First Home Buyer Guide Melbourne — Grants, Stamp Duty & Strategy (2026)

Properties under $600,000 attract a 100% stamp duty exemption — you pay zero. Between $600,000 and $750,000 a sliding scale reduction applies, and the concession decreases as the price rises toward $750,000. Above $750,000 full stamp duty applies with no concession.

The First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for new homes valued under $750,000. It applies to new homes only — established homes do not qualify — and it sits on top of any stamp duty exemption or concession you are entitled to.

No. The Victorian Homebuyer Fund is closed to new participants. The strategy previously described here — buy under the VHF, hold 12 months, then refinance out after appreciation — has been withdrawn from this page because the scheme is no longer open. See our dedicated VHF guide for what it was and what it means for existing participants.

Rentvesting means renting where you want to live and buying an investment property where the numbers work. It exists because self-occupied homes and investment properties have opposite selection criteria: a dream home is chosen for proximity to work, neighbourhood and a renovated kitchen, while an investment is chosen for land size, land-value ratio and rental demand. Trying to combine both means compromising on everything.

On a $700K property a standard 20% deposit is $140,000. A 10% deposit is $70,000 plus $1,500 to $1,800 in Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Some professions — nurses, accountants, lawyers, doctors — can access professional packages that waive LMI at higher LVRs; ask a licensed broker, because PremiumRea holds no Australian Credit Licence.

A common rule of thumb is roughly five times pre-tax annual income, so $100K of salary supports around $500K of borrowing and $150K supports around $750K. Rental income adds to capacity. This is a rule of thumb, not an assessment — lenders assess income, existing commitments, dependants, living expenses and the loan at a buffer rate above the advertised one, and only a licensed credit assistance provider can tell you your actual number.

One approach we see is putting Property 1 in one person's name only, which keeps the debt allocation clean and leaves the other person with an unencumbered credit profile for Property 2. That maximises the combined borrowing across two purchases rather than one. Loan structure is a credit question — PremiumRea holds no Australian Credit Licence, so take the structure itself to a broker.

A $700K property in a preferred inner suburb might yield 3% with limited growth potential, while the same $700K in Cranbourne or Hampton Park buys a larger block with granny flat upside and higher rental yield. If the property is to be an investment, the corridor generally wins on the numbers; if you intend to live in it, the trade-off is a lifestyle decision the numbers cannot make for you.