How to Buy a House in Brisbane, QLD [2026 Complete Guide]

You buy a house in Brisbane by sorting your finance first, then finding the right property, signing a contract and settling. Most of it runs in parallel if you've prepped properly.
Realistically, the house buying process in QLD takes 3 to 6 months from your first call to picking up the keys. Some buyers move faster. Others take up to 12 months if they're still saving or waiting for the right place. I've walked thousands of Queensland families through this since 2007, and the ones who move quickly are the ones who front-load the finance work.

Here's the process, step by step:
1. Work out your budget and borrowing power
2. Save your deposit and buying costs
3. Get home loan pre-approval
4. Check which first home schemes you can use
5. Find and research the property
6. Make an offer or bid at auction
7. Sign the contract, engage a conveyancer, get unconditional finance approval
8. Settle and move in
 

Before you look at a single listing, you need three numbers. How much you can borrow. How much deposit you have. And how much a lender thinks you can comfortably repay each month (that last one is called serviceability, and it's based on your income minus your real living expenses and debts).

Borrowing power isn't the same as price. Price = borrowing power + deposit, minus buying costs. Miss that and you'll fall in love with a house you can't actually afford once stamp duty lands.
Online calculators are a rough guide only. Different lenders assess income, HECS, credit cards and shared expenses differently. The gap between the tightest and most generous lender can be $100,000 or more on the same file. You can estimate your borrowing power to get a starting point, then we tighten it up on a call.

You don't always need a 20% deposit. In most cases, 5% is enough. If you're borrowing more than 80% of the property value, lenders charge Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI). It's a one-off premium that protects the bank if you default. LMI can run from a few thousand to over $20,000 depending on the loan size, and it's usually added to the loan.

For context, Housing Australia's 2024-25 report shows a median purchase price of $644,000 and a median deposit of $35,000 for Greater Brisbane buyers using the guarantee scheme. That's roughly a 5% deposit on a typical Brisbane home.

You also need cash for stamp duty, legal fees, building and pest inspections and loan setup. First home buyers in Brisbane often need less deposit than they think once the concessions and grants stack up.
 

Pre-approval is a lender telling you, in writing, how much they'll lend based on your income, deposit and credit. It's not a guarantee. But it's the closest thing you can get before you find a property.

It typically takes 3 to 10 business days and lasts 3 months. Without it, agents won't take you seriously, you can't bid at auction with confidence, and you'll lose properties to buyers who moved faster. Here's how home loan pre-approval works, including the documents you'll need: payslips, ID, bank statements and any existing loan or credit card details.

If you're at this point and want to sort borrowing power and strategy in one sitting, book a free 20-minute call. It's the fastest way to know exactly where you stand.
 

If you're buying a first home in Brisbane, three schemes can save you serious money. Used together, they can cover most of your upfront costs.

First Home Owner Grant Queensland - $30,000 towards buying or building a new house, unit or townhouse valued under $750,000. Queensland Revenue Office has confirmed the $30,000 First Home Owner Grant will continue for eligible contracts signed from 1 July 2026.

First Home Concession (transfer duty) - Saves eligible first home buyers up to $24,525 in transfer duty. On homes valued at $700,000 or under (contracts signed on or after 9 June 2024), you pay no transfer duty at all. Homes up to $800,000 get a partial concession.

Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme - From 1 October 2025, the old First Home Guarantee was rebranded to the 5% Deposit Scheme, with income caps removed, higher price limits and unlimited guarantees. You buy with a 5% deposit and the government guarantees the rest, so you skip LMI entirely.

How the QLD First Home Concession and 5% Deposit Scheme work together
The Queensland First Home Concession reduces or wipes your stamp duty. The 5% Deposit Scheme lets you get in with a smaller deposit and no LMI. They stack. On a $700,000 Brisbane home, a first home buyer can pay zero transfer duty and get in with as little as $35,000 down.
 

Now the fun part. Look at suburbs from three angles: what you can afford, what suits your life (commute, schools, lifestyle) and what has decent long-term growth.

Two Brisbane-specific things to check that interstate buyers often miss. First, flood history. The Brisbane City Council flood awareness map is free and shows flood, storm tide and creek flooding overlays for any address. Check it before you make an offer, not after. Second, if it's a unit or townhouse, request the body corporate records to see the sinking fund balance and any special levies coming up.

Then there's the building and pest inspection. It's not optional. On a Queenslander with 90 years of history or a post-war brick in Brisbane's western suburbs, a $500-$800 inspection can save you $50,000 in repairs. This is also where the 5% Deposit Scheme (formerly First Home Guarantee) property price caps come into play, since they vary by area.
 

Private treaty - You make an offer, negotiate and sign a contract. You get a 5-business-day cooling-off period. If you pull out during that window, the seller can keep up to 0.25% of the purchase price and must refund the rest of your deposit within 14 days. On a $700,000 property that's $1,750, not the whole deposit.

Auction - No cooling-off. The moment the hammer falls, the contract is unconditional. You need finance sorted, building and pest done, and the contract reviewed before auction day.

Pre-approval is what lets you move confidently either way. Have a read of making an offer below asking price if you're going the private treaty route, because how you frame the offer matters as much as the number.

Once your offer is accepted, three things happen at once.

You sign the contract of sale. Get a conveyancer or solicitor to review it before you sign if you can, or immediately after. Their job is to check the contract, do title and council searches, handle the legal transfer and coordinate settlement. Budget $1,200 to $2,000.

Your contract will usually have a finance clause (typically 14-21 days) and a building and pest clause (usually 7-14 days). During finance, your lender values the property and moves you from pre-approval to unconditional approval, meaning the loan is fully approved with no outstanding conditions. Here's what a building and pest inspection looks for and how to use the report to negotiate if it turns up issues.

If finance or building and pest don't clear, you can walk away and get your deposit back. That's the whole point of the clauses.

Settlement in QLD typically happens 30 to 42 days after contract signing. On the day, your lender transfers the loan funds, your conveyancer transfers the balance to the seller, and legal title moves to you.

Do a final inspection the day before or morning of settlement to check the property is in the same condition as when you signed. Then:

- Confirm keys pickup with the agent
- Switch on power, gas and internet from settlement date
- Start building insurance from the contract date (not settlement)
- Update your address with Medicare, banks and the electoral roll

That's it. You've bought a house in Brisbane.

Here's the cost of buying a house in Brisbane on a $700,000 home as a first home buyer using the First Home Concession.