Keep the deposit, buying costs and money for surprises in separate buckets.
- 20% of a $600,000 home
- $120,000
- Example buying-cost allowance
- $20,000
- Cash target before an emergency buffer
- $140,000
The $20,000 is a made-up allowance, not a duty estimate. Replace it with checked costs for your purchase.
Separate the purchase price from the cash target
The property price is not the amount you need to save, and the deposit is not the only upfront cost. Start with a price range and a deposit percentage that fits the lending options you are investigating. Keep buying costs in a separate allowance so they do not quietly consume money intended for the deposit. This tool does not determine how much you can borrow.
An example you can adapt
For a hypothetical $650,000 property, a 15% deposit is $97,500. If you add a self-chosen $20,000 allowance for purchase costs, the savings target becomes $117,500. That allowance is an illustration, not an estimate of your transfer duty or other expenses. If you already have $25,000 dedicated to the purchase, you can enter the full target and your current savings into the goal calculator.
Give every cost a place
Make a checklist for transfer duty, conveyancing, inspections, lender charges, moving and a buffer after settlement. Eligibility for concessions and assistance depends on the jurisdiction, property and buyer. Use the relevant state revenue office and program’s current official rules. A lender may also require mortgage insurance in some situations. Avoid treating any single deposit percentage as a universal approval threshold.
Work backwards from a timeframe
A target is useful when it becomes an amount you can compare with your actual monthly budget. Enter the goal, existing savings and years available. Then lower the assumed interest rate or extend the timeframe to see how much the monthly requirement changes. If the result would leave you without room for ordinary bills, revise the plan instead of treating the calculator as an instruction to save that amount.
Turn the example into a monthly requirement
For the $117,500 target and $25,000 already saved, a five-year plan at a hypothetical constant 4% requires about $1,311.86 at each month's end. At 2%, the requirement becomes $1,425.48. At 0%, it is $1,541.67, simply the $92,500 gap divided by 60 months. These figures assume monthly compounding and exclude fees, tax and withdrawals. If $1,300 is the amount your budget supports, the first result does not mean the goal is comfortably funded: it already exceeds that budget and depends on interest being earned.
Test the target as well as the rate
Keeping the example's 4% rate but allowing six years instead of five reduces the modelled monthly contribution to about $1,055.51. Raising the cash target by $10,000 while keeping the five-year term adds about $150.83 a month to the requirement. Neither change predicts property prices or buying costs. Together they show which parts of this particular plan are sensitive: the date, the target and the contribution all matter. Record the reason for each target change so that an updated estimate is not mistaken for unexplained savings underperformance.
Keep a purchase-cost worksheet beside the calculator
A useful worksheet has five entries for each cost: what it is, who supplied the estimate, the amount, the date checked and when payment is due. Mark uncertain amounts as estimates. Add any concession only after checking your eligibility and how it is applied; do not enter the maximum advertised assistance as money you already hold. Include inspections that may be paid before a successful purchase, not just settlement costs. The calculator has one target field, so it cannot tell you whether each cost has been included twice or left out.
Allocate existing savings before entering them
An account balance is not necessarily an available house deposit. If you hold $30,000 but have reserved $5,000 for an emergency buffer, this example would start with $25,000 available for the purchase. Keep the reserve outside the deposit projection. Also distinguish a future gift or expected bonus from money already received and available: a separate scenario can show its possible effect without making your main plan depend on it. Ask the lender what evidence it needs for the source and history of funds. The tool does not assess those requirements.
Keep the deposit plan separate from the borrowing decision
Savings growth does not tell you whether repayments will be affordable. A lender considers income, expenses, debts, credit history and its own assessment rules. Once you have a possible loan amount, use the mortgage calculator to explore monthly repayments and a higher-rate scenario. Those figures are still estimates, not pre-approval. Revisit the deposit target when prices, costs or your circumstances change.
You have exactly enough for the deposit. Are all buying costs covered?
Sources & update record
- ASIC Moneysmart: save for a house deposit ↗
- ASIC Moneysmart: home loans ↗
- ASIC Moneysmart: buying a house ↗
Added a short explanation, simple example and knowledge check; retained the detailed guide and source record.
Published 18 Sept 2026 · Updated 18 Sept 2026. These dates do not guarantee rules are unchanged.
Published by Howloop. AI assists preparation. This lesson has not been reviewed by a licensed financial adviser. How we check our content →