For owner-occupiers
You're not buying an asset. You're buying the next ten years of your life.
The right home is the one that clears your commute, schools and space requirements at a price that still leaves you a life. Start with what you can genuinely afford — including stamp duty and a real buffer — then analyse the properties you're actually considering.
Step one
What you can actually afford — after stamp duty
An illustrative scenario based on the assumptions you enter. It applies a serviceability buffer of around 3% above the rate entered, deducts living costs and existing commitments, then subtracts transfer duty and conveyancing from your savings. Lender policies vary widely — this is not a borrowing-capacity assessment, a pre-approval or credit advice.
Indicative purchase price
$909,000
LVR 86% · loan $778,905
Monthly repayment
$4,720
Principal and interest over 30 years at 6.1%
Transfer duty (VIC)
$45,905
Established dwelling, owner-occupier. Concessions may apply.
Deposit applied
$130,096
Savings less duty and ~$4,000 in conveyancing and inspections
What this number is, and isn't
$909,000 is an indicative ceiling based only on the figures you entered and a standard lender buffer — not a pre-approval, and not a recommendation. Your lender will assess your income, expenses and credit history differently. Use it to set a search range, then analyse individual properties in that range so the price is tested against verified comparable sales rather than against what you could borrow.
Step two
Not sure where to look yet?
Find Where to Buy scores the suburbs you're considering against what actually matters to you — budget, commute, schools, space and risk — using medians, twelve-month movement and government hazard data retrieved per suburb, each shown with its source and retrieval date. Where a figure isn't returned, it says data unavailable rather than filling the gap.
Build your Buyer Brief once and your priorities carry through: matching, saved areas and every report you run afterwards read from it.
Step three
What the home does for your wealth while you live in it
Modelled at 5% a year — close to the long-run national average across cycles — on your indicative purchase price. A home you live in produces no rent, so equity and the mortgage you retire are the whole return.
| Horizon | Projected value | Equity from growth | Growth on your deposit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | $1,052,281 | $143,281 | 110% |
| 5 years | $1,160,140 | $251,140 | 193% |
| 10 years | $1,480,665 | $571,665 | 439% |
| 20 years | $2,411,848 | $1,502,848 | 1155% |
| 30 years | $3,928,646 | $3,019,646 | 2321% |
Excludes mortgage interest paid, maintenance, rates, insurance and selling costs. A scenario model at a fixed growth rate, not a forecast — real markets move in cycles, and the first five years can be flat or negative.
Step four
The due-diligence process worth running before you offer
Work through it in order. Most expensive mistakes happen because a step was skipped under time pressure at an open home.
Before you inspect
- Pre-approval in writing, with the expiry date and the assessment rate noted
- Full budget including stamp duty, conveyancing, building and pest, moving and a 3-month buffer
- Flood and bushfire mapping for the street, not just the suburb
- Twelve months of sold comparables within 1km, same bed/bath/land profile
At the inspection
- Under-floor and roof-space access, moisture staining, and stumps or slab movement
- Orientation and afternoon light — visit a second time at a different hour
- Traffic, flight paths, rail noise and the neighbouring block's development potential
- Ask the agent directly how long it has been listed and whether it has been passed in
Before you offer
- Building and pest, plus a strata report and levy history if applicable
- Contract reviewed by your conveyancer, including special conditions and easements
- Council records for unapproved structures — decks, carports, garage conversions
- Your upper evidence limit written down, and a plan for how you respond if it's exceeded