Upfront costs

Everything between the contract and the keys.

The purchase price is the number on the listing. The list below is everything else. Some items apply to every purchase, some only in particular situations, and the amounts depend on the property, the professionals you engage and the lender.

No dollar figures are quoted here. Fees vary by provider and by property, and a made up range would be worse than none. Where an official calculator exists, it is linked.

Costs that apply to almost every purchase

Land transfer duty
Charged by the State Revenue Office and usually the largest single cost. First home buyers pay none where dutiable value is up to $600,000, and a reduced amount between $600,001 and $750,000. The SRO calculator gives the figure for any price. Paid at settlement.
Title transfer and mortgage registration fees
Government fees for registering the change of ownership and the lender's mortgage on the title. Set by Land Use Victoria, and the transfer fee scales with the value of the property. Paid at settlement.
Conveyancer or solicitor
Reviews the contract and vendor statement, conducts searches, and runs the settlement. Fees are set by the individual firm and are usually quoted as a professional fee plus disbursements, which are the search and certificate costs they pay on your behalf.
Building and pest inspection
An independent report on the condition of the property and any timber pest activity. Arranged and paid for by you before you commit, or during the cooling off period where one applies. Not required by anyone, and not included in anything else.
Lender fees
Depending on the product, these can include an application or establishment fee, a valuation fee, a settlement fee and ongoing or annual package fees. Some lenders charge none of these and others charge several, so they are worth comparing alongside the interest rate.
Council and water rate adjustments
Rates are paid in advance by the seller for the period covering settlement. At settlement you reimburse them for the portion of that period after you take ownership. Your conveyancer calculates it, and it appears on the settlement statement rather than as a separate bill.
Building insurance
Most contracts make the property your risk from a specified point, which is often when the contract is signed rather than at settlement. Lenders generally require evidence of cover before they will release funds. Check the contract for the date your risk begins.
Moving costs
Removalists, connections, cleaning and the gap between leaving a rental and taking possession. Easy to leave out of a budget and rarely small.

Costs that apply only in some purchases

Lenders mortgage insurance
Applies where the loan to value ratio is above the lender's threshold and no government guarantee or waiver is in place. Often able to be added to the loan. See deposits and LMI.
Owners corporation fees
Applies to apartments, units and townhouses in a strata scheme. Charged quarterly or annually, adjusted at settlement in the same way as rates, and disclosed in the vendor statement.
Foreign purchaser additional duty
An extra duty that may apply where a purchaser is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, including where one buyer in a couple is not. SRO detail.
Growth areas infrastructure contribution
Can apply to certain land in Melbourne's designated growth areas. A property clearance certificate will show whether a liability exists.
Buyer's advocate
Optional. Searches, assesses and negotiates on your behalf, or bids at auction. Charged as a fixed fee or a percentage of the purchase price.
Strata or owners corporation report
Optional for strata properties. An independent review of the owners corporation records, finances and minutes beyond what the vendor statement contains.

Costs that begin after settlement

These are not upfront costs, but they start immediately and belong in the same budget.

  • Loan repayments, which begin on the schedule set out in your loan contract.
  • Council rates, billed annually with instalment options.
  • Water charges, which include a fixed service component as well as usage.
  • Owners corporation levies, where the property is in a strata scheme.
  • Building and contents insurance, renewed annually. Contents cover is your decision, building cover is generally required by the lender.
  • Emergency services and volunteers fund levy, collected by councils on behalf of the Victorian Government.
  • Maintenance, which is the cost people most consistently leave out when moving from renting to owning.

Land tax is administered by the State Revenue Office, which publishes an exemption for a property used as a principal place of residence, along with the conditions attached to it and the circumstances in which it stops applying. Whether it applies to your situation is a question for the SRO or your accountant.

Two timing points worth marking

  • The contract deposit is due on signing, not at settlement. It needs to be accessible on the day, which matters if your savings are in a term deposit or held inside super pending an FHSS release.
  • Everything else is due at settlement, and your conveyancer will give you a figure to have ready. That figure includes the adjustments, which are not known until close to the day.