Calculator
Every other calculator stops at one side of the transaction. This one runs both ledgers and tells you the number that decides whether you can move: what you clear on the sale against what you need on the purchase, and the gap between them.
Defaults are typical Sydney figures. Override any of them with your own quotes.
Agent commission is negotiable everywhere and is the single largest line here.
Surplus after the move
Your sale clears $601,965 and the purchase needs $344,147.
Bridging finance, deposit bonds, extended settlements and simultaneous settlement are all ways to close a shortfall. Which one fits depends on your equity, your timing and your lender.
Book a strategy callAsk a questionThe order you do it in changes the cost and the risk. This is the part no other calculator models.
You secure the property you want, but you carry both debts and you are exposed if the sale comes in under expectation.
You know exactly what you have to spend, but you may need somewhere to live and the market can move while you look.
Every cost in this calculator is a benchmark, not a quote. Agent commission, marketing, conveyancing, inspections and moving costs vary widely by suburb, property and provider, and the defaults here reflect typical Sydney figures in August 2026. Lenders Mortgage Insurance is shown as a range because published premium tables differ materially between lenders and insurers. Capital gains tax is not calculated and may apply on an investment sale. Bridging finance figures are indicative only and subject to lender assessment, approval and current pricing.
Most people moving house budget for two things: the deposit and the agent’s commission. Both are large and both are visible. The problem is everything around them, which on a typical Sydney upgrade adds up to somewhere between $80,000 and $130,000 across the two transactions and rarely appears in one place.
On the buying side, transfer duty dominates. Then conveyancing, building and pest, lender fees, removalists and the settlement adjustments nobody warns you about. On the selling side it is commission, then marketing at 0.5% to 1% of the sale price, styling, photography, the auctioneer, your own legal fees, and the mortgage discharge.
But the number that actually decides whether you can move is none of those individually. It is the gap: what you clear on the sale after the loan is repaid, measured against what you need in cash on the purchase. That single figure is what the calculator above exists to produce.
If you buy before you sell, there is a period where you owe money on both properties at once. That combined figure is your peak debt: the balance still owing on the old loan, plus the full purchase price of the new property, plus the costs of getting there.
Lenders will generally advance up to 80% of peak debt, which means you need real equity in the property you are selling before bridging is even available. Some lenders want considerably more. During the bridging period repayments are usually interest only, and often the interest is capitalised, meaning it is added to the loan rather than paid monthly, so your cash flow does not change but your debt grows.
Once the old property sells, the bridge is repaid and you are left with end debt, which converts to a normal principal and interest loan. Terms are typically six to twelve months, and a closed bridge, where you already have an unconditional contract on the sale, prices better and approves more easily than an open one.
The honest answer is that it depends on your risk appetite and your equity, but the market conditions in the middle of 2026 tilt the balance. Sydney dwelling values fell 1.2% in June and 3.2% over the June quarter, the largest quarterly decline since 2022.
In a falling market, buying first is more dangerous than usual, because the price you eventually achieve on your sale may be lower than the figure you budgeted, while the purchase price is already locked. That is the forced sale scenario, and it is how people end up accepting a number they did not want.
In the same conditions, selling first carries less of its usual risk. The classic objection is that the market runs away from you while you are looking. When values are drifting down rather than up, that objection weakens considerably. The trade-off becomes practical rather than financial: where do you live, and what does storage cost.
None of that is advice about your situation. It is context for the numbers above, and the reason we would rather have the conversation before you commit to an order than after.
Agent commission is the largest single controllable cost and it is negotiable everywhere in Australia. On a $1,050,000 sale, moving from 2.5% to 2.0% saves $5,250. Marketing is often quoted as a package and can be trimmed, particularly the print components, which do very little on most campaigns.
On the buying side, lender application, valuation and settlement fees are frequently waived on request or through a broker, which is worth more than it sounds when they total $700 to $2,000. And if your loan-to-value ratio is close to 80%, finding the extra deposit to get under it removes Lenders Mortgage Insurance entirely, which on a $1,400,000 purchase can be a $30,000 swing.
Typically 2.5% to 4% of the sale price all in. Agent commission averages about 2.0% in New South Wales and Victoria, 2.56% in Queensland and 2.71% in Tasmania. On top of that, marketing runs 0.5% to 1% of the price, plus styling, photography, the auctioneer if you go that route, conveyancing of $800 to $2,500 and the mortgage discharge.
On a $1,050,000 Sydney sale that is roughly $37,000 before any pre-sale repairs.
Next step
These figures are a starting point, not an assessment. Lender policy, your structure and your three-to-five year plan all change the answer. Tell us where you are today and what you’re working towards, and we’ll model it properly across our lender panel.