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Should I buy this property?

Jurisdiction: address-level checks for Victoria and New South Wales; the money and duty rules for every state and territory; suburb prices for Victoria and postcode prices for Greater Sydney. A New South Wales address is read at the address point, and the result says so.

A report tells you what a property is. A calculator tells you what you can pay. This page puts the two together for one address and one price: your three ceilings, the lot’s zone, overlays and hazards, the suburb’s median, and the questions only a document, a person or a visit can answer, ranked by how much each can change the deal.

Your answer, from your numbers and the lot

The result below is a worked example until you enter an address, a price and your numbers. Load the example into the form to see how the inputs map to it.

Example: a first home buyer couple and a house in Maribyrnong at $890,000

At $890,000 your cash is $49,786 short of the deposit. On your own numbers this is a stretch, before any lender's.

Based on your numbers, the planning data for the whole lot, and Maribyrnong sales data.

What matters most

  1. Decides the dealwhole lot

    Flood overlay covers the whole lot

    Land Subject to Inundation Overlay (LSIO) covers the whole lot. The planning scheme maps this land as affected by flooding: exposure, not a record of a home here flooding.

    Get a home insurance quote for this exact address before you sign: insurers rate flood with mapping buyers can't see.

    Source: (Melbourne Water, verified 21 Oct 2026) (Melbourne Water, verified 21 Oct 2026) (CHOICE (Australian Consumers' Association), verified 21 Oct 2026) (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026) · Department of Transport and Planning (Vicmap Planning) (CC BY 4.0)

  2. Decides the dealyour figures

    Your savings don't reach the deposit at this price

    After $50,786 in duty and fees, your cash is $49,786 short of the deposit the loan needs ($178,000).

    Grants arrive at settlement, not exchange, so they can't fund the deposit. Check whether a smaller deposit with LMI, a guarantor or the 5% Deposit Scheme is open to you.

    Source: (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026) (Housing Australia, verified 7 Oct 2026) (State Revenue Office Victoria, verified 18 Sep 2026) (Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026) (Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026)

  3. Changes the pricewhole lot

    A recent planning change on this lot

    LSIO started to apply on 2019-11-14, the only change since records begin.

    Ask what the change means for what can be built or changed here, and make sure the comparable sales post-date it.

    Source: Department of Transport and Planning (Vicmap Planning) (CC BY 4.0)

  4. Changes the priceyour figures

    Little room if rates rise

    The repayment fits your line today ($4,641 a month). If rates rose 3 points it would be $6,212, $1,412 over it.

    Moneysmart suggests working out your costs at a rate 3 points higher before you commit.

    Source: (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026)

  5. Changes the pricesuburb-wide

    Below the house median, for a reason you can see

    $890,000 is 15.2% below Maribyrnong's house median, $1,050,000 (Jun qtr 2026) on 64 sales. A mapped hazard may explain a lower price; does it cover the premium, permits and resale?

    Ask for the Property Price Statement: an indicative price and the three most comparable sales, with their features.

    Source: (Valuer-General Victoria / Land Use Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026) · Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

3 more findings
  1. Worth knowingwhole lot

    Zone: General Residential Zone (GRZ1)

    The most common residential zone: moderate housing growth such as townhouses and dual occupancies is typically allowed, shaped by the council schedule.

    Which schedule applies, and what does it allow your neighbours to build?

    Source: (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026) · Department of Transport and Planning (Vicmap Planning) (CC BY 4.0)

  2. Worth knowingmesh block

    Heat and tree cover: Melbourne's middle half

    Cooler than 52% of Melbourne's mesh blocks on summer mornings in 2018, with 18% tree cover. A satellite surface reading for the mesh block around the address, not the air.

    Ask what insulation, shading and cooling the home has.

    Source: (Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, verified 23 Oct 2026) (Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, verified 23 Oct 2026) · Department of Transport and Planning (CC BY 4.0)

  3. Worth knowingwhole lot

    1 other overlay applies

    Design and Development Overlay (DDO12). Controls the height, setbacks and form of new buildings.

    Ask what each overlay's schedule requires for the works you have in mind.

    Source: (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 27 Sep 2026) · Department of Transport and Planning (Vicmap Planning) (CC BY 4.0)

Your numbers at this price

Price$890,000
Government costs (duty and fees)$50,786
Cash needed (deposit plus costs)$179,000
Deposit$128,214 (14.4%)
Loan$761,786 (85.6% LVR)
Repayment a month at 6.15%$4,641 (inside your line)
If rates rose 3 points$6,212
Lender test at 9.15%passes, about $3,551 a month to spare
Debt to income3.54 times
Safe top price$724,000 (cash for the deposit binds)

Duty and fees from the stamp duty calculator’s rules; the three ceilings from What can I buy?; the loan and repayments as the true cost to buy and own works them out.

