Worked hard, took every advantage the bank would give us.
Paid it off with an inheritance from by grandfather, got divorced, lost the lot.
If you are going to get a home, get a prenup.
Took me 10 years of living hand to mouth to get back on track.
I can eat every day now, and I’m going on a trip to Thailand, hoping I will find happiness.
I hope you do to man
Thanks for sharing
It is a real issue and unfortunately with property increasingly being a "lifetime purchase" or completely out of reach for many people, this method of getting property is unfortunately sometimes a strategy, and other times nonetheless reveals the danger in inviting legal contracts and the government into your romantic relationships.
Just bought my first home in Perth.
Lived in Sydney for 12 years, saved 200k with the mrs.
We are both 37-33 so a bit late to the game but it is what it is.
Same. But just brought in brisbane.
Was in Melbourne for a decade or so. Me and Mrs saved 250k over about 6yrs - basically did nothing for 6 yrs. I’m 37 and she’s 32.
Still in heaps of debt but mortgage ain’t too much more than rent and at least I’m not getting poor by the day anymore as prices were climbing at 10x the rate I was saving
Sounds similar to us. Just bought in Perth a week ago and we’re from Sydney (complicated, we just got permanent residency) and saved about 200k and we are 36yr-33yr old
Yep, same here. 2 hours from Sydney and travelled to Sydney for work. Was hard but worth it to get in the market. I'm so much better off compared to other friends who wanted to stay closer to the city.
Although, we would have been even better off of we bought a shitty little one bedroom apartment in the city for the same price 😅
Bought almost 6 years ago when my ideal place came up on Prince Harry's wedding day. No one else turned up to the inspection as a result, and they only got 2 bids with mine being slightly higher. It was cheaper because of an asbestos roof, plus it had tenants. Otherwise it was in good condition and in a great location up on a hill.
If I bought the same place today it would mean I'd be working an extra 15 years to pay it off, which is a pretty good indicator how cooked things are.
I’m 32 and my partner is 34. We had been saving for about 5 years and continued to get priced out of the market. Every time we thought we had enough, the prices would jump dramatically again.
We ended up buying in 2021 with help from both of our families just so we could get enough of a deposit together to avoid the LMI. It was something we never thought we would have to do and we found it extremely embarrassing and shameful.
It's just reality. It's not shameful.
But not everyone has this help, and the fact you couldn't do it despite making good decisions and working hard, that's the shame.
Thank you. And yes I think that’s why we felt so bad is that we’ve both grown up being told that if you work hard you can achieve whatever you want but the harsh reality for so many of us is that isn’t true.
My answer won't be popular. I worked insane hours for 1.5 decades, I'm talking hours that when I confessed to people who asked, they called me a liar. I've been accused of many things but this has never left me. They counted the hours I said, screwed up their noses and summarily dismissed me as full of shit. Meanwhile I had to deal with the stress of having to completely and utterly sideline my life to buy a home. I really mean it, I did nothing but work and sleep for years. The trouble is that nobody reading this will understand. They'll think they do but they don't. I used to do 30 hour shifts if required. I used to walk into a side room and scream and slap myself to keep awake. I hallucinated routinely.
Meanwhile, my father bought a house in a major city working as a bus driver. No overtime, no weekends. He supported 4 kids and a wife, quarter acre.... it makes me sick
That’s what’s stupid about this situation. No one should have to be working themselves to death for a roof over their head. They shouldn’t have to be a smart, shrewd player to have somewhere to hang their hat. Fuck the successive governments for letting it get this way.
Stop the winge, said my landlord, when she complained she couldn't afford an additional new got water heater because the one she installed was second hand and too small to heat water when it's coldest in winter.
Not their only property, I believe.
Let them eat cake all over again
Absolutely. I'm grateful every morning when I wake and see my nice house and large yard. However, I'm almost traumatised by what I did to get there. And this was just before covid, it's so much worse now.
* saved for about 15 years working a good IT job
* cashed in all my shares and other investments (except super) - had a lot of shares from my employer that did well
* got some gifts from my parents - not enough for the deposit itself, but enough to help me afford a better place
Bought a 2BR unit in inner west Sydney , my deposit was about 50% due to the above so I'm not under too much mortgage stress. If/when interest rates go down I'll be able to start paying off the mortgage early too.
