7 upfront costs to consider before buying a home

Buying your dream home is exciting! But there’s more to it than just saving for a deposit and finding the right lender. There are other upfront costs associated with buying a home that need to be factored into your budget.

Stamp duty

Stamp duty are taxes & government fees that typically need to be paid within 30 days of settlement. Factors that determine how much stamp duty you pay include:

• The state or territory in which your property is built
• The price of your property
• If you’re a first home buyer or investor

Stamp duty is often the biggest cost after your deposit and mortgage, so it’s important to take this into account when deciding if you can afford a property.  

Inspections including building & pest

Before you purchase a home, it’s important to check it’s structurally sound and doesn’t have any pests like termites. This might save you future costs, and a lot of headaches! Building and pest inspections should be done before you exchange contracts, and costs vary depending on the provider you hire.

Land tax and registration of title

When buying a home, you’ll also need to pay a fee to register your property’s title to the Land Titles Office in your state or territory. If you are purchasing the property from someone else, there is a fee associated with transferring the title to you.

Legal or conveyancing fees

From contract reviews to transferring the title, a solicitor or conveyancer can help you with the process of purchasing your dream home. For a fee, let them handle the paperwork, so you can focus on getting settled into your dream home.

Mortgage registration fees

A mortgage registration fee is charged by state and territory governments to register the security for a home loan. It officially registers the physical property as the security on your home loan. Fees vary depending on which state or territory you live in, and you can learn more here.

Insurances

We live in a beautiful country, but that doesn’t mean we don’t experience natural disasters and accidents. Lenders will generally require that you have the property insured during the life of the loan.  As a home owner, you may want to consider home and contents insurance to protect yourself and your home against accidents like fire, natural disasters like flooding, theft and more.  General Insurance policies need to be carefully understood for things like exclusions and factors that influence policy pricing.  You may want to seek independent financial advice.  

Moving costs

Once you’ve got your keys, it’s not quite over! There are costs involved with moving in and settling into your home including:

• Removalists which will vary depending on how far you are moving, and how many items you’ll need them to move
• Connecting your utilities such as electricity, water, gas and internet.  
• Ongoing property costs including council rates, and potentially strata fees and taxes

To learn more about the home buying journey, chat to one of our home loan experts today.

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This article is intended to provide general information only. It does not have regard to the financial situation or needs of any reader and must not be relied upon as financial product advice. Please consider seeking financial advice before making any decision based on this information.‍

Unloan is a division of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Applications are subject to credit approval, satisfactory security and you must have a minimum 20% equity in the property. Minimum loan amount $10,000, maximum loan amount $10,000,000, and total borrowings per customer across all Unloan loans is $10,000,000. (For purchase loans a minimum 10% equity is required - however a Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) premium and higher interest rate apply. In some cases, depending on the property’s location or type, an LMI premium may also be required for LVR between 70.01% to 80%). For loans with Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) the minimum loan amount is $10,000, maximum loan amount is $3,000,000 and total borrowings per customer across all Unloan loans is limited to $3,000,000).

Unloan offers a 0.01% per annum discount on the Unloan Live-In rate or Unloan Invest rate upon settlement. On each anniversary of your loan’s settlement date (or the day prior to the anniversary of your loan’s settlement date if your loan settled on 29th February and it is a leap year) the margin discount will increase by a further 0.01% per annum up to a maximum discount of 0.30% per annum. Unloan may withdraw this discount at any time. The discount is applied for each loan you have with Unloan.

*At Unloan, we do not charge any annual, application, banking, account, transaction, late or exit fees. In certain circumstances you may be required to pay a Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) premium. Learn more about why this is applied and how it works. Government fees may also apply. Learn more about government fees here. Your current lender may charge an exit fee when refinancing.