First Home Buyer Melbourne

It is a chilly Saturday in Melbourne. You are standing on a cracked concrete driveway in Reservoir, clutching a takeaway coffee, trying to look calm while the auctioneer warms up the crowd. A tram rattles past at the end of the street. Your heart is thumping, your solicitor has cleared the contract, and you keep asking yourself the same questions:

‘Are we actually ready for this? Have we missed something important?’

If that sounds familiar, you are in good company. First home buyers across Melbourne tell us the same thing: they are excited, but they are also scared of making a mistake they will be paying for over the next 30 years.

This guide is written for people in that exact spot. It is general information, not personalised legal advice, but it will help you understand how things work in Victoria, what to expect from the Melbourne market, and when it is worth getting a conveyancer involved.

What “first home buyer” really means in Victoria

In Victoria, you are usually treated as a first home buyer if:

You (and your partner, if you have one) have never owned a home you lived in anywhere in Australia, and
You are planning to live in the property you are buying as your main residence for a set period, usually at least 12 months.

That second part matters. If your plan is to rent the place out straight away, you may not qualify for first home buyer benefits, even if you have never owned before.

The official rules have plenty of fine print, especially around things like owning an inherited share of a property, or buying with siblings or friends. When we sit down with clients at Pearson Chambers Conveyancing, we often spend a bit of time working through those details so they are clear on where they stand before they start making offers.

The main pieces of help for first home buyers

Melbourne property is not cheap, so most first home buyers lean heavily on every bit of assistance they can access. Here are the big ones we talk through with clients.

Stamp duty concessions and exemptions

Stamp duty (technically land transfer duty) is the tax you pay the Victorian Government when you buy property. For many first home buyers, it is the single biggest upfront cost after the deposit.

At the time of writing, eligible first home buyers can:

Pay no duty on homes with a dutiable value up to $600,000
Pay reduced duty on homes between $600,001 and $750,000

In practice, this could mean:

A couple buying a $590,000 townhouse in Werribee pays no duty at all
A buyer spending $720,000 on a unit in Preston pays a much smaller duty bill than a second time buyer would at the same price

Duty rules are detailed and change from time to time, so you should always check your exact position with your conveyancer or lender before relying on any figure.

First Home Owner Grant (FHOG)

The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is generally a one off $10,000 payment for people buying or building a new home, valued up to a certain cap, provided it has not been lived in before.

So if you are looking at:

Off the plan apartments in Southbank
A brand new townhouse in Coburg or Brunswick
A house and land package on the fringe

The grant can be used alongside the stamp duty concession or exemption, which is where some buyers get a very helpful combination of savings.

Shared equity and similar schemes

Over the last few years, state and federal shared equity schemes have started to play a bigger role for first home buyers.

In a shared equity scheme, the government contributes part of the purchase price in exchange for a share in your home. You still live in it and treat it as your place, but when you eventually sell (or if you buy the government out), they receive a share of the proceeds.

Previous examples include the Victorian Homebuyer Fund at state level, and the federal Help to Buy scheme. These schemes usually:

Let you buy with a smaller deposit
Set income caps and property price caps
Require you to live in the home as your main residence
Give you options to buy out the government’s share later

They can be an excellent stepping stone into the market, but they are not for everyone. You need to be comfortable sharing future gains and get your head around the rules. That is often a point where we suggest buyers speak to both a broker or financial adviser and a conveyancer so they are clear on the contractual side.

Getting yourself “Melbourne ready”

Once you know roughly what help you might qualify for, it is time to get practical.

Know your budget in real terms

Start with two numbers:

How much cash you have for deposit and costs, and
How much you can comfortably repay each month without relying on instant noodles until payday.

Your lender or broker can give you a borrowing limit, but that is not the same as a comfortable limit. Factor in:

Duty and registration fees
Conveyancing fees and search costs
Building and pest inspections
Strata fees for units and townhouses
Moving, new furniture, and a small buffer for early repairs

One thing we do early on with first home buyers is run through a rough “on top” estimate for a property at a certain price point, so they know that a $650,000 townhouse might actually require something more like $680,000 to $690,000 all in.

Pick suburbs with your head and your heart

The fun bit is scrolling through listings in your dream suburbs. The trick is balancing lifestyle and budget.

Ask yourself:

Do we need to be near a particular tram line or train line?
How long are we prepared to spend in traffic each day?
Are we planning for schools and childcare soon, or is that still a long way off?
Are we happy in a smaller home closer to the CBD, or do we want more space further out?

A lot of Melbourne first home buyers end up compromising in one of three directions: a little further out, a slightly smaller place, or a different property type (for example, a villa unit instead of a freestanding house).

Spend some weekends just doing inspections and watching auctions in your chosen suburbs. Seeing what places actually sell for is far more useful than only watching the listing prices.

The first home buyer journey, step by step

Step 1: Sort your finance and your support crew

Before you get serious about any particular property, aim to have:

A pre approval from your lender
A conveyancer ready to review contracts
A rough budget that includes all the extras

This is usually where we first meet first home buyers at Pearson Chambers Conveyancing. We sit down, answer all the questions, and explain how contracts, Section 32 Vendor’s Statements and settlement work in Victoria.

Step 2: Start shortlisting and get those contracts checked

When you spot a place that looks promising, resist the urge to make an offer straight away.