Back to your result
Address-level checks cover Victoria and New South Wales. In New South Wales you can also leave the address out and name a Greater Sydney suburb for suburb-wide figures. Elsewhere the money and duty rules still apply, and nothing about the land is checked.

The zone, overlays and hazards come from the same data as the address report: the whole lot in Victoria, the address point in New South Wales. Picking an address in the other state switches the State above. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
For example 890,000
Your numbersThe same questions as What can I buy?. They stay on this device and out of the link unless you say otherwise.
The scheme’s price cap is higher in capital cities and regional centres.
Salary and wages. Tax is taken off for you.
Leave empty if you’re buying alone.
Your own figure: food, bills, transport, insurance, childcare. Leave out rent you’ll stop paying.
Car and personal loans, credit cards, buy now pay later, HELP or HECS. Leave empty if none.
Conveyancing, inspections, loan fees, moving, and any emergency money you want to keep. Optional.
Optional, but it is the one limit only you can set.
Starts at the average rate on new owner-occupier loans (Reserve Bank of Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026).

Before you offer

Ask the agent

  • Has the property flooded? Put the answer in writing.
  • Do the comparable sales in the price statement post-date the 2019-11-14 planning change?
  • Ask for the Property Price Statement: an indicative price and the three most comparable sales, with their features.
  • How long has it been listed, and what was the first price guide?

Ask your conveyancer

  • What does LSIO mean for building or extending, and does the disclosure statement list it?
  • Ask Melbourne Water for the property flood level certificate if this is in its area.
  • What does the most recent planning change (LSIO started to apply, 2019-11-14) mean for this lot?
  • Which schedule applies to this land, and what does it require?
  • What does the DDO schedule limit for a second storey?
  • Have the Section 32 checked before you sign: it covers title, planning and outgoings, not the building's condition.

Ask your lender

  • Would you lend at a smaller deposit, and what would LMI cost?
  • A written pre-approval at this price, and what would make the lender value it lower.

Look for at the inspection

  • Floor level against the street and the rear; signs of water in the subfloor or garage.
  • A professional building inspection report before you sign a contract, by a qualified inspector, surveyor or architect.

The baseline questions rest on (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 21 Oct 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 21 Oct 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 22 Oct 2026).

Your walk-away frame

$890,000 is $166,000 over your safe top price. The numbers don't work at this price unless an input changes: a larger deposit, a lower price, or a repayment line you've decided to move.

Maximum contract price (your safe top price)$724,000
Duty and fees at that price$33,763
Your other costs and buffer$6,000
Total acquisition budget$763,763
Walk-away numberYours to set

From the comparable sales you gather, below the maximum contract price. Delora does not set it. The offer guide explains the three figures.

  • Each $10,000 more adds about $624 in government costs at this price.
How we got this

The money tests at this price

  • Cash: savings after duty and fees cover the deposit: fails by $49,786.
  • Lender: the repayment at the assessed rate fits what take-home pay leaves: passes, $3,551 a month to spare.
  • Repayment: the monthly repayment fits the line you set: passes, $159 a month to spare.
  • Rate rise: it still fits if rates rose 3 points: fails by $1,412 a month.

The ceilings behind the safe top price

  • Lender ceiling: $1,301,000
  • Cash ceiling: $724,000 (binds)
  • Life ceiling: $914,000

The cliff scan

  • Government costs were worked out at every $1,000 from $801,000 to $980,000: no step of $1,000 or more, a slope only.

Money state: over one. Land method: lot. Price lens: below. The method is set out under how the answer is put together.

