The amount you can borrow, commonly known as your borrowing capacity or borrowing power will be determined based on your unique set of financial circumstances. Your income, assets, liabilities and credit history can all affect your borrowing power. How much money you can borrow will also differ from lender to lender.

Your mortgage broker will give you a complete individual assessment of your situation but in the meantime, our home loan calculators can give you initial idea.

We’ll help you find which of the hundreds of home loans offered by our panel of lenders will best suit your needs. Take a look at our article explaining the most common home loan features to see which are likely to be important to you.

The deposit required depends largely on the type of home loan and, of course, the lender you select. As a general rule, if you are an owner-occupier you’ll require 5-10% of the purchase price as a deposit. If you are an investor, you’ll ideally require 10% of the purchase price, although it’s possible to purchase with less.

Check out our Deposit Planning Calculator to help determine the amount you need to save each month and how long it will take to reach your desired deposit.

The First Home Owner Grant Scheme is funded by the Federal Government and administered by the Office of State Revenue (OSR). The scheme assists eligible first home owners to purchase or build their first home by offering a monetary grant. The grant applies to residential dwellings only.

In order to be eligible for the grant, you must be buying or building your first home and satisfy all the eligibility criteria. Click here to find out more.

We all like free money, and that’s exactly what the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is – a lump sum of cash to help with the purchase of your first home.

The First Home Owner Grant is funded by state governments, so different amounts are available in each of state and territory. Exactly how much you will receive depends on where you are buying. In regional Victoria, for instance, the FHOG is worth $20,000.

Click here to find out more.

Yes! The whole purpose of the First Home Owner Grant is to help you manage the costs of owning a home, though it may not be enough to form your whole deposit.

Your application for the First Home Owner Grant usually only takes a week or two to be processed, however exactly when you receive the Grant depends on whether you are buying or building.

Each state and territory has its own rules, but generally the grant’s paid out under the following conditions:

• Established home: Payment will be made on settlement
• Contract to build: Grant paid to the builder with the first progress payment
• Owner builder: Payment on receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy
• New home: Payment at settlement
• Purchase off the plan: Payment at settlement

Applying for the First Home Owner Grant is easy, and your mortgage broker will help with the paperwork.

Basically, there are two ways to apply for the First Home Owner Grant. You can apply through your lender at the same time you apply for your home loan (this is where we can help), or you can apply directly to the state government body (usually the Revenue Office) that handles the First Home Owner Grant in your area.

Unfortunately no.

During the application, only one person will be granted the the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG). However, before discussing your eligibility for the grant you must make sure that your partner or spouse has not previously received the grant in any Australian state or territory. Otherwise, you may not be permitted access.

Find out more by visiting the official Australian grant First Home Owner Grant page here.

That depends. Some states offer generous savings on stamp duty for first home owners, others do not offer concessions on stamp duty at all. In a number of states, saving on stamp duty are only available if you buy or build a new home.

This makes it important to know whether stamp savings are available to first home buyers in your part of Australia – stamp duty can be expensive, and you may need to add the cost to your home buying budget.

Stamp duty is one of the upfront costs that apply when you buy a home or vacant land. It is a type of state government tax, so the rates of duty differ between states. The common thread is that stamp duty is calculated as a percentage of the price paid for your home.

Put simply, the amount of stamp duty you will pay depends on where you are buying, and how much you pay for your home or vacant land.

Use our stamp duty calculator to get an idea of what you will need to pay.