First Home Buyer Guide NSW: Grants, Duty Concessions and Getting to Settlement

Step 1: Work out your real budget

Deposit is only part of the picture. Budget for transfer duty, legal fees, inspections, registration charges and moving costs. Getting pre-approval from a lender early matters for two reasons: it tells you what you can bid on, and it keeps the five-business-day NSW cooling-off window survivable.

Step 2: Check what assistance you qualify for

• First Home Owner Grant: a payment for eligible buyers of new (or substantially renovated) homes, subject to value caps and means testing.
• First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: transfer duty exemptions or concessions for eligible first home buyers below set thresholds, on both new and established homes.
• Shared equity schemes: government co-purchase options for eligible buyers.

Eligibility rules and price caps are revised periodically, so always confirm current thresholds before you rely on them. Part of our job is keeping on top of what applies when you sign, and claiming everything you are entitled to — our first home buyers typically save thousands of dollars through grants and concessions they did not know about.

Step 3: Get the contract reviewed BEFORE you exchange

Once you exchange, the contract is binding. Your conveyancer checks the contract for finance clause wording with genuine protection, deposit release terms, building and pest conditions, and any clauses that disadvantage you. For first home buyers this review also makes sure the concessions you qualify for are locked into the paperwork.

Step 4: The five business days that matter

For private-treaty purchases, NSW gives you a cooling-off period after exchange. Use it: finalise unconditional finance, complete building and pest inspections, and have your conveyancer chase any certificates still outstanding. If an issue turns up, we renegotiate or help you exit within your rights.

Step 5: Settlement and the keys

After exchange and cooling-off, settlement proceeds — duty is paid (or the concession applied), funds transfer, and the property registers in your name. Your conveyancer coordinates the lender, the vendor's solicitor and the agent so key day goes to plan.