First Home Buyer Guide: Sydney Professionals You Need

The short version: who you actually need

Most Sydney first home buyers need three professionals: a mortgage broker, a conveyancer or solicitor, and a building and pest inspector. Two more are optional: a buyers agent (if you are time-poor, repeatedly missing out, or unfamiliar with auctions) and a financial planner (if your purchase is structured through a partner, a trust, or alongside other major financial decisions). A tax depreciation specialist is only relevant for investors — owner-occupiers skip this entirely. The total professional spend for a straightforward owner-occupier purchase in Sydney typically lands between $2,000 and $4,000, before stamp duty and government fees.

Typical timeline: 'I want to buy' to settlement

Plan for three to six months from your first serious meeting with a mortgage broker to the day you collect the keys. The rough cadence looks like this:

• Weeks 1–3: Mortgage broker engagement, document gathering, pre-approval lodged
• Weeks 3–6: Pre-approval issued (valid 90 days), property search begins in earnest
• Weeks 4–12: Inspections, contract reviews, offers or auction bids
• Day of contract: Building and pest inspection complete, contract signed
• Weeks 12–18: Conveyancer runs the file — contract review, searches, exchange
• Weeks 16–22: Settlement day — funds transfer, title registers, keys handed over

The order-of-operations error to avoid

The most common mistake first home buyers in Sydney make is engaging a buyers agent before securing mortgage pre-approval. It feels logical — find the property first, then sort the finance — but it works backwards. Without pre-approval you do not know your real borrowing capacity, which means you cannot brief a buyers agent on a credible budget, you cannot bid at auction, and most agents will not put you forward on off-market stock. Lock in your mortgage broker and pre-approval first; everything else follows. The same logic applies to building and pest inspections — book one only when you are close to signing a specific contract, not as a precaution while still browsing.

1. Mortgage broker (engage first)

A mortgage broker is a credit-licensed intermediary who compares loan products across multiple lenders on your behalf, lodges the application, and manages the back-and-forth with the bank until the loan is approved. For a first home buyer they earn their keep on policy knowledge — which lender will accept your specific deposit, employment type, HECS debt, or guarantor structure — because that varies more between banks than the headline interest rate. When to engage: as soon as you have decided to buy, ideally three to six months before you intend to bid on anything. Typical cost in Sydney: usually nothing out of pocket, because most brokers are paid commission by the lender. Some boutique brokers charge a fee-for-service model of $500 to $2,000 in exchange for a wider lender panel or rebated commission. Red flag to avoid: a broker who only quotes one or two lenders without explaining why those specific options suit your file — the whole point of a broker is comparison across the panel. NSW-specific note: ask your broker explicitly whether you qualify for the First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme (FHBAS) and the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG). As of 2026, FHBAS gives a full stamp duty exemption on properties up to $800,000 and a sliding concession between $800,000 and $1 million. The FHOG provides a $10,000 grant for new builds valued under $600,000. Confirm both figures against the current Revenue NSW page before exchange, because thresholds are reviewed periodically.

2. Buyers agent (optional)

A buyers agent is a licensed real estate professional who works exclusively for the buyer — searching, shortlisting, evaluating, negotiating, and bidding at auction on your behalf. They are not the same as a selling agent, who has a fiduciary duty to the vendor. For first home buyers, a buyers agent is genuinely optional: most do not use one. They make sense if you are time-poor, have missed three or more properties already, are buying in an unfamiliar suburb, or want help with auction strategy in a market with above-70% clearance rates. When to engage: only after pre-approval is locked in, never before. Typical cost in Sydney: $8,000 to $15,000 as a flat fee, or 1.5% to 2.5% of the purchase price, usually with a $2,000 to $5,000 retainer deducted from the final fee. Red flag to avoid: any agent who also represents vendors. That is a structural conflict — true buyers agents are exclusive to buyers only. NSW-specific note: a buyers agent fee is not eligible for any first home buyer concession or rebate. It comes out of your savings on top of stamp duty and deposit, which is why most first home buyers skip it on their first purchase and revisit it for their second.

3. Conveyancer or solicitor (essential)

This is the legal work between exchange of contracts and settlement day: contract review before you sign, title and planning searches, coordinating with the vendor's representative and your lender, settling the file electronically through PEXA, and registering the title transfer with NSW Land Registry. Every Sydney property transfer requires either a licensed conveyancer or a solicitor — you cannot legally skip this step. When to engage: as soon as you have a specific contract in front of you, ideally before you sign anything. Most conveyancers will review a contract upfront for free or for a small fee, which is a useful screen on properties you are seriously considering. Typical cost in Sydney: $1,099 to $1,600 in fixed professional fees plus $300 to $600 in disbursements (government searches, PEXA fees, title registration). Total $1,400 to $2,200 for a standard residential purchase. Red flag to avoid: a quote that bundles disbursements into the headline fee without itemising them — that almost always means hidden costs surface on settlement day. NSW-specific note: your conveyancer is the professional who lodges your First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme stamp duty exemption or concession via Revenue NSW at settlement. You do not need to do this yourself; you just need to confirm your eligibility with them in writing well before exchange, so the forms are pre-filled and the calculation flows through correctly on the day.