In Victoria, the Section 32 Vendor’s Statement is the seller’s official disclosure document. It should include:

Title information
Services (water, electricity, sewerage)
Planning and zoning
Notices that affect the property
Owners corporation information for units and apartments

We recommend first home buyers get the contract and Section 32 reviewed before signing anything. In those reviews, we regularly pick up things like:

Special conditions heavily tilted in favour of the seller
Very tight finance or settlement dates
Easements that affect future renovations
High owners corporation fees or looming repairs in apartment blocks

A short review at this stage can save a lot of stress later.

Step 3: Inspections and due diligence

For houses and townhouses, a building and pest inspection is usually non negotiable. In older suburbs like Footscray, Coburg, or Preston, hidden issues under the floor or in the roof cavity can be very expensive surprises.

For units and apartments, you should be focusing on:

The condition of common areas
Any cladding or structural issues
Owners corporation minutes and budgets
Likely future works and how they will be funded

Your conveyancer can help you make sense of the owners corporation documents so you are not walking into a block with a thin sinking fund and big repairs on the horizon.

Step 4: Offers on private sales

For private sales (where there is no auction), you generally have more room to negotiate both price and terms.

Common conditions for first home buyers include:

Subject to finance
Subject to building and pest inspection
Occasionally, subject to the sale of an existing property

The wording of those conditions matters. We often help buyers frame conditions in a way that protects them without scaring off the seller unnecessarily.

Remember that in most cases you will have a cooling off period for private sales, but there are exceptions. Do not assume you can just change your mind and walk away without consequences; check with your conveyancer before you sign.

Step 5: Auction day nerves

Auctions are part of Melbourne life. You will see them in front yards, outside blocks of units, even on the footpath while people jog past with their dogs.

A few tips we share with nervous bidders:

Decide your absolute maximum in advance and write it down
Confirm the deposit arrangements and acceptable payment methods
Make sure your contract and Section 32 have been reviewed and any changes agreed in writing before auction day
Have a simple bidding plan, whether you want to start strong or come in later

If bidding shoots past your limit, let it go. You are not “losing” the home, you are avoiding locking yourself into repayments that will cause you stress for years.

At auction, there is no usual right to a cooling off period and you generally cannot make your contract subject to finance, so the homework beforehand really matters.

Step 6: From signing to settlement day

Once your offer is accepted or you win at auction, the focus shifts to making sure settlement happens smoothly.

Your conveyancer will:

Order and review searches
Liaise with your lender and the seller’s rep
Confirm adjustments for council rates and other charges
Organise electronic settlement
Let you know once settlement has gone through and you can collect the keys

Just before settlement, you will have a chance to do a final inspection. That is your opportunity to check that the property is in the same condition as when you bought it and that all agreed inclusions are still there.

The traps we see first home buyers fall into

We have helped a lot of first home buyers in Melbourne, and the same patterns keep popping up.

Pushing the budget too far for the sake of a grant

Sometimes buyers stretch themselves right to the edge of what they can borrow just to qualify for a grant or stay under a duty threshold. That can work, but you need to think about interest rate rises, kids, job changes, and those inevitable home repairs.

It is worth asking, “If things get tighter for a while, are we still going to sleep at night?”

Signing before the contract is checked

This one makes our stomachs flip. People tell us they “had to sign” because the agent said there was another buyer about to put in an offer. Later, when they bring the contract in, they discover harsh conditions or overlooked issues.

Once the ink is dry, your options are limited. A quick review first is almost always simpler than trying to fix things later.

Overlooking strata and building issues

With units and apartments, the purchase price can look appealing, but the ongoing costs can bite. High owners corporation fees, upcoming façade works, lift replacements, or cladding fixes all add up.

We regularly see apartment buyers who are glad they asked someone to go through the owners corporation records before they committed.

Agreeing to unrealistic finance or settlement dates

Short timeframes can make your offer more attractive to a seller, but only if your lender can move that quickly. If they cannot, you are the one taking the risk.

We often help buyers negotiate timeframes that are fair for both sides and give everyone enough breathing room for searches, approvals and settlement.

How Pearson Chambers Conveyancing fits into your first home story

Buying your first place in Melbourne is a big emotional step, not just a financial one. There are agents calling, lenders chasing paperwork, friends offering strong opinions, and a lot of new terms being thrown around.

A good conveyancer’s role is to sit beside you through all of that and keep things calm and clear.

For first home buyers, the Pearson Chambers Conveyancing team can:

Review contracts and Section 32 Vendor’s Statements before you sign
Explain Victorian grants, concessions, and duties in plain language
Help you suggest fair conditions when making a private sale offer
Flag legal or practical risks we have seen catch buyers out in similar situations
Coordinate with your lender and the seller’s representative so settlement goes smoothly
Keep you informed at each stage so you are not left wondering what happens next

We provide general information and guidance based on Victorian conveyancing practice, and if we see an issue that calls for more specialised legal or financial advice, we will tell you straight.

Ready to talk about your first home?

If you are thinking about buying your first home in Melbourne, whether that is a one bedroom place near the CBD or a family home further out, you do not have to figure it all out on your own.

Pearson Chambers Conveyancing offers a complimentary Section 32 contract review for prospective clients, so you can get a clear picture of a property before you commit to it.

You can contact us on:

Email: contact@pearsonchambers.com.au