Assumptions and sources

Never said here
Whether to buy, the property’s value, whether a lender would approve a loan, whether the land is safe, what a premium, a levy or a defect would cost, or where prices go next. Each finding names what it rests on and what to check.
Your numbers
The three ceilings of the safe top price: the lender test at your rate plus 3 points (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026), your savings against a 20% deposit (the line above which lenders may charge LMI (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026)), or the deposit you name if you would pay LMI, and the repayment you set. Rate rises are tested at 3 points (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026); a loan of 6 times income is flagged (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026).
The land
The Address Check export: Vicmap Planning zones and overlays with the share of the lot each covers, the designated bushfire prone area, the 2018 urban heat and tree cover readings, the EPA Priority Sites Register, the Victorian Heritage Register, the 2009 baseline coastal inundation layer and the planning history since 2017. An overlay on under 1% of the lot is a sliver and does not arise. A layer that was not loaded is “not checked”, never clear. A New South Wales address is read at the address point, because Delora holds no New South Wales lot boundaries: the LEP zone, heritage listings, bush fire prone land, the flood planning area (where the council maps one in its LEP) and, in Greater Sydney, the 2016 heat and tree cover reading. Each says “at the address point”, and every layer the record lacks, with the lot boundaries, is “not checked”. With no address, a Greater Sydney suburb gives the largest LEP zone shares (NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, verified 1 Oct 2026), the share that is Bush Fire Prone Land, the share in an LEP flood planning area (for the councils that publish one (NSW Rural Fire Service, verified 1 Oct 2026)) and the share on the LEP heritage map (NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, verified 26 Oct 2026). Each is a share of the suburb, never a finding about the lot; the section 10.7(2) certificate is where the lot itself is answered (NSW Department of Planning and Environment, verified 22 Oct 2026).
The price
The suburb’s latest median for the matching dwelling kind, never a value: within 10% is “about the median”, and fewer than 20 sales behind it means no direction is read. For a Victorian suburb the market-pulse export adds the sales behind the latest quarter’s median and its change against the same quarter a year earlier, with a direction only when the two latest quarters agree; the same figures as the suburb page’s market pulse. Greater Sydney’s medians carry their sale counts and the change on the same quarter a year earlier, from the NSW export. Victoria’s medians are suburb-level (Valuer-General Victoria / Land Use Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026); Greater Sydney’s are postcode-level (NSW Department of Communities and Justice, verified 1 Oct 2026), all unit sizes, and are labelled as the postcode’s median, never as this property’s value.
Cliffs
Government costs are worked out at every $1,000 for 10% either side of your price; a step of $1,000 or more between two prices is a cliff, named by the cost lines that moved. The 5% Deposit Scheme price cap is a cliff when it is in reach.
Ranking
Each finding gets a tier from a fixed table that depends on what you are buying (a flood overlay decides the deal for a house and changes the price for an upper-floor unit). Within a tier, land findings rank ahead of the money tests. Nothing is summed into a score.
Not held
Anything about the building, comparable sales, insurance premiums, strata finances, and for New South Wales the lot boundaries, contamination, public acquisition, aircraft noise and planning history. Each appears as a question to ask or a layer listed as not checked, not a finding.

The calculator needs JavaScript. The worked example, the method and the sources on this page work without it.

Three situations

Composed at build time by the same module as the calculator, at the average new owner-occupier rate of 6.15%. The lot facts in the first example are illustrative (the address is not named); every money figure is the engine’s. Select one to load it into the calculator.

SituationWhat decides itPriceMoney
A couple, first home, and a Maribyrnong house on a flood overlay
$120,000 and $95,000 income, $185,000 saved, $4,800 a month comfortable		Flood overlay covers the whole lot; cash is the ceiling$890,000
safe top $724,000		over one
A couple, first home, and a Parramatta upper-floor unit
$95,000 and $70,000 income, $95,000 saved, $4,000 a month comfortable		No address picked: the questions carry the land$720,000
safe top $746,000		tight
The same couple, with a 10% deposit and LMI
$105,000 and $88,000 income, $120,000 saved, $4,600 a month comfortable		The cash test passes at their own deposit; LMI becomes a finding$830,000
safe top $858,000		tight

How the answer is put together

A buyer’s advocate doesn’t score a property. They ask four separate questions, answer each with its own evidence, and say which answer should drive the decision. This page does the same with four lenses, and never adds them up.