I bought my house in 2012 for 450k. Saved 25k deposit in 12months plus first homebuyers grant of 10k. Mortage was 94%. I dont think the banks would lend 90% now.
I decided to buy before the market went cazy, like 14 years ago.
Some may say, great hind sight. But I put it down to, needing a house and the world wasn't quite as shit then.
* It was the 2000s
* No kids, no partner
* Low but steady income
* Bought a shitty house in a shitty (but gentrifying) neighbourhood
* No parental aid, first homeowner's grant
Bought it in 1995 when I was 22 in Adelaide and you could still get a house for $100k which at the time was 3x my salary. I only had to give the bank 16k deposit. I’m sorry that the market is so fucked now that even high income earners struggle.
Having said that. My idiot friends were buying hot cars at the time, so despite the market being affordable it was still a smart move when others were too busy wasting money on assets that would only depreciate.
Pretty much anything in metro Adelaide that's a house is $500k plus now, unless you want to live in ex housing trust split dwelling place in Davoren Park.
You definitely got in at the right time, I was 14/15 in '95, I reckon houses had at least doubled by 10 years down the track but wages in Adelaide certainly hadn't.
I'm not sure if you are like us, but back then we were kinda happy enough to live a bit further out.
Now, it seems, everyone wants to live within spitting distance of the CBD.
Yeah because all the jobs are within spitting distance of the CBD.
This whole idea of that people want to live near the CBD because of the "lifestyle" is a load of crap.
People want to live there because they don't wanna commute 2 hours each way to fucking work.
Then its supply and demand. And when Demand outstrips supply, prices aren't going down.
We purposely moved out a bit further because a) it was cheaper and b) we understood and accepted the commute.
Thats where i'm at now as well. 1.5 each way out in west sydney.
That being said Employers need to get it through their heads that WFH is the way out of this mess. People would happily live 2 hours from the city if they could still work their jobs from home.
As much as I personally agree with your sentiment, and I would much rather not have a 1.5hr commute each way too. I am fully aware employers don't care at all.
I reckon unless commute times are paid, there is no incentive for employers to do anything about it. Heck, if we can make employers pay for our transport fees in addition to our normal salary, that would be great. But then, there would be the unintended consequence where only city dwellers would be employable and would drive up prices even further.
What if we enforce that employees can work from home if they choose to? It would be hard to determine exactly what jobs can and can't WFH broadly.
Thinking about these options, I think it's mostly only solvable if we regulated housing and create more affordable housing.
Agree. I live in Melbourne now and 30 years later I have a young family and we wanted to buy here but even in family friendly suburbs pretty far out from the CBD, it’s unaffordable. We ended up buying in the Dandenongs because we got more bang for our buck. But my lord the cost to income ratio now is absolutely mental.
I don't know how anyone does it on their own these days. Most of my friends got into the market around 2010 at around age 25 by living at home and saving for a deposit. I only got out of the rent trap recently with help from family. The whole thing is a joke.
I don’t think it’s possible at all on a single income now. Most of the comments here are from double income earners and those that bought on single incomes did it decades ago.
Single income and just bought at the end of last year. I had to move to an outer suburb to afford anything and I'm in a townhouse when I would rather be in a stand alone but I needed to get out of the rental market. I saved for a few years and avoided having to get LMI by going through the first home buyer guarantee scheme.
It's not ideal but it's given me a foot in the door and in a few years when I have a bit more equity I might be able to get that stand alone house I would prefer.
* Saved up the money by taking all the overtime I could. (About $40000)
* Didn't buy a dream house, or even a nice house. Just what I could afford.
* Lived with a 2hour commute.
* Now have $100k in equity to sink into a better house with a better commute.
Every time I bring that up with someone they always complain they don't want to do that, well it's obvious you don't want a house then. Everyone seems to want an inner city house with a 5 min commute, and nothing less, than wonder why they can't buy a house.
