Buying

‘Plan and then go for it’: how Sang found her family a home

Your first family home is a huge (maybe the hugest?) moment in your and your kids’ lives. And it can be a long and bumpy journey. But despite the challenges, Sang and her family made the decision to buy – and learnt plenty of lessons along the way before they found the right home for them. We asked Sang about how she came to the decision to buy, and the lifestyle adjustments she and her family made on their way to moving into their own first family home.

Hey, Sang. So, how did you know your family was ready to buy a home? And what was your motivation?

We were living overseas and I wanted to come back to be close to my parents. At first, I rented an apartment in Sydney. My son was three years old and my daughter was seven, so it was ‘cosy’ in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. Plus, we lived above elderly neighbours – and you can imagine what it’s like with a three-year-old and a seven-year-old running around everywhere.

We did get some complaints. So the main reason to look for a home was that our growing family needed space, where the kids could be independent, jump around without getting in anyone’s way and just grow. For my children, I just wanted that space.

With your whole family influencing the vision of what home should be like, how did you come to choose a place?

I started by looking at schools. My thought was that with good-quality schools, there’s more of a chance that people are like-minded, and more family oriented.

Budget was also a criteria. I was tossing up between renting and buying, but I worked out that buying was something I could afford. Initially I was looking for a house, but at that time I didn’t have enough for a house, so I changed our plans to an apartment or a townhouse.

I was also looking for green space. We ended up in an area with tree-lined streets, wide roads and a lot of parks. Here, it felt like a place where we could bring up the kids in suburbia and have a good quality of life.

Were there any major sticking points in the journey to buying? And if so, how did you get unstuck?

Knowledge. I’d never done any of this before. I’ve been a renter all my life. But Google was there. I talked to friends. And I actually got a reference from someone else who’d recently bought a house and used the same conveyancer to help me.

Another thing was working out how much money I needed for a deposit. And, beyond first finding the house, you have to pay all these fees. Like, if you like a place and you want to bid on it, then you have to pay for getting your conveyancer to review the contract. Then if you really like it and you want to bid on it, then you need to do your pest inspection and things like that. It all adds up. On top of the purchase price, and those fees, there’s stamp duty too. I didn’t expect it to be as much as it was. So that’s a big thing – be prepared for stamp duty.

At what point did you need the most advice? What would you say was the trickiest part to navigate?

I would say knowing what location I wanted to focus my search on to find the place I wanted. Second was knowing how much I will need to pay out of my pocket every month based on fixed or variable rates for the home loan, including how much I would need to pay on a monthly home loan payment, and factoring in strata fees.

I actually used my bank a lot because I didn’t have a clue about the process. So I asked a lot of questions. The bank did help me a lot, and then when I got a conveyancer, I relied on them too.

Is there anything you think your kids might have picked up about managing money from this journey, or anything you might have learnt that you could pass along to them down the track?

One of the things that I’d say is planning. If you want something, then you need to plan for it so you’re aware of what you can afford and what you can’t. When they do ask me for things, I am very open about it. I’ll say, “This is what I can afford. This is what we can buy and this is what we can’t.” I’m quite open and honest about it. I’m quite pragmatic.

So I think that’s something that they’ve picked up: to be aware of how much things cost, and if you really want it, then you need to plan and then you can go for it.

Did you feel like you had to adjust your budget dramatically to meet your savings goal? And with that, did your lifestyle change a lot?

In terms of lifestyle, my husband and I have relatives overseas, but we didn’t go on an overseas trip while saving. We were also mindful about our purchases and what they cost. It became more about being aware of where our spending was going and asking ourselves whether it was worth it. Because we had the goal, if there were things that we could pass up or alternate, then we would.

So it might mean hiring a movie for movie night at home rather than going to the cinema. Eating in and getting better at cooking, so you don’t feel like you’re missing out if you’re not going to a restaurant. Things like that. Little things. How does the saying go? “Little drops make a mighty ocean.”

