Most first home buyer mistakes aren’t dramatic. They’re quiet, ordinary decisions that seem reasonable at the time and only reveal their cost later. Here are the five we see most often in Canberra, and how to sidestep each one.
Mistake 1: House hunting before knowing what you can borrow
The most common sequence is backwards. People fall in love with a property, then scramble to work out whether they can afford it. By then the emotional commitment is made, and the pressure to stretch is enormous.
Online borrowing calculators make this worse. They don’t know about your HECS debt, your buy-now-pay-later account, how a particular lender treats your overtime, or the fact that one lender will lend you $80,000 more than another on identical income.
The fix: get a realistic borrowing capacity figure before you attend a single inspection. Then search within it. It takes a day or two and saves months of misdirected effort.
Mistake 2: Missing schemes you actually qualify for
This one is expensive in 2026, because the ACT landscape changed dramatically and a lot of buyers haven’t caught up.
Since 1 July 2026, eligible ACT first home buyers pay zero stamp duty, with no income test and no property price cap. Separately, the First Home Guarantee removed its income caps and place limits in October 2025, so buyers previously excluded now qualify.
We regularly speak to buyers who assumed they earned too much, or that places had run out. Both assumptions are now outdated, and acting on them can cost tens of thousands.
The fix: check your eligibility against current rules, not what you read two years ago.
Mistake 3: Bidding at auction without proper approval
In the ACT, auctions have no cooling-off period. When the hammer falls, you’re committed: deposit on the day, contractually bound to settle.
Buyers who bid on a pre-qualification (an unverified online estimate) rather than genuine conditional approval are taking a serious risk. If finance falls through, you can lose your deposit and face legal consequences.
The fix: have proper conditional approval and your building inspection done before you raise your hand. See pre-approval vs conditional approval for the distinction that matters here.
Mistake 4: Choosing a loan on the headline rate alone
A low advertised rate can hide high fees, and a slightly higher rate can come with features worth far more than the difference. The comparison rate helps, but it’s calculated on a $150,000 example that bears little resemblance to a Canberra mortgage.
The bigger miss is features. A loan with a proper 100% offset, used well, can save more over the life of the loan than a 0.1% rate difference ever will.
The fix: compare on total cost for your actual loan size, including how you’ll genuinely use the loan.
Mistake 5: Forgetting the costs beyond the deposit
Even with stamp duty now gone for eligible ACT first home buyers, settlement isn’t free. Conveyancing runs roughly $1,200-$1,800, building and pest inspection $500-$700, loan establishment and valuation fees up to around $1,000, plus insurance from settlement day and moving costs.
Buyers who budget only for the deposit routinely find themselves approved for the loan but short on settlement cash.
The fix: budget an extra few thousand beyond the deposit, and confirm the exact figure early rather than discovering it at settlement.
There’s a sixth mistake worth a brief mention, because it compounds all the others: treating the first lender you speak to as the only option. Lender policies differ enormously on how they assess overtime, bonuses, HECS debt, casual income, and particular property types. Two lenders looking at the same file can arrive at borrowing figures tens of thousands apart. Buyers who go to their existing bank, get a number, and treat it as gospel are working from one data point when a dozen were available.
Want a second opinion before you commit? A 15-minute call covers your borrowing capacity, scheme eligibility, and the real cash you’ll need, the three things these mistakes come from getting wrong.
Book a 15-min call -> · 02 7245 4001
The pattern behind all five
Look closely and every one of these mistakes shares a root cause: acting on assumptions instead of verified numbers. Assuming a calculator is accurate. Assuming you don’t qualify. Assuming a pre-qualification is approval. Assuming the lowest rate is the cheapest loan. Assuming the deposit is the whole cost.
Each assumption is reasonable. Each is also checkable in about fifteen minutes. That gap, between reasonable assumption and verified fact, is where the thousands quietly disappear.
The bottom line
None of these mistakes are exotic. They’re the ordinary, understandable errors that come from doing things in the wrong order or relying on outdated information. Get your numbers verified first, check your scheme eligibility against current rules, and never bid at a Canberra auction without proper approval in hand.
To check where you stand, book a 15-minute call with Harbir, or explore our first home buyer loans.
Or call 02 7245 4001 | Email info@creditstar.com.au
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the most common first home buyer mistake?
Ans. House hunting before knowing your real borrowing capacity. It leads to emotional commitment to properties you can’t finance, and pressure to overstretch.
Q2. Why aren’t online borrowing calculators accurate?
Ans. They don’t account for how individual lenders treat your HECS debt, overtime, bonuses, or existing credit. Real borrowing capacity can vary by tens of thousands between lenders on identical income.
Q3. What schemes might I be missing as an ACT first home buyer?
Ans. Since 1 July 2026, eligible ACT first home buyers pay zero stamp duty with no income or price limits. The First Home Guarantee also removed income caps and place limits in October 2025.
Q4. Why is bidding at auction without approval risky in the ACT?
Ans. ACT auctions have no cooling-off period. Win the auction and you’re immediately committed. If finance falls through, you risk losing your deposit and facing legal consequences.
Q5. Is the lowest interest rate always the best loan?
Ans. No. A low rate can hide high fees, and features like a proper offset account can save more than a small rate difference. Compare total cost for your actual loan size.
Q6. What costs do first home buyers forget?
Ans. Conveyancing ($1,200-$1,800), building and pest inspection ($500-$700), loan establishment and valuation fees, insurance from settlement, and moving costs.
Q7. Do ACT first home buyers still pay stamp duty?
Ans. No. From 1 July 2026, eligible ACT first home buyers pay zero conveyance duty regardless of income or property value.
Q8. How early should I get pre-approved?
Ans. Before you start seriously inspecting properties, and certainly before bidding at auction. It defines your real budget and strengthens your position with sellers.
Q9. Can I fix these mistakes after making an offer?
Ans. Some, but not all. Once you’ve won at auction in the ACT there’s no cooling-off, which is why the finance and inspection work must happen beforehand.
Q10. How do I avoid all five?
Ans. Verify rather than assume: get your borrowing capacity confirmed, check current scheme eligibility, secure proper approval, compare loans on total cost, and budget beyond the deposit.
This guide is general information only and doesn’t take into account your personal situation. Scheme rules and costs change, confirm current details before relying on any specific figure. For advice specific to your circumstances, book a call with Harbir Hundal, Credit Representative 506564 of BLSSA Pty Ltd ACN 117 651 760, Australian Credit Licence 391237.