Selling one home and buying the next
The order, the money in between, and the timing, with help for each side when you want it.
The plan is free, with no sign-up, and nobody contacts you. Personal help is separate and only with your permission.
Run your numbers
What you’d keep from the sale, and what the purchase costs on top. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
Typical in QLD: 2.3% to 2.9%, plus GST. It’s negotiable.
Your selling costs
$29,500
About 3.5% of the price, with GST on the commission
- Agent commission
- $21,250
- GST on commission
- $2,125
- Marketing and photography
- $4,000
- Conveyancing or solicitor
- $1,400
- Legal documents and searches
- $450
- Mortgage discharge fee
- $300
You walk away with about
$470,500
Every 0.1% of commission is $935 on this sale.
Sell first, buy first, or both at once
Selling first gives you certainty about money; buying first gives you certainty about where you’ll live. Your market and finances decide which matters more.
Sell first
You know exactly what you have to spend, and you never carry two loans.
The trade-off: you may need a long settlement, a rent-back or a short-term rental, and you could move twice.
Long settlements and rent-backsBuy first
You can take your time to find the right place, and move once.
The trade-off: if your sale takes longer, or sells for less than you planned, you carry both loans or a bridging loan in the meantime.
Bridging loan calculatorBoth at once
One move and no overlap, if both settlements line up.
The trade-off: it needs tight coordination, and a delay on one side affects the other. An offer subject to your sale only works if the vendor accepts it.
What happens on settlement day
Sell first or buy first? The full guide, with worked examples
Your first three steps
- 1
Decide the order
Selling first gives you certainty about money; buying first gives you certainty about where you’ll live. Your market and finances decide which matters more.Sell first or buy first? - 2
Work out your net position
Expected sale price, minus selling costs and your loan, against the purchase plus stamp duty. The gap is what you’d need to borrow.Selling costs calculator - 3
Ask about the in-between
A bridging loan, a long settlement or a rent-back can each cover a gap. Know the cost before you need it.Bridging loan calculator
What depends on what
Your purchase budget depends on your sale
Your expected sale price, less selling costs and your loan payout, is the equity you carry into the next home.
Your loan depends on the order
A lender looks at whether you’ve sold. Tell them your plan, and get pre-approval that takes the sale into account.
Your moving day depends on both contracts
Each contract sets its own settlement date. Agree them with both conveyancers before you sign either, or leave a buffer of a few days.
A coordinated moving timeline
The first and last groups apply to everyone. The two in the middle depend on which comes first, so you need only one of them.
First
- Get an appraisal so your sale price is realistic
- Get pre-approval that takes the sale into account
- Decide the order: sell first, buy first, or at the same time
If you sell first
- Ask for a longer settlement or a rent-back so you have time to buy
- Keep your pre-approval current while you search
If you buy first
- Price a bridging loan, or ask for a longer settlement on the purchase
- Offer subject to your sale only if the vendor will accept it
- Set a date to review your price if the sale is slow
Lining up the dates
- Ask both conveyancers to align the settlements, or leave a buffer of a few days
- Book removalists and any storage for the gap
- Insure the new home from the date your contract requires
Questions to settle early
- What happens if your sale takes longer than you expect?
- How much could you borrow before you’ve sold?
- Could you live with a short-term rental between the two?
Your moving plan adds the guides and costs for your state, and a version you can print or email to yourself.
Make your moving planThe money in between
Two numbers decide how comfortable the move is: what you’ll have after the sale, and what any overlap between the two homes would cost.
Start with what you’d walk away with from the sale: the price, less commission, marketing, conveyancing and your loan payout. Then add stamp duty to the purchase price, which the buyer pays in every state.
If you buy before you sell, a bridging loan can cover the overlap, with interest building up until your sale settles. The bridging loan calculator shows the peak debt and what it costs against selling first.
Tools
- Selling costs calculatorWhat you’d walk away with after commission, marketing, conveyancing and your loan
- Bridging loan calculatorThe cost of buying before you sell
- Stamp duty calculatorDuty on your purchase, with first home concessions
- Borrowing power calculatorA rough idea of what a lender might lend
Guides
- Sell first or buy first?The trade-offs, with worked examples
- Bridging loansHow they work and what they cost
- Alternatives to a bridging loanLong settlements, rent-backs and more
- Cost of selling a houseEvery cost of a sale, state by state
- Settlement dayWhat happens, and what to check
- Agent proposal worksheetCompare selling agents’ proposals in dollars at the same price
- What a buyer’s agent doesWhat they do, what they charge, and when they’re worth it
Personal help, for one side or both
If you want them: one participating selling agent for the sale, and, where we can, a buyer’s agent for the purchase. They’re separate introductions, and each needs its own yes.
For the sale: a selling agent
A licensed real estate agent who acts for you, the seller: appraises the property, markets it, negotiates with buyers and manages the sale up to exchange.
We introduce participating selling agents across your state. If none covers your suburb, we’ll tell you rather than send you to someone who doesn’t know it.
Your permission
Its own box on the form. Ticking it lets us pass your name, contact details and answers to one participating selling agent, so they can contact you about selling.
For the purchase: a buyer’s agent
A licensed agent who acts only for you, the buyer. A selling agent works for the vendor and is paid to get the best price for them; a buyer’s agent is paid by you to find, assess and negotiate for you.
We’re still building our network of buyer’s agents, so we can’t promise an introduction in your state yet. Our team reads every request and will email you within one business day to say whether we can introduce someone, and if not, how to choose one yourself.
Your permission
Its own box on the form. Ticking it lets us pass your name, contact details and answers to one participating buyer’s agent, so they can contact you about buying.
Each introduction is its own yes. Ticking one box never covers the other, and making a plan or downloading a guide never shares your details with anyone.
Our introductions are free for you. The agent we introduce you to pays us a fee for the introduction, whether or not you go ahead with them. It doesn’t change what you pay them, and you’re never obliged to use them. How we’re paid