How long does it take to buy a house from start to finish?

Typically two to three months if you're actively making offers: a couple of days for pre-approval, however long it takes to win an offer, then 30 to 60 days from contract to settlement depending on the state.

How long is settlement in New South Wales?

42 days is the standard settlement period in NSW. Some states run 30 days, and some contracts run 60.

What does a conveyancer do when buying a home?

Reviews the contract of sale, handles amendments, and manages the legal transfer of the property into your name at settlement. The broker handles the finance.

What happens between pre-approval and full approval?

Once your offer is accepted, the signed contract goes to the bank with the purchase price and loan amount, the bank values the property, and the pre-approval converts to a full approval.

Do I need home insurance before settlement?

Yes. You'll arrange building insurance on the property (or rely on strata insurance for a unit) before settlement, as part of the final approval steps.

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Straight Answers · First home

How long does it all take, and who does what before settlement?

Bayley Clarke · Mortgage broker on the road · Last checked 1 September 2026 · 4 min read

The short answer

The initial chat is discovery. Then a pre-approval, which takes a couple of days and lasts 90 days. Once an offer is accepted, a conveyancer handles the contract while I turn the pre-approval into a full approval. Then it's 30 to 60 days to settlement depending on your state.

Start to finish, if you're eager and making offers, the whole thing might be two or three months. Sometimes it takes a few stabs to get an offer accepted. If the pre-approval runs out in the meantime, we redo it, so you always have me in your corner.

The three minute version. The rest of this page is the detail underneath it.

Step one: discovery

The initial chat is all about figuring out exactly where you are and how your situation sits, then comparing that against all the different lenders I have access to as a broker. That's working through what your household looks like: income, any existing debts, what deposit you're working with.

All of it comes into the picture when we're figuring out how much you can borrow and what your purchase price range looks like.

Step two: pre-approval and offers

Say everything gets ticked off and you want to seriously start making offers. We get a pre-approval in place from the bank. That probably takes a couple of days, and it's valid for 90 days.

With that piece of paper and me saying you're good to go, get out there and start making offers. Multiple offers, whatever it takes. Don't expect to get the first one.

Step three: offer accepted, the other people join the party

Once an offer is accepted, you'll be sent a contract of sale. It's the legal document for the transfer of the property from the current owner into your name, and you want a conveyancer or a solicitor to review it and make sure there's nothing weird going on on the legal side.

I take care of the finance and the loan. The conveyancer takes care of the legal side of the transaction. Once they've been through everything, had any amendments added, and are happy for you to sign, you sign.

Step four: full approval

With the signed contract, I go to the bank: here's the signed copy, here's the purchase price, here's how much we're borrowing. Your loan gets converted from a pre-approved loan into a fully approved loan, once the bank has done a valuation on the property. Sometimes that needs an inspection. Other times it comes back online, which keeps it nice and simple.

Once the valuation is back, the loan is fully approved. You sign some documents. You get home insurance for the property, or strata insurance if it's a unit. And your conveyancer walks you through getting everything ready for the property to transfer into your name at settlement.

The timeframes

From offer accepted until settlement, when the place is officially yours: anywhere between 30 days in some states, 42 days as the standard settlement timeframe in New South Wales, and 60 days in some places.

Start to finish, if we get the pre-approval and you're eager and making offers, the process may be two or three months. Sometimes it takes people longer to find the right property and get an offer accepted, and if that's the case, cool, we redo the pre-approval. Sometimes it happens very quickly. Other times it takes a couple of stabs. That's roughly how long it takes to buy a property.

The honest bit: the slow part isn't the bank

People brace for the bank to be the bottleneck. It usually isn't. A pre-approval is days. A full approval is a valuation away. The part that stretches to months is finding the right place and winning it, and that part is on you and the market, not on me.

Which is why the pre-approval is designed to be redone. Use the 90 days properly and don't panic when they run out.

Want to know where you'd sit in this timeline today?

A 30 minute call. Discovery is step one, and it's the step that tells you your range, your likely lender and how fast the rest can move. Nothing on your file.

Book a 30 minute call Call 0437 189 939

No cost to you. The bank pays me when a loan settles. · How I get paid

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