So jumping to the moment where you got the keys and you stepped through the door of your new family home for the first time, how did that feel? Did it all feel worth it?

I was so keen I actually went to see the papers being filed. I asked them, “Can I come and just watch you guys do it?” So I witnessed the conveyancers swapping the documents. That was my ‘It’s happened!’ moment. It was just a two-minute thing, but it was huge.

Then getting the keys was validation. Once we had the keys, we were together at home, and the kids ran into the backyard, running around, looking at the garden. This moment felt like all the check boxes had been marked ‘complete’. I was like, “We’re done.” I felt satisfied.

Now that you’re settled in, what do you feel you did right in the process of buying your home?

Planning. I was quite diligent in terms of researching location. And I was aware of our budget and what we could and couldn’t do, what we could afford or not.

And we were organised. We visited so many places on some days. I used to have a spreadsheet with all the properties in that suburb that we wanted to look at, and we used to bring our kids along with us, so being organised helped. And last, getting my head around financial products. There are so many products out there – fixed and variable home loans, half fixed, half variables – and then there’s loan features like redraw and offset accounts. So getting to understand those was important.

Buying

‘If you want it, go for it’: how Sophie and Tim bought their first home together

Getting seriously coupled up is a big life moment. Getting seriously coupled up and buying a house together is an even bigger one. Sophie and Tim have been through the whole journey – from knowing what’s important to each other to navigating the sometimes-confusing world of home loans, and so much more. We chatted to Sophie and Tim, a dream team, about how they decided the time was right for them to buy their first home together, and how they talked (and talked and talked) to navigate through any sticking points along the way.

Hey, you two. When did you decide to buy together, and how did you get started?

Tim: We felt we’d ticked off most of the major things we wanted to do as a couple. We’d gone on a big overseas trip together. We were engaged. Naturally, the next step was buying a house together. It all clicked. And we both had stable full-time jobs, so we figured it was the right time for us to save money and put it towards something.

How did you come together to make decisions about what needed to be included in your first home?

Sophie: We both made a list of what was important to each of us, but we did it independently so that we didn’t sway each other.

When you’re in the moment and viewing properties that have been styled beautifully, it can pull on all of those emotional strings and make you go, “This is perfect!” At one house, I got swept away by all of the soft furnishings, but Tim was very quick to remind me that it did not tick any of the things that I had on my list.

So having that checklist we’d made together reminded us both of the different things that are important to each of us.

Did you face any major sticking points?

Sophie: It’s easy to think that your home deposit has to be 20% for you to even enter the market. Like, “If you don’t have it, don’t bother.”

Tim: If you don’t have a big understanding of the market or banks, you just get drilled with that common number. That’s just something you hear everywhere.

Sophie: That was our initial sticking point. We felt ready. We felt that we were at this point in our life that, surely, we could make this work. But then we thought, “Hang on. A 20% deposit…” We were close, but we weren’t there yet. Thankfully, speaking with our home loan specialist showed us there were alternative pathways, like paying lender’s mortgage insurance or having a guarantor.

Did any step go particularly smoothly for you? And do you put that down to luck or preparation?

Tim: Buying was surprisingly smooth. We’d found a place, but it was a choice between it and another. The real estate agent was keen to move quickly. We looked at it on Saturday, and we came back and looked at it again on Wednesday and said, “We like it!” And by Friday afternoon, we signed the contracts.

Sophie: I think we had a preconceived idea that the negotiation would be difficult – that it would be taxing. Tim feels like it was a bit of luck. I think it’s a combination of that and research. We understood roughly what the process might pan out like. So we were prepared.

Tim: And we did know from our research that the price was reasonable for the area and for the apartment that we were going for.

Was there a point along the way that you needed advice to navigate?

Tim: Having zero knowledge about loans! All the different options – like interest rates, variable versus fixed loans, principal and interest – were making our brains explode. So actually speaking to a home loan specialist made that a lot easier.

