How Much Cash Do You Need at Settlement?

The short answer

After your exchange deposit is paid, the cash you need at settlement is everything else your loan does not cover: the rest of your own contribution to the price, plus stamp (transfer) duty, any lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) you are paying in cash, government registration fees, and conveyancing. In practice, settlement cash = (purchase price − loan amount − deposit already paid) + stamp duty + cash LMI + registration + conveyancing − any first-home grants or scheme savings.

How settlement cash actually works

When you buy in Australia, you usually pay a deposit at exchange (often 10% of the price, though 5% deposits are common and the contract can specify less). That money has already left your account. Settlement is the later date, typically around 6 weeks in NSW, when the property legally transfers, your lender advances the loan, and the remaining money changes hands.

At settlement, the bank pays the seller your loan amount. You must supply the rest. That "rest" has two parts:

1. The remaining slice of your own funds toward the price. If you are putting in a 20% deposit but only paid 10% at exchange, the other 10% is due now.
2. The transaction costs, which sit on top of the price and are almost never lent:
   • Stamp / transfer duty, set by your state revenue office, often the largest single cost. First-home-buyer concessions can reduce or remove it.
   • LMI, charged when your loan is above 80% of the property value (LVR > 80%). It is $0 at ≤80% LVR, and rises steeply with LVR. You can often capitalise it (add it to the loan) instead of paying cash.
   • Government registration fees for transfer and mortgage registration (roughly a few hundred dollars in most states).
   • Conveyancing / legal, commonly around $1,500–$2,500.

Schemes can shrink the cash needed. The First Home Guarantee / "5% Deposit Scheme" lets eligible first home buyers buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI, within state price caps. The First Home Super Saver scheme lets you release voluntary super contributions (up to a $50,000 lifetime limit, max $15,000 per year, plus earnings) to use toward your deposit.

Worked example

Sarah buys an $800,000 home in NSW. She has saved a 20% deposit ($160,000) and is borrowing $640,000 (80% LVR). She paid a 10% deposit ($80,000) at exchange.

Item	Amount
Purchase price	$800,000
Loan amount	$640,000
Your total contribution to price (price − loan)	$160,000
Less deposit already paid at exchange	−$80,000
Remaining contribution due at settlement	$80,000
Stamp duty (NSW, first home buyer ≤ $800k)	$0
LMI (LVR = 80%, so none)	$0
Government registration fees (NSW est.)	$352
Conveyancing (est.)	$2,000
Cash needed at settlement	$82,352

NSW gives first home buyers a full transfer-duty exemption up to $800,000, so Sarah's stamp duty is $0 (Revenue NSW). Without that concession, NSW duty on $800,000 is $11,152 + $4.50 per $100 over $372,000 = $30,412 (Revenue NSW transfer duty), which would push her settlement cash to about $112,764.

Now change one thing: Sarah borrows $720,000 (90% LVR) instead. LMI on a high-LVR loan of that size is roughly 1.79% of the loan. If she pays it in cash, that is ~$12,888 more at settlement. If she capitalises it, the loan grows and her settlement cash stays lower, though she pays interest on it for years.

Model this in True Loan

True Loan computes total funds required at settlement for all 8 states and territories, including stamp duty with first-home-buyer concessions, an LMI estimate, registration fees and conveyancing, fully in your browser.

To reproduce the example:

• Set Property value to 800000 and Loan amount to 640000 (or 720000 to see LMI appear).
• Set State to NSW and tick First home buyer to apply the concession.
• Adjust Conveyancing if your quote differs, and toggle Capitalise LMI to compare paying it in cash vs. adding it to the loan.

True Loan shows the total funds required (deposit + cash costs). Subtract the deposit you already paid at exchange to get the cash still due at settlement. To see two deposit sizes or duty scenarios side by side, use the comparison view. Every scenario is shareable via its URL.

Common questions and mistakes

• Is the exchange deposit on top of these costs? No. It is part of your total contribution to the price, so don't double-count it; subtract what you have already paid.
• Can I add stamp duty to my loan? Generally no. Lenders size the loan against the property value (your LVR), so duty and most fees come from your own cash.
• Does a 5% deposit mean less cash overall? It lowers the deposit, but you still owe transaction costs, and a higher LVR usually means LMI, unless a scheme like the First Home Guarantee waives it.
• Forgetting the trap of effective loan amount. If you capitalise LMI, your actual loan (and repayments) is higher than the figure you first picked. True Loan handles this automatically.

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These figures are estimates for the 2025-26 financial year and general information only, not financial or credit advice. Always confirm thresholds, concessions and scheme rules with official sources such as your state revenue office, the ATO, moneysmart.gov.au and Housing Australia.

See also: Deposit plus stamp duty: total upfront costs, stamp duty on an $800k NSW first home, and the total upfront cost for first home buyers.