4. Building and pest inspector (recommended)

A building and pest inspector physically attends the property before you sign or before the cooling-off period expires, walks through the structure, roof cavity, subfloor and external envelope, and writes a report identifying defects, safety risks, and termite activity or risk. For first home buyers this is the most under-valued professional in the chain — a $400 report can save you from a $40,000 structural problem. When to engage: after a property has caught your serious attention and before you sign a contract or before the end of cooling-off (in NSW that is five business days for private treaty sales). At auction there is no cooling-off, so the inspection must be done before auction day. Typical cost in Sydney: $400 to $700 for a combined building and pest report on a standard house. Apartments are usually cheaper because the inspection is internal-only. Red flag to avoid: a single-page tick-box report without photographs and without a written summary of the worst three findings — a real inspection produces 15 to 40 pages with photo evidence. NSW-specific note: there is no equivalent of Victoria's vendor-supplied Section 32 in NSW, which means the buyer carries the burden of physical due diligence. The contract discloses title, zoning, and easements; the building condition is on you. Treat the inspection as non-optional unless you are buying a brand-new property under builder's warranty.

5. Financial planner (optional, for structured purchases)

A financial planner is a licensed adviser who helps you set the purchase in the context of your broader financial position — superannuation, insurance, debt, savings goals, and any partner or family financial structure involved. For most first home buyers a planner is not necessary, because the purchase itself is the financial plan. They become useful when the purchase involves a partner with significantly different income or assets, when family is providing a guarantor deposit or gift, when you are pulling deposit out of the First Home Super Saver Scheme, or when you are deciding between primary residence and investment. When to engage: early — alongside or shortly after the mortgage broker, because their advice can shift how the loan is structured. Typical cost in Sydney: $2,500 to $5,500 for a Statement of Advice on a single property purchase scenario. Red flag to avoid: a planner who is paid commission by an insurance product or fund manager being recommended in the same plan. Look for a flat-fee, fee-for-service model with the conflicts disclosed in writing. NSW-specific note: if you are using the First Home Super Saver Scheme to draw down voluntary super contributions toward your deposit, the ATO release process takes 15 to 25 business days. A planner is the right person to time that release against your settlement date so the funds land when the conveyancer needs them.

6. Tax depreciation specialist (investors only)

A tax depreciation specialist (also called a quantity surveyor) prepares a tax depreciation schedule for an investment property — a 40-year forecast of the deductions you can claim on the building structure and the assets within it. This professional is irrelevant for owner-occupiers; you cannot claim depreciation on a home you live in. If you are buying your first property to live in and convert to an investment later, you may need a schedule at that point but not now. When to engage (investors only): immediately after settlement, so the first year of deductions is captured cleanly at tax time. Typical cost in Sydney: $600 to $900 for a full residential schedule, fully tax deductible. Red flag to avoid: a fee that varies based on the size of the deduction — a legitimate schedule is a flat fee based on property type and complexity, not the result. NSW-specific note: under the 2017 changes to depreciation rules, second-hand residential plant and equipment (carpets, blinds, appliances) cannot be depreciated by subsequent investors. Only buyers of brand-new or significantly renovated properties can claim the full schedule. A qualified specialist will confirm whether your specific property qualifies before you commission the report.

How to coordinate them so they do not duplicate work

The professionals in this list overlap if you let them. A few rules of thumb prevent paying twice for the same advice:

• Brief everyone in writing with the same one-paragraph summary of your purchase — budget, target suburbs, preferred property type, deposit position
• Tell your mortgage broker and conveyancer to talk directly once you have a contract — they share documents through PEXA and a quick call avoids hand-off errors
• If you engage a buyers agent, they coordinate the building and pest inspection; do not book one separately unless they tell you to
• Your conveyancer reads the contract for legal risk; the building and pest inspector reads the building for physical risk — these are not interchangeable
• Your mortgage broker handles the FHOG application; your conveyancer handles the FHBAS stamp duty exemption — make sure both confirm in writing who is lodging what
• Never let one professional sign anything on your behalf without sighting the document yourself

What it all costs, end to end

For a typical first home buyer purchase in Sydney in 2026 — owner-occupier, established property under $1 million, no buyers agent, no financial planner — expect professional fees to land in this range:

• Mortgage broker: $0 (lender-paid commission model)
• Building and pest inspection: $400–$700
• Conveyancer: $1,099–$1,600 professional fee plus $300–$600 disbursements
• Total professional fees: roughly $1,800 to $2,900
• Plus: stamp duty (potentially $0 under FHBAS if under $800,000), lender's mortgage insurance if deposit is under 20%, and government registration fees

FAQ

Frequently asked questions