Sophie: All the terms get thrown around, and when you unpack them, you realise very quickly: “Hang on, I actually don’t really know what I’m signing up for here.” Having it all laid out on the table in layman’s terms really helped us make the next, right decision for us.

Did you have to change your budget a lot while saving?

Sophie: I don’t think we had to change it as dramatically as we thought we would. We had strategies in place, like regular monthly transfers into our savings accounts. It was more the amount that we played with – that variation to find that sweet spot.

Tim: Having incomes from two full-time working adults made it easier, too. The biggest shift was trying to work out our fixed expenses and variable expenses to see how much wiggle room we had.

What did it feel like when you got the keys and you stepped through the front door, when it was all yours – did it feel worth it?

Sophie: It was a real sense of achievement and relief all bundled up into one!

Tim: I felt lucky, knowing that this home was now ours. Though, all of a sudden, you’re spending more money than you could ever think you were going to and it’s a bit like, “Did I even check everything right? Is it the right place?” But when you walk through the door, you think: “Yeah, this is what we wanted. This is great.”

Can you tell us the top three things you feel like you did right?

Tim: One was budget. We committed to it. Once we put the money into the savings account, it wasn’t coming out. It’s not negotiable.

Sophie: We explored all our options to make sure that we weren’t siloed in our thinking. We considered everything before making a decision. That gave us the confidence to move forwards.

Tim: And when we thought we were ready, we made it happen. You’re always going to think there could be a better time to do it. But if you want it, just go for it. There’s never going to be a perfect time. You’ll make it work.

Is there anything you wish you knew before you headed out on your home-buying journey?

Sophie: If you have a guarantor or are prepared to take on the additional costs of LMI you may not need that 20% deposit! And you might not need to sacrifice as much as you think. We knew we were going to have to dig deep, but we didn’t throw away everything.

Tim: Talk to someone, talk to the bank, talk to a home loan specialist. Whatever your plan is and whatever you’re thinking, they’ll clarify so much for you. They’ll set you on the right path of what you need to do to get where you want to be.

Buying

‘I’m ready’: how Alysha bought her first property with the help of a buyer’s agent

From befriending a real estate agent (seriously!) to frank chats with friends – building the right team so you have the right advice and skills behind you can make all the difference when you’re buying your first home. And while a real estate agent is an inevitable, buddying up with a buyer’s agent is totally optional. Some do it. Some don’t.

So you might be wondering, “Do I need one? Is a buyer’s agent right for me? What even are they?” A buyers agent is a licensed professional who specialises in searching, evaluating and negotiating on behalf of you, the buyer. ‘Licensed’ is key. If you do go with one, choose one who has relevant qualifications like a real estate licence, for a start.

To find out more about buying with a buyer’s agent, we chatted with Alysha, a home buyer who did just that. We asked her to share her home-buying story and explain how a buyer’s agent helped her along the way.

Hi, Alysha. Congrats on buying your first property! What was your main motivation to buy, and how did you know you were ready?

I really wanted to get into the property market, because I believe having a property is a good investment. My father was a real estate agent and he was always advocating for that, so I’d been thinking about it for some time. Then it got to a point where I thought: You know what? It’s really time for me to put this in motion.

At the time, I was living in Singapore. This was around January 2020, right before COVID. I thought: I’ve got the time, I’m ready to start looking into this. I applied for a loan and then it all kicked off from there.

Once you decided that you were ready to start this adventure, what was the first thing you did?

I had a friend who’d used a home loan specialist in Sydney and she recommended them. So I reached out and said, “I’m looking to get a loan. I live overseas. Can you tell me what I need to do to start the process?” We had a call and then took it from there. That was the first step. I think it’s important to know how much money you can borrow before you can really focus on the type of property that you want to buy.

At what point did you enlist the buyer’s agent, and what was the first thing they helped you with?

Pretty much straight away! I received pre-approval for my home loan and then I researched a few different buyer’s agents until I decided on one. I had the initial, introductory call, and they told me how they work. They sent me a pitch, of sorts. From there, they started helping me hone in on the sort of property I wanted to buy, and the sort of investor I wanted to be.