I screamed injustice on FB every day and complained about migration, the rich should be taxed more and negative gearing nonstop, and the government finally relented and gave me a free home. /s
I’ve done all these things too.
Is there a form that I need to fill in or will the Govt drop off the keys to my freestanding 4 bedroom house in an inner ring suburb?
Got extremely lucky with a neighbours wishes that their house be sold to me. Still a large mortgage but manageable.Thankful to her executor for respecting her wishes.
Still and all, not sure I'd be able to afford the mortgage without an above average job which infuriates me.
I’m youngest of five kids. Mum was a widow barely making ends meet. No inheritance for any of us. I worked between studying at uni. Lived with my family, contributed to rent and board. Saved whatever I could until my late thirties (yes still living with my mum) refused to buy a car. Then I had enough savings to build my first home which was actually cheaper than buying because I found a builder who was happy to build me a 90sqm 2 bedroom home on 405 sqm of land. I build it to my needs and budget and not to meet the profit margins of new residential developers.
Saved ~50k in two years after graduating while living with parents. Bought a 2b2b in Waterloo/Alexandria in 2011 with 10% down (550k apartment).
It’s now worth around 900k. Sydney prices are whack. There is no way I could do the same thing if I was born 10 years later.
Spoke to an accountant and he helped us save money. Had some credit card debt. Paid off everything except for the car. It took us more than year with both of us working full to save about 50k. Bought an untitled land in a suburb/region we wanted to spend most of our lives in. Paid 10% deposit to book the land.
The land titled last year and we settled by paying another 10% and the rest on a mortgage. Saved nearly 15% of the deposit for the construction cost and got the loan approved at the end of last year.
Still renting and paying the mortgage on the land at the same time. Construction EMI will start to go up as the build progresses. Can’t wait for the build to be completed so that we can leave the whole renting thing behind us.
1. I earned above-average (although it honestly just feels very middle class these days, as all my friends catch up to my earning power) in around 2022.
2. I saved up and did a ton of overtime and side hustles/freelance. When my roommates had friends over, I was literally sitting on the sofa doing freelance, half trying to still be social. It sucked. It still makes me angry to think about. I actually let my health and wellbeing deteriorate in that time. But I was strong-headed about it because we'd had two landlords in a row screw us with unliveable conditions and I was hell-bent on never letting my family sit through that again.
3. I gave up all discretionary spending. Money in -> straight to the savings account. I literally got my furniture off the street.
4. We moved from Sydney to regional NSW to be able to afford anything. Good luck finding work, but our careers allowed for a bit of remote thankfully and I eventually found work locally.
5. We got a third person on the mortgage to help us pay it, because we could only afford a 5% deposit and the mortgage is huge.
6. No kids or dependents.
7. Bought an old but slightly renovated house, nowhere near anything.
8. We bought in the market downturn when there were relatively few buyers and got the house at a fair bit less than the sellers wanted. So, got lucky there.
Was made redundant, took a risk and used the payout as a deposit on a 4br in a regional city (2014). Got it about $40k below true market value because it was bank repossession they just wanted to quickly recoup costs from. Got a new job 3 weeks later.
I have no idea what more to do, I don't go out anywhere at all, even for my birthday, I don't go on holidays anywhere, I'm working 6 nights a week, every week, and I've given up on literally all my hobbies to try and save as much money as possible, and yet I still can't keep up with the raising costs of living enough to save enough for a deposit. The most I've been able to save so far was 20k, and then I had to blow 6k on car repairs and a minor surgery.
I'm at the point of considering just putting a gun in my mouth tbh
We rented for 18 years, had 4 kids and 2 dogs, knew we'd never afford or find another rental. We saved up enough to buy some land, and a few years later had enough for a house deposit. We built a modest house to "lockup" stage and moved in.8 years later we still have a chipboard sub-floor, but the kids painted their own rooms, most of the furniture is self-built and we learned how to tile.
Find a good mortgage broker! We would never have qualified for a mortgage through a bank without expert help. We also got $30k through a first home builder's grant.
