Buying your first property can be an emotional rollercoaster. After all, it’s likely to be the biggest purchase you’ll ever make. The sheer volume of things to consider can feel overwhelming – so we’ve put together this simple guide to help you through the exciting journey of buying a house and fulfilling your home-owning dreams.
9 February 2026 - 5 min read
First things first. Knowing the most you’re able to pay for your new home can help avoid costly mistakes and the frustration of:
Your deposit + what you can borrow + grants and concessions – costs and fees
= your budget
Now let’s explore each part of the equation.
Your deposit is the amount you’re able to pay from your savings accounts or other resources, with the rest normally borrowed as a home loan. It shouldn’t be confused with the ‘deposit’ you’ll need to pay if successful with an offer or an auction bid.
Generally, you need to have at least a 20% deposit to buy a property – that is a fifth of its value based on your bank's valuation. If you don’t quite have enough, you may have some options:
Your income and expenses are two of the main considerations for any lender, so having a strong savings history with minimal credit card debt or other loans could help. Ask yourself the big questions, such as ‘how much will I be able to repay every month?’ and ‘will I be able to afford these repayments if interest rates rise?’ (they reached 7.25% p.a. back in 2008).
Here are some helpful tools:
Check if you’re eligible for any of these opportunities:
Depending on your personal circumstances, you may be able to apply for government assistance.
At the time of settlement, Westpac or your broker will organise and lodge First Home Owner Grants for our loan customers. Stamp duty concessions are generally lodged by your conveyancer or solicitor.
The last part of the buying budget equation involves working out the upfront and additional costs you’ll need funds for. They may include:
Our cost calculator helps estimate the above for you.
There will be ongoing costs too, such as council rates, land tax, strata fees if applicable, and annual insurance. You should factor these in when calculating the size of loan you can afford to repay.
Your home loan’s going to be with you for a while, so go with a lender you’ve heard offers value for money and a good track record for before and after service. You have a choice of many lenders, but here are some of the features available to Westpac customers:
With Westpac, you can choose from three main types of home loan:
Both Rocket Repay and Fixed Options can be packaged for an interest rate discount, fee waivers and savings on a range of products – all for a $395 annual fee.5 You can also split your loan balance into separate fixed rate and variable rate accounts.
If you need help choosing the right loan for your circumstances, book an appointment with one of our dedicated property finance professionals.
You have four ways to apply for a Westpac home loan.
You can submit a home loan application online for both conditional and full approval and track it all the way to settlement. Applying should only take around 20 minutes, after which you’ll be assigned a home finance manager.
If you’d prefer us to complete your application, request a call back. This is the best way to apply if you plan to build a new home.
If you’d prefer to use a Westpac-affiliated broker, they’ll guide you through your application and answer your questions.
Locate a branch to call it directly and arrange a meeting.
We can only provide confirmed finance once you’ve chosen a property we can value and approve. But we can give you conditional approval (also known as pre-approval, indicative approval or approval-in-principle) for a certain amount, based on the financial information you supply when applying. Conditional approval:
If, after 90 days, you need more time and can confirm your finances haven’t changed, we can renew your approval.
House-hunting can be enormously time-consuming and occasionally frustrating – but also really exciting!
Doing plenty of groundwork during your property search could help you become a more confident buyer.
Finding the right property can take time, so expect some disappointment and butterflies along the way. Review real estate sites for the areas chosen, and consider these tips:
To avoid some of the time and legwork of house-hunting, you could consider employing (for a fee) a buyer’s agent. They specialise in searching for, scoping out and evaluating properties, as well as negotiating or bidding at auction on your behalf.
Going from inspection to inspection can be arduous, so optimise the time you spend at each property. But don’t waste time at a place that’s not right for you anyway.
Every industry has its terminology, and those working in real estate sometimes forget that we’re not all out buying houses every day. So, here’s a quick guide to some of the more commonly used terms.
Even if a property is scheduled for auction, you can still make an offer through the vendor’s agent beforehand. So, it’s worth knowing about both approaches.
Almost there! Once you’ve exchanged contracts on a property, we’ll need to value it to provide final finance approval. Our valuation will be based on comparable sales, market conditions and trends in surrounding areas. If needed, we’ll arrange an on-site bank valuation.
If the valuation comes in lower than expected, we'll let you know if there’s any shortfall you’ll need to cover. For example, if your loan-to-value ratio is more than 80%, you could still get full approval if you take out Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
And it’s worth noting that you can still apply for full approval with Westpac even if your conditional approval is with another lender, or they have not yet given you full approval.
If you want to change any features of your loan after your mortgage begins, let your Westpac home finance manager know. In the meantime, they’ll do some final checks and confirm that everything's good.
If you have full approval, they’ll draw up your loan documents, and you’ll see a notification in your online application. They’ll then be in touch to walk you through all the documents you need to sign, including the mortgage documents used to secure your loan.
Depending on your state or territory, buyers either take on the property’s risk on exchange of contract or at settlement. So, we’ll need to know you’re covered with building insurance by settlement. If you packaged5 your Westpac home loan, you could get up to 10% discount7 on our Home & Contents Insurance or Landlord Insurance. Call 1300 650 255 for more information.
When your property loan is fully approved, we’ll let your conveyancer or solicitor know to book a settlement date. They’ll tell you how funds need to be distributed, including the amounts and payees for cheques or transfers.
Settlement day is generally 30-90 days from contract exchange, though it depends on your agreement. Before the day, inspect the property thoroughly to make sure nothing’s changed and that all the fixtures and inclusions match up with the contract. Then speak to the real estate agent if you have any concerns.
