Funds to complete: the cash you need beyond the loan

Why “20% deposit” is not the whole story

Buyers often quote a deposit percentage as if that is the only money required. Settlement cash is usually deposit (or equity contribution) plus transfer duty and government fees, minus any grant credit you actually receive, plus any lender costs your broker has flagged.

If the loan is less than the purchase price, the gap must be funded. If duty and fees are paid from cash rather than the loan, your available savings need to cover that stack on top of the deposit.

The dangerous sentence is “we have the deposit.” The useful sentence is “we can settle deposit, duty, fees, and a buffer after the loan settles.” DutyStack’s funds-to-complete view is built around that second sentence.

The usual building blocks

A practical funds-to-complete view separates purchase funding from cash at settlement. Write the stack on one page before you fall in love with a listing:

• Purchase price
• Less: loan advance (and any genuine equity release used as deposit)
• Plus: stamp duty / transfer duty
• Plus: transfer and mortgage registration fees (state-dependent)
• Less: First Home Owner Grant credit where eligible
• Plus: other cash items your conveyancer lists (adjustments, shortfall, lender fees)
• Plus: a buffer for surprises — not optional on auctions

Cash deposit vs equity

A cash deposit reduces the loan dollar-for-dollar. Equity from another property can fund the deposit without draining an offset account — but it does not erase duty. DutyStack’s equity path keeps purchase loan sizing and duty cash separate so the screen does not invent a “buffer” by double-counting.

If equity fully covers the purchase gap, you may still need cash for duty and fees unless those are separately funded. Family gifts used as deposit need clear documentation for the lender; undocumented “mum will help” is not a settlement plan.

When comparing two deposit percentages, always recompute duty and LMI. Thinning the deposit to “save cash for duty” can work — or it can push you into expensive LMI that eats the supposed saving. Run both stacks.

Grants reduce cash — they do not rewrite duty tables

FHOG (where available) is a grant credit. It can lower cash at settlement when you qualify, but it is not the same as a stamp duty exemption. Some buyers qualify for one and not the other. New builds and vacant land often have different grant settings to established homes.

Budget without the grant first. If the grant clears, your cash position improves. If you budget the grant and lose eligibility on contract type or date, you are short at settlement with no time left.

LMI and capitalisation hide in the loan

When LMI is capitalised, settlement cash can look cleaner while the loan starts higher. That is a trade, not a free lunch. Include the capitalised premium in your long-term interest cost when you compare 10% vs 20% deposit paths.

Scheme pathways that waive private LMI still leave duty unpaid. A 5% deposit with full duty can still require a large savings pile. See the 5% Deposit Scheme guide and the LMI guide for the credit side of the same decision.

A settlement cash worksheet you can reuse

Open a blank note and create seven lines: purchase price, loan advance, deposit or equity cash, stamp duty, registration and transfer fees, grant credit, lender and conveyancer extras. Force a number into every line, even if the number is zero.

Then compute cash out equals deposit or equity cash plus duty plus fees plus extras minus grant. Compare that to cleared savings. The gap is your problem to solve before you bid — not after unconditional.

If the gap is closed only by bonus, tax return, or maybe mum, you do not have a settlement plan. You have a hope. Hope is not a funds-to-complete figure.

Re-run the worksheet every time price, state, purpose, or deposit percent changes. One changed toggle can move duty enough to break a previously tidy plan.

Auction vs private treaty cash discipline

Auctions compress time. You need the cash stack known before you raise your hand. Private treaty gives a little more room to reconcile conveyancer figures, but stretching the offer after emotional commitment creates the same underfunding.

Cooling-off rules differ by state and often do not apply to auctions. Treat auction cash planning as final. If duty plus deposit exceeds your cleared funds, your maximum bid is lower than the price you emotionally want.

Build a walk-away number that includes duty. A walk-away on price alone still leaves you underfunded if duty was never in the ceiling.

How offset and emergency cash interact

Some buyers empty every account into the deposit and arrive at settlement with no buffer and no offset seed. That can clear LVR while destroying resilience. Others keep too much in offset and pay unnecessary LMI. The repayments tool helps you see interest impact; the funds-to-complete view helps you see settlement survival.

A practical split: fund settlement first, then decide how much leftover cash belongs in offset versus redraw versus an emergency account outside the loan. Do not reverse that order.

If family is helping, document whether the help is gift, loan, or temporary parking. Lenders and conveyancers treat those differently, and so should your cash plan.

Reading a conveyancer statement without panic

When the adjustment statement arrives, map each line back to your worksheet. Expected lines include duty, transfer fees, mortgage registration, and any shortfall. Unexpected lines need a one-sentence explanation from the conveyancer before you transfer funds.

If the statement is higher than DutyStack, assume the statement wins until proven otherwise. Calculators miss contract-specific adjustments. If the statement is materially lower, ask why — a missed duty line is worse than a surplus.

Keep the email trail. Settlement disputes are rare; documentation makes them shorter.

Pay from the account you told the lender about when relevant. Surprise transfers from unexplained accounts create credit friction at the worst time.

Deposit bonds, holding deposits, and timing traps

A holding deposit to an agent is not the same as the full deposit your loan assumes. Know what is released, what is held in trust, and what must land as cleared funds before settlement.

Deposit bonds and guarantees are product-specific. Do not assume they reduce duty. They change how the purchase deposit is secured, not how the revenue office calculates transfer duty.

If your strategy depends on selling another property, model the bridge explicitly. “It will settle in time” is not a number. Get dates, and build a failure path if the sale slips.

Putting the full toolkit to work

Use funds-to-complete for settlement survival, repayments for monthly serviceability, and LMI flags for high-LVR cost. Then open a worked scenario closest to your decision and replace the demo price with your offer.

The goal is not a perfect forecast. The goal is to avoid discovering a five-figure cash hole after you are emotionally committed to the property.

Edge cases that still need a cash line

Vendor terms, delayed settlement, rent-back, and early release requests all change when cash must be available. If your contract is non-standard, ask the conveyancer for a dated funds schedule rather than guessing from a generic calculator output.

Body corporate adjustment, water, and rates are usually smaller than duty, but they still appear. Leave a minor buffer so a few hundred dollars of adjustments does not become a settlement-day scramble.

If you are buying at auction through an agent unfamiliar to your conveyancer, start the engagement before auction day so the funds schedule is not invented overnight.

Use the calculator, then verify the settlement statement

Run price, state, purpose, first-home status, and deposit funding through DutyStack to get an order-of-magnitude cash figure before you bid. Before exchange, replace the estimate with your conveyancer’s adjustment statement and your broker’s final fee list.

If the live estimate and the conveyancer’s figure diverge materially, stop and reconcile. Do not assume the lower number is right.