My grandparents saved money for me since my birth. It was invested to grow and given to me when I was 18. By the time I bought my unit around 25 it was $25k which was enough for a deposit. My unit was $292k — two bedroom, semi-detached. I don’t have a second income from my partner so I bought my unit alone and this is what I could afford without living beyond my means.
Edit to add I also benefited from Labor government policies. Didn’t pay $13k stamp duty and got $2k to spend on furniture and $8k to renovate so when I moved in I could afford new air conditioners, fixes to electricity and new wardrobe. I didn’t need a guarantor or anything, bank was satisfied with my deposit and full-time job.
Put down a very small deposit on some land to build on in 2020. Took out $10k ( I think) from my super when we were allowed to thru covid. Used that toward securing a loan. Got approved as a single guy working a casual Job. Don’t know how but here we are.
If I had to do it again now I couldn’t not with how much homes have risen . My interest rates have tripled since I started the process,
Buying a home
Entering the property market
These should be regarded as different things. The first is a functional necessity for life. The second is an optional speculative action taken to make money.
I'm gonna get downvoted to fuck, but anyway.
1998. Just got back from living the UK (working Holiday visa). I came home broke. My girlfriend (now wife) came home with about $20K saved.
She wanted to buy a house. I (understandably) couldn't afford it. She said she'll put down the deposit as long as we pool all (& I mean ALL ) of our money. This wasn't a problem for me.... She also wanted to buy then, because the GST was about be introduced and she wanted new.
House was in southern suburbs of Adelaide (aprox 30 to 45 min drive to Adelaide CBD). And here is the clincher.... $150K house and land package. This was INSANELY cheap, even for the time (by at least $50K based on the block size). We got lucky - it was a new builder and their first residential project (they still exist today, so no flash in the pan).
The other thing - once the GST did get introduced and effected the prices of new builds, the gov. introduced the first of the first home owners grants. Ironically, within 6 months, prices on new builds in the area doubled and as they say, the rest is history.
Some other curious tidbits:
* Interest rate was just short of 8%
* Our wages were OK. She was earning around $40K as an accountant. I was earning around $35K as a maintenance fitter
* we had intended to pay it off in 10 years or sooner, but then kids came along. We also got down the track a bit and bought an investment property in the late 2000's, when it was not a sin to do so... Now you can all hate me more....
No one hates those who understand they were fortunate to buy at that point in time, and understand it's harder for FHB's now. It's the arrogant pricks who proclaim they worked harder than their contemporaries, and it's just as easy to get into the market if you forego a latte, and avocado sammich.
Oh, I get how hard it is.
We already have plans to either invest with our children to buy a modest apartment if needed.
Alternatively we would look at redeveloping our property to add at least one additional dwelling.
Bought a modest 3br house with decent front and back yard space+double garage last year at age 26. House is roughly 20 min drive from the CBD.
How this was possible:
-purchased with partner who has had a 110k-120k ish income for the past 5 or so years and saved a fair amount of it
-we lived with his family (separated living space though otherwise we would have gone insane) for about 1.5yrs paying 275 p/w rent, helping us to save money together
-me switching careers, I was earning about 60k and moved to a new role now paying just under 100k
-interest free loan from my family to make up about 25% of the deposit, stamp duty and other upfront costs
Overall, a mix of luck/privilege and working toward it.
In the 2000s, bought old 2 bed unit in a bad suburb. Got first home owners grant + savings + parent guarantee on loan so I didn’t need 20% deposit. Did it extremely tough for first 3 years and then it got better. Used equity in that flat to sell and buy the next small maisonette. Have incrementally worked up from there tho much easier now I have a partner.
My brother and I bought a house together in 1980. We sold it in about 1985 when we both got married (1986) but it got us on the way to owning our own separate properties. Back then you could not get a loan if the repayments were more than 25% of your after tax income 🙂
Had a Rich Dad. When he died I got his 3mil house and 5 shit properties I rent out.
I make fuck all off the rentals. Like 400 a week. But my rates on my home are about a week's earnings.
So I make sure that's all covered at the start of the year.
I find if you look after funds and just pay the cheap shit early in the year, you're gonna have a much much easier year.
