Cost:
    Free with the contract; $60-$150 for the discretionary version

    A drainage easement crosses the middle of the block, making the planned extension impossible

    Cost: The value of a plan you cannot build; relocation is $30,000+ where it is permitted at all

    How TrueBuy catches it: The easement is located on the plan and read against the s88B instrument, not just listed by name.

    Bushfire prone land at a BAL rating that changes the construction standard

    Cost: $20,000-$100,000 in additional build cost, plus higher insurance

    How TrueBuy catches it: The certificate is read alongside what the buyer said they intend to build.

  5. 5

    Survey or identification report

    Optional, often skipped

    Fences are not boundaries, and the difference can be metres.

    Where:
    A registered surveyor
    When:
    Before exchange, where the contract does not bar it
    Cost:
    $700-$1,500

    The garage encroaches over the boundary onto the neighbour's land

    Cost: $10,000-$60,000 to remove or regularise, and it is a defect in title until resolvedDelay: Months of negotiation with a neighbour who has no reason to help

    How TrueBuy catches it: The contract clause barring you from requiring a survey is itself reported, because it moves the risk without removing it.

TrueBuy reads these documents today. Upload the contract, the strata report and the inspection and it works through every page, quotes what it finds, prices what can be priced, and shows you the passage in the document itself. The first finding is free.

What to watch for

The things that cost Australian buyers money, in the order they tend to be discovered too late.

  • Special conditions that delete 'on reasonable grounds' from the vendor's rescission right
  • A contract that bars you from requiring a survey or a building certificate
  • Strata minutes showing works discussed but no levy struck yet
  • A pool certificate of non-compliance, which transfers a 90-day rectification duty to you

Where these figures come from

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Information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state, province and territory, and change. Confirm with a qualified professional in Australia before acting. TrueBuy’s document review and price estimates currently cover Australian property only.