  1. Can you carry it? Your three ceilings as purchase prices: the lender test at your rate plus APRA’s 3-point serviceability buffer (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026), your savings against the deposit and the duty and fees from the stamp duty calculator’s rules, and the repayment you set. At your price it also checks a 3-point rate rise (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026), the 80% loan-to-value line above which lenders may charge LMI (ASIC (Moneysmart), verified 22 Oct 2026), APRA’s 6 times income flag (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, verified 6 Oct 2026) and, if you use it, the 5% Deposit Scheme’s price cap (Housing Australia, verified 22 Oct 2026). States: fits, tight, over on one test, over on two or more.
  2. What are you actually buying? The lot’s zone, its overlays by family (flood, bushfire, heritage, contamination, acquisition, aircraft noise, built form), the designated bushfire prone area (Department of Transport and Planning (Victoria), verified 22 Oct 2026), the 2018 urban heat and tree cover reading for the mesh block (Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, verified 23 Oct 2026) (a surface reading, not the air (Clean Air and Urban Landscapes Hub, for the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, verified 23 Oct 2026)), a site on EPA’s Priority Sites Register on or next to the lot (EPA Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026) (a short list, not every contaminated site), a place on the Victorian Heritage Register (Heritage Victoria, verified 22 Oct 2026), the 2009 baseline coastal inundation layer, the planning history since 2017, and whether the parcel is shared. Each signal is read through what you said you are buying: a flood overlay decides the deal for a house (Melbourne Water, verified 21 Oct 2026) and changes the price for an upper-floor unit, whose questions are the building’s. The method is named every time: whole lot, the land parcel under a building, or the address point only.
  3. Is the price in the right country? Never a value. Your price against the suburb’s latest median for the matching dwelling kind, with the sale count and a thin-market rule, and the price checks you are owed: in Victoria the Property Price Statement with three comparable sales (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 27 Sep 2026) (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026), in New South Wales the agent’s estimated selling price (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 27 Oct 2026). Plus the cliffs around your price, found by running the cost engine either side of it, never from a remembered threshold.
  4. What can’t be seen from here? The questions for the agent, your conveyancer, your lender and the inspection, each raised by a finding above it, plus the baseline every buyer is owed: in Victoria the Section 32 (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 21 Oct 2026) and a building inspection (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 22 Oct 2026); in New South Wales the section 10.7 planning certificate (NSW Department of Planning and Environment, verified 22 Oct 2026) and the agent’s prescribed material facts (NSW Government (NSW Fair Trading), verified 22 Oct 2026).

Every finding gets a tier from a fixed table: decides the deal, changes the price or worth knowing. The verdict sentence comes from a decision table crossing the money state with whether any land finding decides the deal; it never says yes or no, because the price is yours to set and the loan is the lender’s to approve. Victorian addresses get findings for the whole lot; New South Wales addresses get findings at the address point, with the lot boundaries and every layer the record lacks reported as not checked rather than clear.

The walk-away frame is the offer guide’s three figures: the total acquisition budget and the maximum contract price are worked out here; the walk-away number depends on comparable sales no open dataset holds and on your own judgement, so Delora leaves it to you.

Frequently asked

Does this tell me whether to buy?

No. It tells you whether your own numbers carry the price, what the planning data says about the lot, where the price sits against the suburb’s median, and what only a document, a person or a visit can answer. The decision, the price and the walk-away number are yours.

Why does it say “not checked” rather than “clear”?

A layer the export did not load, or an address Delora cannot place on a lot, has no result. Saying “clear” would be a claim with nothing behind it. A New South Wales address is read at the address point only, and the result lists the lot boundaries and every layer it could not check.

Is the verdict financial advice or a valuation?

Neither. The money lens repeats your own figures through published rules (APRA’s buffer and debt-to-income limit, Moneysmart’s LMI and rate-rise guidance, the duty rules for your state). The price lens compares your price with a median, which is the middle sale, not a value. Talk to a lender about what they would approve and a licensed valuer or your own comparable sales about value.

Where does the land data come from?

The same static export the address report uses: Vicmap Planning zones and overlays intersected with the parcel boundary, the designated bushfire prone area, the 2018 urban heat study, the EPA Priority Sites Register (not a full inventory of contaminated land), the Victorian Heritage Register, the 2009 baseline coastal inundation layer (the only year held) and VicPlan’s planning scheme history; for New South Wales, the NSW Planning Portal’s zoning, heritage, flood planning and bush fire prone land maps and the 2016 urban heat study, each read at the address point. Each finding names its dataset and licence.

Is anything I enter stored or sent anywhere?

No. The calculator runs in your browser against static files. The address, price, what it is and the buyer type go in the page address so you can share or bookmark a result; your income, debts and savings do not, unless you tick the box that puts them in the link. See Privacy.

Sources and methodology

Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.

Evidence record

Written by
Delora editorial team
Jurisdiction
Victoria and New South Wales at address level; Australia-wide for the money and duty rules
Content type
Calculator (general education, not advice, not a valuation, not a lender assessment)
Last reviewed
2026-11-05
Sources
See "Sources and methodology" above for cited sources
← Complete due diligence Address report What can I buy? True cost to buy and own Stamp duty and buying costs The offer and auction guide Property risk checks

Sources on this page last verified between and against the primary source each figure cites. What “verified” means