Conveyancing Fees NSW: What First Home Buyers Actually Pay in 2026
Most NSW first home buyers budget carefully for their deposit and stamp duty, then get a nasty surprise when they see the final conveyancing invoice. The number on the quote rarely matches the number at settlement — because conveyancing quotes almost always separate professional fees from disbursements, and disbursements are the part that moves.
Here is exactly what you will pay, what can be negotiated, and what cannot.
Professional Fees: The Baseline
Conveyancers and solicitors in NSW charge a professional fee for their legal work — reviewing the contract, conducting title searches, managing the FHBAS stamp duty exemption application, and executing settlement through the PEXA electronic workspace. This is the number quoted up front.
For a standard residential purchase under $1 million, professional fees typically range from $1,000 to $3,000. The lower end reflects licensed conveyancers handling straightforward Torrens title transactions; the upper end reflects law firms or solicitors handling complex contracts with unusual special conditions, strata scheme complications, or foreign purchaser issues.
What drives variation within that range:
- Firm seniority and location. CBD-based law firms charge more than outer suburban conveyancers. The actual legal work on a standard purchase is identical.
- Property type. A freestanding house on Torrens title is the simplest case. A strata apartment adds complexity (reviewing by-laws, owners corporation minutes, strata inspection report). An off-the-plan purchase adds significantly more — the practitioner must review a development contract, monitor progress claims, and arrange a final inspection before settlement.
- Fixed fee versus hourly. Fixed-fee quotes are standard for residential purchases. If a practitioner quotes hourly, ask for a capped estimate.
A quote of $900 for a complete first home purchase in a competitive Sydney suburb should prompt scrutiny — it usually signals that disbursements are being quoted separately and will arrive as add-ons.
Disbursements: The Part That Varies
Disbursements are out-of-pocket costs the conveyancer pays on your behalf and passes through to you. They are not negotiable — they are statutory government fees and search charges. A reputable conveyancer will give you a realistic disbursements estimate upfront; a less transparent one will quote a minimal figure and add the rest at settlement.
Typical disbursements for a NSW residential purchase:
| Item | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|
| NSW Land Registry Services title search | $15–$25 |
| Council Section 10.7(2) planning certificate | $53–$80 (varies by LGA) |
| Council Section 10.7(5) full certificate (recommended) | $80–$150 |
| Sydney Water drainage diagram | $25–$40 |
| ASIC company search (if vendor is a company) | $15 |
| Bankruptcy search | $10–$20 |
| Strata inspection report (if buying strata) | $200–$450 |
| PEXA electronic settlement fee | $140.58 |
| NSW Land Registry title transfer fee | $150–$350 (scales with purchase price) |
Total disbursements for a standard Torrens title house: approximately $400–$700. For a strata apartment with a full Section 10.7(5) and a strata report: $800–$1,100.
The PEXA fee of $140.58 is a fixed government-mandated charge. Settlement in NSW is legally required to occur via an Electronic Lodgment Network Operator, and PEXA holds a near-monopoly on this. Every buyer pays it.
The Section 10.7 Certificate: (2) vs (2)(5)
This is where many buyers under-spend and later regret it. There are two levels of planning certificate from the local council:
The Section 10.7(2) provides basic zoning classification, heritage listings, and State Environmental Planning Policy overlays. It costs less and is the minimum required by law to be attached to a Contract for Sale.
The Section 10.7(2)(5) — or "full certificate" — adds critical detail: road widening proposals, contamination notices, pending planning orders, and localized flood or bushfire risk overlays not visible in the standard certificate. The additional cost is usually under $80, and the information it contains can fundamentally change whether a purchase makes financial sense.
Always ask your conveyancer to obtain the full Section 10.7(2)(5). If they don't raise it themselves, that is a signal about how carefully they are managing your due diligence.
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The First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme Application
Processing your stamp duty exemption under the FHBAS is part of the conveyancer's work, but there are administrative steps that affect your timeline. Your practitioner must submit form ODA 066B to Revenue NSW, along with a Purchaser/Transferee Declaration and certified identity documents. This application must be processed and stamped before settlement — NSW Land Registry Services will not complete a title transfer with outstanding duty.
If your practitioner leaves the FHBAS application late, it can delay settlement. Confirm with them early in the process that the application is in their standard workflow and that they understand the documentation requirements. This is not a step to follow up on two days before settlement.
The stamp duty exemption itself is worth up to approximately $31,335 on a property at exactly $800,000, based on the standard duty calculation that would otherwise apply. It is the largest financial saving available to NSW first home buyers and should be the first thing confirmed as part of your conveyancing engagement.
What a Complete First Home Purchase Actually Costs
For a $750,000 existing house purchased by a first home buyer using the federal First Home Guarantee (5% deposit, no LMI):
| Cost Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Professional conveyancing fee | $1,500 |
| Disbursements (title, searches, PEXA) | $600 |
| Building and pest inspection (separate) | $550 |
| Total conveyancing and inspection costs | ~$2,650 |
Transfer duty: $0 (FHBAS full exemption under $800,000).
For a $900,000 strata apartment, the FHBAS concession applies (not a full exemption), and the strata report becomes an essential extra disbursement:
| Cost Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Professional conveyancing fee | $1,800 |
| Disbursements including strata report | $950 |
| Building inspection (external/accessible areas only) | $400 |
| Concessional stamp duty (FHBAS taper formula) | ~$16,330 |
| Total transaction costs beyond deposit | ~$19,480 |
These are not worst-case figures. They represent realistic middle-of-the-range scenarios in the current market.
Choosing a Conveyancer
Three things matter more than price: their responsiveness, their familiarity with FHBAS applications, and their competence in reviewing strata documents if you are buying an apartment.
Ask every conveyancer you approach:
- Is your quote fixed, and does it include all disbursements or just professional fees?
- Do you prepare the FHBAS application and manage it through to stamping?
- If I am buying a strata property, do you review the strata inspection report and flag red flags in the minutes, or do you just confirm receipt?
If a conveyancer cannot give clear answers to questions two and three, keep looking.
The New South Wales First Home Buyer Guide covers the full conveyancing process including what to expect at exchange, how the 42-day settlement period works, and how to read the FHBAS exemption application — with a step-by-step checklist for each stage.
Disbursements That Can Be Skipped (And Those That Cannot)
Buyers sometimes ask whether certain searches can be waived to reduce costs. Here is the practical answer:
Cannot be skipped: The PEXA fee (mandatory), title search (needed for settlement), council planning certificate (required by law to be in the contract), Sydney Water diagram (lenders require it).
Can be skipped (but shouldn't be): A strata inspection report is not legally required — but buying a strata apartment without one is buying blind. Section 10.7(5) is not legally required beyond the (2) — but skipping it means you won't know about contamination notices or road proposals until after you own the land.
The cost difference between a minimal disbursements list and a thorough one is around $400–$500. On a purchase of $750,000 or more, that is not a meaningful saving. Do not cut corners on searches to save on a rounding error relative to the purchase price.
Your solicitor or conveyancer is legally acting for you. Their job is not just to fill out forms — it is to identify everything on the title and in the planning environment that could affect the value of what you are buying. Make sure you engage someone who treats it that way.
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