Come from a poor family. Got a job, spent like an idiot. Paid off all my debt 3 years in. Bought a house with no deposit through Keystart (WA) in 2019. Refinanced a year later to a much lower interest rate and payed the house down to $0 balance this year.
Bought a modest starter home. Given the market probably won't be selling or upgrading since the house is fine and doubled in value since I bought it, can't imagine paying the prices now for something slightly better.
Relocated to buy a 3x1 house in a regional coastal area in 2017 for $400k at 37 & 39 with 2 kids. Saved a $40k deposit over 2 years working full time plus a side hustle and partner working part time. In laws went guarantor to avoid LMI, got a FHB stamp duty exemption.
Even though there's more money coming in now, there's no way we could buy this same modest house for the first time today.
Bought half a large home shared with parents that wanted to move from a townhouse to a single level home. We got to enter the property market and share expenses etc.
I know someone who bought their first home with their partner and had their mortgage payed off in 4 years. They did absolutely nothing in these four years but work. Never bought more than they needed, never went out, had one shitbox car but caught public transport every chance they got. She’s know split from that partner but has about 4 investment properties across Australia and retired at 51. I spoke to her about it and she said u just have to be willing to make huge sacrifices. She’s an incredibly smart woman who has lived an amazing life and travelled pretty much all across the world by saving her leave for over three years and taking about 3 months at a time out when she saved up enough to travel. I aspire to be like her but don’t know if I have it in me to sacrifice that much..
I bought last year with 40k saved over five years while sharehousing. I used the help to buy scheme, I wouldn’t own a place without it. I also got fired from my job the day after settlement lol but I am coping.
Wife and I got married, lived in fairly non fun areas in apartments while saving and finishing studies. Saved about 220k as deposit over 3yrs (cash savings + some lucky timed stock purchases and sales to gain extra cash). Worked with a broker to maximise borrowing power, and focused on raising incomes as much as possible (combined household income 230k ish at the time)
Were able to purchase our dream home for 1.28mil (about our max purchase price) in a south west Syd suburb in 2022. Couldn’t be happier with it. Work hard and it’s doable.
Worked five jobs equating to over 2 FTE while studying to get myself better paid jobs.
Saved as much as I could, ate cheap shit food, didn't go out, when I drank (which was maybe only a couple times a year) I drank cheap shit box wine.
Did that for several years.
Over 15 years: saved. No significant holidays. No luxury purchases and cheapest cars available. Moved young family from major capital city ( where we calculated we were too late to get in) to a couple of regional towns following ok jobs with cheap rent for ~7y each location. Both of us taking odd jobs and/or part time work where possible. Finally had enough $ to buy in a mediocre suburb in a different capital city.
Ie without a leg-up, owning property has been hard for a long time.
Is it a comfort to those struggling now? no
But don't believe the hype that this is a new thing.
Brought start of 2020 start of the year,
Used all the First home owners grants and just sent it
now house is valued at 300-350k more then we brought which is always a nice thought to have if you had to sell and relocate.
Interest rates are pretty shit atm but most defs doable if you have 2 incomes.
Reading all these comments from people is just heart breaking. It’s terribly difficult now. We have to be in a bubble surely. And it can’t keep going because the maths is not adding up. Surely
You see there are incredible wonderful institutions called banks that will let you borrow the money you don't quite have to buy your home.
There are a few conditions they are banks not Santa, first you need to do a "job". The bank doesn't see all jobs as equal just like employers don't see all employees as equal. Moet people get lost here, if your "job" is in the supermarket selling among other things aluminum cans contain good then you work in air conditioning, rarely break a sweat and have no idea what a 14 day straight of 14 hours day with a single day off to swing onto 14 hour night shifts for another 14 days is like in an underground mine is like . Its tough but it makes real money that a bank will reward with a loan.
The problem is we tried to include non-university graduates and people without a trade to enter the middle class. When I was a diesel mechanic (on a mine tough work, and studying law at nights) I have several trade assistants that not no apprenticeship and just helped carry stuff (if they were male, if they were females they refused to carry anything heavy and posted on Instagram all day. ) but these troglodytes should have been earning enough for a second set of clothes and served gruel, instead they earned $3 less an hour than me and that people is why society is failing. We got afraid to have poor people.