They asked me a whole bunch of questions like, “Do you want to buy a property and then sell it straight away? Or are you in it for long-term growth?” Once you’ve gone through that process and you know the type of property you want, the budget you’re working with and the areas you want to look in, the buyer’s agent starts to find properties that fit your brief and shares them with you.

Was help finding properties the most valuable part of working with the buyer’s agent? In what way did it help?

I knew that finding a property was going to be challenging because I wasn’t there on the ground. Plus, how a property looks in print or online is very different to in person. So it was great being able to rely on someone to find the properties, vet them and send them through to me. If they didn’t meet certain criteria, like if the rental unit was too small, or the asking price too high, for example, they wouldn’t send them through. The buyer’s agent had done the due diligence before the properties even got to my inbox.

Plus, there are so many things you wouldn’t even think about. Like rental yields or the growth rate of certain areas. Or the thinking behind choosing to buy a house over an apartment. Even things like flood zones. There are so many different elements to consider that I wouldn’t have known about had I not used a buyer’s agent.

Do you have any tips for someone who’s thinking about buying a place using a buyer’s agent?

It helps to really consider the areas that you’re interested in, particularly if you’re buying to invest rather than buying to live. Before working with my buyer’s agent, I’d gotten to a point where I thought: I don’t feel comfortable buying in areas that I know nothing about; I’ve never lived in these states. So I would suggest doing your research on the different areas that you’re considering and decide how comfortable you feel buying in those locations that you may not know a lot about.

Also, I got really good recommendations about people to work with. I got a home loan specialist through a friend. I found my conveyancer through my sister. And I found my buyer’s agent through my home loan specialist. So having people you trust recommend services or contacts is really helpful – then you have the assurance that you’re going to get good customer service because you know people who have used these companies before.

Buying

‘Use the 8/10 rule’: how Xander bought his first home on his own

Owning a first home can feel way out of reach – especially when you’re searching. It’s easy to think ‘I’ll never get there alone!’ But Xander did it: he went from a first-home dream to a first-home reality, and he didn’t feel like he had to cut out too much of what he enjoys to get there. How did he do it? We chatted to Xander about the moment it all became possible, the decisions he made along the way and his tips for anyone looking to get a head start on their own first-home journey.

Hey, Xander. So, when did you realise buying a place solo would be possible? And what made you want to do it?

Buying a home has been important to me for as long as I can remember. Having my own place is the pinnacle of success. But when you’re young and not making much money, it does feel like you’ll never get there.

I realised it might be possible only a couple of months before I did it. I thought that I needed to have a 20% deposit saved, and I was like, “I’ll never get there!” But I did some research, and found out that if I paid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) with less than a 20% deposit, I can do it now.

Once you were like “Right. Let’s do this!”, what were the first steps you took?

The first thing I did was find a home loan expert for advice. Someone I could trust and talk to. Then, I reached out to a conveyancer. She was really helpful in reading strata reports and all that kind of stuff. It’s great to get that team of people around you that you can talk to and bounce ideas off. So I talked to them, asking detailed questions about how the whole process works – all the little intricacies. Then I started going to properties. I started looking before I had pre-approval, just to get a feel for it and see a few auctions to get a sense of how it worked.

Sounds like you hit the ground running. How long was it between deciding you were going to buy to having the keys in your hands?

It was late January or early February when I said, “Okay, yeah, this is possible.” And the property settled on the fourth of May, so it was relatively quick. I spoke to a few experts to find the right help, which took maybe 10 days, then I got pre-approval, which took around two weeks. And from there I really started looking. It didn’t take long!

Were there any hiccups or stumbles along the way that threw you off course?

It all went fairly smoothly. You miss out on a few things here and there. Like when you’re looking at a few different places at once and then you’ve got this auction over there, the biggest challenge is managing your priorities and focusing your attention.

