Tallyroo.

Every state · Before settlement

How much do I need to buy a house?

The deposit is the number everyone saves for. The costs on top of it are the number that delays settlements. This adds duty, registry fees and LMI from the official schedules to the quotes you supply, and tells you the total cash you need on the day.

FY 2026-27 rates · verified

Rates verified against the official sources — how we check.

Your tally

Cash you need at settlement

$176,050

Deposit of $150,000 plus $26,050 of costs on top — 3.5% of the price.

Deposit $150,000Stamp duty $19,600Everything else $6,450

How it’s made up

Deposit$150,000
Stamp duty$19,600
Registry lodgement$3,150
Conveyancing, inspection, moving$3,300
Total cash needed$176,050

LVR 80% — at or under 80%, so no LMI.

Stamp duty and registry lodgement come from each jurisdiction’s published schedule; LMI uses indicative premium bands. Conveyancing, inspection and moving are your own quotes — those are market prices with no schedule to cite. General information only — not financial advice.

A 20% deposit is not 20% of what you need

The saving target everyone quotes is a share of the purchase price. The cash requirement is that share plus stamp duty, registry fees, legals and inspections — and none of it can be borrowed. On the default figures above, the deposit is $150,000 and the costs on top are $26,050, which is 3.5% of the price again.

That gap is why settlements get delayed and why offers get withdrawn. It is also why the first thing worth checking is not what you can borrow but what you must pay in cash on the day.

Duty is the part that moves most

Everything else on the list is roughly the same wherever you buy. Stamp duty is not: it is set by each state, it scales steeply with price, and a first home concession can remove it entirely. Switching the buyer type above is usually the single biggest change you can make to this total, which is worth knowing before you decide whether you qualify.

For the full picture in your state, including concession caps and the exact schedule, the stamp duty calculators go deeper than this summary does.

If your deposit is under 20%

Lenders mortgage insurance appears, and it is not small. It protects the lender, not you, and it is charged once. You can usually add it to the loan rather than pay it at settlement, which helps the cash problem and costs more overall because you pay interest on it for years. The LMI calculator shows the premium bands and the duty each state charges on top of the premium.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to buy a house?
Your deposit plus the costs on top of it, and the second part is what catches people out. On a $750,000 purchase in Queensland with a 20% deposit, the costs beyond the deposit come to $26,050 — so the real cash requirement is $176,050, not $150,000. Duty is the bulk of it, and it varies enormously by state and by whether you are a first home buyer.
Is stamp duty included in a 20% deposit?
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding in a first purchase. A 20% deposit is 20% of the purchase price. Stamp duty, registry lodgement fees, conveyancing and inspections all sit on top of it, in cash, at settlement. A lender will not lend you the duty either — it has to come from savings, a gift or a guarantor.
What costs are there besides the deposit?
Stamp duty (the big one), land-registry lodgement fees for the transfer and the mortgage, lenders mortgage insurance if your deposit is under 20%, conveyancing, building and pest inspections, and moving. The first three are set by published schedules and this calculator computes them exactly. The rest are quotes you get yourself, so they are inputs here rather than numbers we invent.
Can I add LMI to my loan?
Usually yes — most lenders let you capitalise the premium, which means borrowing it rather than paying it at settlement. It removes the premium from the cash you need on the day and adds it to what you owe, with interest, for the life of the loan. Tick the box above to see both versions. Capitalising is a cash-flow decision, not a saving.
Do first home buyers pay less?
Usually much less, and sometimes nothing. Every state has a first home concession with its own price caps and conditions, and the difference can be tens of thousands of dollars. Switching the buyer type above applies your state's best available first home schedule, using the same engine as our state stamp duty calculators. Eligibility conditions apply — residence requirements are the usual catch.
How much are conveyancing and inspection costs?
Both are deregulated market prices rather than schedules, so no honest calculator can tell you. They are inputs here for exactly that reason. Our conveyancing fees page explains which part of a legal quote is fixed government charges and which part is genuinely negotiable, which is the useful way to compare the quotes you get.

Go deeper on each cost

The big one

Stamp duty — every state

Full concessions, caps and surcharges for your state.

Open calculator →

Small deposit

LMI calculator

The premium, the state duty on it, and what capitalising costs.

Open calculator →

Legals

Conveyancing fees

Which half of a quote is fixed, and which half is negotiable.

Open calculator →

Deposit timing

Deposit bond calculator

Cash not free yet? What a bond costs against funding the deposit yourself.

Open calculator →

Before you sign

Building and pest inspection

What the quotes cost, and the cooling-off deadline they have to fit inside.

Open calculator →

The loan

Borrowing power calculator

What a lender will actually advance, with the APRA buffer.

Open calculator →