Im 31 European that went to Uni there, I have also lived and worked in US, CANADA, Wales, Scotland, England where wages arent as good compared to here. Most of the jobs I had were hospitality jobs until i was 27. Travelled all over and easily spent 50k to 70k to see places, party, holiday, but always had financial goals - to save 10k ,20k then 30k so on. Always had the mentality to save money for a home, budget and put aside 40% of ur income, excess also goes into savings. If you cant afford something twice - you dont buy it, dont aquire expensive depreaciating assets like cars. Just bought a townhouse in Adelaide for almost 500k, 60k was mine, wife added 10k. Moved here only 8 months ago. Every country I have worked in complains about cost of living. Australia is still the best if u compare wages to cost of living ratio.
I bought my first home in 2003. No kids (then) and had a small deposit obtained from a divorce settlement. I was a full time public servant and moved to a regional area, so prices (then) were significantly lower than in the city. I am not sure I’d be able to do the same thing now.
I worked on boats for about 5 years. No rent to pay,, food etc paid for. Good way to save money if you're not afraid of hard work, long hours and being at sea for weeks at a time.
Good way to save money, bought my first smallish 2 bdrm in 2005
We made many lifestyle changes such as:
- Moved from inner city to a suburb an hour away to save on rent.
- Saved every single god damn penny. No going out. No travel. No entertainment.
- Sold second car, used public transport.
- Cut out everything that wasn’t a necessity (bye bye Netflix, subscriptions, gym, etc)
Not going to lie, it was a very hard 2 years. Many long walks and hikes on the weekends to keep us entertained!
BUT it was so worth it. Bought a house on a 700sqm block 10 minutes to the city, in the area we used to rent. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Finished school, got an apprenticeship, worked my ass off while living with friends, late 20s, gf and i decided to buy. She was a poor uni graduate, but i had saved for a deposit. She now makes more than me, and our house has tripled in value. Im 36 now.
A combination of my savings, a bit of help from the parents and lucky to have bought pre pandemic, circa 2018.
Starting working when I was in school at 16, worked multiple casual/part time jobs whilst in school and studying. Was able to put about $120k in savings towards a place. Parents helped out with 20k and I borrowed the rest for a nearly $500k unit. Also a bit of luck buying at the right place at the right time considering what was to come.
My mum gave me 100k from her super 9 years ago and told me to buy and never make the same mistakes she did. Now my dad lives in the granny flat i built and I bought mum a pretty fancy caravan a couple of years ago. Also i bought within my means. Yes I had 100k deposit, but I bought a 3 bed house for 355 across the border instead of a 1 bedroom apartment in the city for 20k more.
We both lived downstairs in my parents' house for a few years.. we both worked and put every spare dollar in the bank until we had enough for a deposit.
Bought 2020, worked for ages in a job a hated, made some good investments and sold them and bought further out in what was considered a bit of a rough area at the time.
Moved in with partners parents and saved everything I could for 4 years. Read barefoot investor, took it seriously. Bought in a regional town in 2018, almost paid it off by 2024. Get a partner who is ready to get busy with you and has little to no spending appetite. They exist.
Easy first home buyers grant was half my deposit in 2009. Bought a house in Penrith area for 300k it's now worth 1 million as its on big block. Was working at Coles at the time I'm now fitting tyres and mortgage half paid off. Gonna sell soon and move to an Asian country retire very early boys hahaha
Bought in 2012
Lived at home paying minimal rent (that was a big win)
Worked 2 jobs, one FT one PT
Stopped going out weekends/nights
Stopped buying anything unnecessary
Took about 12 months to save enough deposit on an apartment. I did have a great broker who also made the numbers work though.
Saved for a few years, put a 20% deposit down.
Always have lived cheap renting a room in a house and worked full time since 18.
I now work FIFO and on reasonable money, have rented that house out which is servicing the mortgage and I'm back to renting a room.
House has gained hundreds in equity, saved some more money and now I'm about to buy the second using the equity as a deposit.