It gets a bit mixed up juggling auctions and private treaties. In the end, I worked out that I had to put all my eggs in one basket and say, “This is the property I need to go for.” So it became about finding the place that ticked 80% of my boxes and just going for it – because you’ll never find the perfect property unless you’ve got an unlimited budget.

At what point along the way did you need the most advice? Was there any point in time when you talked to someone more than at any other?

Yes, when I needed the conveyancer. That stuff was out of my depth. I was really fortunate because my conveyancer was my partner’s brother’s girlfriend. I could get on the phone and call her all the time with questions. I really wanted to understand that process. So I got a lot of advice out of my conveyancer. She helped me a lot.

Is there anything you’ve learnt from your life that’s helped you through the home-buying journey?

I live my life by this 1% rule – it’s 1% better every day. And this translated to how I had my savings account set up. It was important to know and tell myself, “Here’s your spending cash, the rest is savings. You can’t touch it.” Having a dedicated saving system in place is what made me realise the dream. Plus, it’s guilt-free spending when you know you can do what you want with it.

People always say, “Oh, what sacrifices did you have to make?” But I don’t feel like I had to make sacrifices. I was still going out for brunches, I was still going out for drinks with my mates, I was still buying coffee. I definitely didn’t give myself as much money to spend as other people, but I was able to go out and not feel guilty about it. I felt better. I had more control.

So here’s the exciting bit. What did it feel like to get the keys and step through the front door?

Back on the day of purchase it was the craziest feeling ever. It was pumping down rain – it was such a miserable day. And it was the weirdest feeling after the auction. I wondered, “Did I do the right thing?” I had a moment of massive anxiety, but then the next morning I was like, “Awesome. This is so good.”

Then picking up the keys and opening the door and just walking around – it’s the best feeling. Just thinking, “All this is mine. I can do what I want with it.” It’s really cool, just feeling comfortable in my own home. If I want to stay here for five years, I can. If I want to move back out and go to a rental, I can. I have the freedom to do that.

Along the way, were there any steps in the process when you were like, “Yeah, I nailed this”?

Accepting the fact that I was going to pay LMI. It was worth it for me. I’ve already made it back in capital gains, and a few times over. At the time I was like, “Oh, it sucks.” But it generally just gets attached onto the mortgage. If you have the luxury of having a 20% deposit, great. If you don’t, consider it. If you think prices will continue to rise in your area, the longer you sit out on the sidelines and wait, that required deposit might be going up anyway.

Another thing I feel like I nailed was making the decision to dive into it head first and just back myself and go, “Look, I’m just going to go for this. I want it.”

I can be the type of person who would’ve sat around and waited for the perfect property. But it helped to tell myself, “Mate, you need to get something that’ll tick 80% of your boxes.” So I wrote out a list of the things that I want. Some flexible, some non-negotiable. If I didn’t do that, I’d probably still be looking today.

And finally, having a good team around me was great. I listened to my friends and family a lot, but interestingly I didn’t take their advice wholeheartedly, because they’re not all in the same position as me and they’re not looking for the same things. So you have to, I guess, pick your advice. You’re not buying for anyone else, you’re buying for yourself. So be choosy about what you listen to.

What other tips do you have for someone else who is considering buying their first home solo?

In the months before you’re thinking about getting pre-approval, start researching, and even just start looking at realestate.com.au.

Go through and look at sales and get a sense of a property’s listed price versus the price it sells for. Also, pop along to a few auctions. You don’t have to spend every Saturday, but go to a few open homes and just see what it’s all about. This will help you understand the market better. After all, no one wants to spend more time looking than needed and get heartbroken when something sells for a price out of reach.

Buying

Xander, Buying solo

Solo buyer Xander explains how a less than 20% deposit is doable and gives a heads-up on the circling flock of fees.

Buying

Sang Buying

Sang, the sage family home buyer, says know your grants, think first home before dream home and choose the right suburb.

Buying

Jen and Ewan Buying

Jen and Ewan share the philosophy that helped them pace themselves and minimise emotion on their path to home ownership.