$30,000 grant, uncapped new-build duty relief — used properly.

Queensland's first home buyer support sits across three concurrent measures and they are, by some distance, among the most generous on the east coast right now. The Treasury-funded First Home Owner Grant pays $30,000 on a new build or substantially renovated property purchased under $750,000 — the boosted amount has applied to eligible contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, and the 2026-27 QLD Budget locked it in for a further four years. From 1 May 2025 the Queensland Revenue Office grants a full stamp duty exemption on new-build first home buyer purchases regardless of price, plus a full exemption on established homes to $700,000 and a tapered concession to $800,000 — saving roughly $15,000 to $25,000 on an established-home purchase in the south-east corner. And the federal First Home Guarantee runs uncapped since 1 October 2025 (no income test, no place cap), allowing eligible buyers to purchase with a 5% deposit and no LMI within the relevant regional price cap. Used together, a first home buyer purchasing a new $730,000 home in a south-east QLD growth corridor can pick up the $30,000 grant, pay zero stamp duty (regardless of price on a new build), and avoid LMI through the First Home Guarantee — net cash needed at settlement of around 6–8% of the purchase price. On the same property, an interstate first home buyer in NSW or VIC would still write a materially larger cheque for deposit plus duty. That gap is a big part of why south-east QLD has stayed one of the strongest first home buyer markets in the country. The rules have edges. The grant is paid only on new homes — a brand-new home purchased off the plan, a house-and-land package, or a substantially renovated home that meets QRO's new-home rules. Established homes don't qualify for the grant, although they do qualify for the stamp duty concession. You must move in within 12 months and live there for at least 6 months as your principal place of residence. The duty concession on established homes applies only to owner-occupier purchases under $800K and only to people who haven't previously owned property anywhere in Australia. Get any of that wrong and the QRO can claw the concession back, with interest. We price the loan to match. With the grant and the duty exemption funding a big chunk of the deposit and costs, the question isn't usually whether you can afford the deposit — it's which lender writes the smartest loan against a $730K new build with a 5–10% effective deposit. A major bank or a second-tier bank tends to top the shortlist; the rate is indicative and on application, confirmed in writing on your file. We confirm the file across three lenders before any application goes in.