You’re on the home stretch! On the agreed day, settlement will be managed digitally by your conveyancer or solicitor and Westpac home finance manager.
We’ll settle the balance owing using the home loan you’ve taken out, after which the property ownership will be transferred from the vendor to you.
You’ll find your mortgage repayments due dates in your home loan contract, as well as in the Westpac App and Online Banking. These are by far the easiest ways to manage your loan, check repayments and redraw, etc. Learn more here: Managing your home loan
To help you become mortgage-free sooner, Westpac home loans are designed to evolve with you and match your changing lifestyle. Whether you’re in the fortunate position of being able to make extra repayments, you’d like to redraw some funds, or you want to reduce your repayments for a while, we’re here to help.
Conditions, credit criteria, fees and charges apply. Residential lending is not available for Non-Australian Resident borrowers.
This information is general in nature and has been prepared without taking your personal objectives, circumstances and needs into account. You should consider the appropriateness of the information to your own circumstances and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.
Any tax information described is general in nature and it is not tax advice or a guide to tax laws. We recommend you seek independent, professional tax advice applicable to your personal circumstances.
1 Family Security Guarantee: The guarantor should consider the risks associated with the Family Security Guarantee, primarily that if the borrower defaults on their loan, the guarantor is liable to pay up to the maximum of the portion of security they have put forward as a guarantee. You will be required to seek independent legal advice before offering to guarantee a loan. Credit criteria apply to the assessment of the adequacy of any proposed guarantee limit.
Offer available on all loans eligible under the Family Security Guarantee, for purchase or refinance of owner occupier or investment property. Note that for investment properties, the borrower must not have ownership of any other properties at the time of application, and for owner occupied properties a maximum of one other property may be owned which does not have sufficient equity to provide a security. For new Family Security Guarantee Home Loan applications received from 23 October 2020. Family Security Guarantee can be provided by parents or legal guardians, siblings, and children. Equity access, owner builder applications, Line of Credit and Bridging Loan products are not eligible under the Family Security Guarantee. Other Exclusions may apply. Not available for the purposes of debt consolidation, owner builder construction, cash out, or addition of a security guarantee to an existing loan. $150k minimum loan size applies. Credit criteria, fees and charges apply. Offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Full eligibility criteria on the Family Security Guarantee is available on request.
2Break costs on fixed loan prepayments and switching: customers can make total prepayments of up to $30,000 (cumulative) for fixed loans, without costs or fees applying. You may incur a break cost and administration fee if your prepayments exceed this threshold, or if at any time before the end of a fixed rate period you switch to another product, interest rate (fixed or variable) or repayment type.
3Redraw facility: if you have 'available funds' (you've made extra home loan repayments) and you've activated your redraw facility, you're free to redraw them with no redraw fee. Up to $100k will be available to redraw from your variable loan online or over the phone each day (unlimited in-branch). For fixed loans you can redraw up to your prepayment threshold during your fixed term. Read our Home Loan Redraw Authority form (PDF 66KB) for full details.
4Options to lower repayments: conditions, eligibility and suitability criteria apply.
5Premier Advantage Package: Conditions of Use and $395 annual package fee applies. You must either hold or be approved for a Westpac Choice transaction account in order to qualify and continue to receive the benefits of the Premier Advantage Package. Applicants must have a Westpac Choice transaction account linked to the home loan at the time of settlement and must keep this account open for 60 days after settlement. Before deciding to acquire a Westpac Choice account, read the terms and conditions, and consider whether the product is right for you. Tax consequences may arise from this promotion for investors and customers should seek independent advice on any taxation matters.
Premier Advantage Package Conditions of Use (PDF 1MB)
7Home and Landlord Insurance: Premier Advantage Package customers may be eligible for an ongoing premium discount of up to 10% on their Westpac Home and Landlord Insurance policies. If you are also eligible for any other policy discount, Allianz will apply the Package discount to the already discounted premium which means the effect will be reduced. Any discounts may be subject to rounding and do not apply to taxes or government charges. If you purchase your policy online, the Package discount will be applied after purchase and Allianz will inform you of your revised premium (this may take up to 3 months). Allianz will then provide a refund for premium paid annually or provide a pro rata refund and reduce your remaining monthly instalments. If you take out a Premier Advantage Package after your policy has been issued, then the Package discount may only apply from your next renewal.
If you are eligible for more than one discount, Allianz applies them in a predetermined order. This means any subsequent discount will be applied to the reduced premium amount after applying any prior discounts and the effect of the subsequent discount will be reduced. For example, the aggregate effect of applying two 10% discounts consecutively means that you will not see the full benefit of both of these discounts. Discounts do not apply to taxes or government charges. Discounts may not apply to optional covers selected. Any discounts or entitlements may be subject to rounding. Most discounts won’t apply below the minimum amount payable for the policy.
If you are unsure if your discount has been applied, please contact Allianz on 1300 650 255.
Any financial product advice provided on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances. Before making a decision, please consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), supplementary PDS (if applicable) and Target Market Determination (TMD). To see some of the events covered and not covered, please refer to the Key Facts Sheet (KFS).
Home & Contents and Landlord Insurance are issued by Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFSL 234708 (Allianz). Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL 233714 (the Bank) arranges the initial issue of the insurance under a distribution agreement with Allianz but does not guarantee the insurance.
If you purchase Home & Contents or Landlord Insurance with Allianz the Bank will receive a commission of up to 12% of the premium excluding Government fees and charges, plus GST.