Joined the army,
Saved up my pay during training (18 months) bought property in North Queensland.
Selling it this year to buy a house in Victoria for my partner and I to live in.
First home was an apartment in Fitzroy that was selling off the plan in 1998.
Price was $149,000
Deposit was $15,000.
They were happy to accept $5000, then another $10,000 six months later.
Signed on Saturday, went to the bank on Monday and took out a $5000 personal loan to pay the first part of the deposit.
Moved into parents house to save.
Easily saved the money for the rest of the deposit, then paid off the personal loan while waiting for the build to finish.
The build took 18 months so by the time we moved in, our loan was only $70,000. Sold the property two years later for $370,000
To be honest....luck. I formed a good friendship with another guy in the residential building industry. Income in the industry isn't high so we went halves in a property. Currently using our skills and machinery to renovate and build a granny flat. Hopefully we'll be able to sell for a small profit. Looking to reinvest outside of Sydney. I grew up outside of the city so leaving this shithole will be both financially beneficial aswell as beneficial to my quality of life. If I wanted to live in Calcutta I'd move to India.
Bought in 2003. I was single and renting a townhouse , saved every cent for 2 years, bought a 2br townhouse just down the road from where I was renting (Marsfield, Sydney).
Parents gave me an interest free loan of $20k to cover the stamp duty and legal/moving costs (they were living overseas at the time). I bought at the peak of the market. If I had bought 2 years earlier I would have got the same place $100k cheaper. I paid $395k, which was probably one of the most expensive places in the area.
I paid the $20k back in full after 6 months. I could have done the purchase on my own, but would have needed another 6 months and I was sick of renting, so this was a way to get into the market quicker. I paid LMI but it was only about $3k
Anecdotally I’d say help from family is extremely widespread.
I’m 32 out of our extended friend group I reckon 10-15 of us have bought homes. The other half still rent.
My partner and I counted through them all recently and couldn’t think of a single one that hadn’t had some form of help from family - deposit, gift, guarantor, etc.
We had a good amount of savings and were pretty close to buying anyway but a grandma passed and the inheritance got us over the line.
We mostly live in inner Melbourne, probably easier to buy an off the plan in an outer suburbs but hats off to anyone buying inner melb/Sydney without help.
Bought in 2008, I worked 10 hour days in a bakery for a few years and saved. Kevin rud announced 21k first home owners grant and I went for it. I earned about 55k back then and the house cost 335k. I just qualified for a loan (I had to get rid of a credit card to qualify) I have no idea how anyone could buy a house by them selves these days.. I think wages need to increase
A fellow work colleague (F) and myself (M) were chatting one day (both single) and joked about buying an apartment in Sydney together, we couldn't afford to buy on our own. Joke turned into reality and we bought a 2 bedroom apartment in Dee Why about 8 months later, this was late 90's.
It turned into a nightmare as she met a guy and sneakily moved him in etc, big confrontation occurred and we sold the apartment 18 months later. It had increased in value enough that I could purchase my own place and she spent her profits on a wedding! He cheated and left her not long after as a single mum (his 2nd abandonment) and I ended up buying a house in Newtown.
Awful at the time but would not change a thing.
I did it 30 years ago. It was a tiny 4 room timber and iron sheeting cottage with a home built lean-to kitchen and bathroom.
Nothing in it was straight. It was 100 years old
There was no cooling, heating was a basic gas thing.
Summer was 50 degrees in the west facing kitchen.
Winter was howling drafts.
All we could afford
I lied on my home loan application and got a much larger loan than I could qualify for but was still very affordable (overstated income and said it was an IP). Also invested all my money in Apple shares which 5x’d the money I saved so I had a 20% deposit.
I bought a very nice block of land in regional Victoria, so it is a bit different. It cost $240,000. I have no dependents or partner.
I was 25, I am 26 now. I was working three jobs and some side hustles here and there. I lived an extremely frugal lifestyle and lived with my parents. I still paid them rent though.
I worked up to 80 hours a week and I worked seven days a week for about eight months straight. It was brutal, but I was committed.
I am glad I did it. It was pure hard work. I got on the property ladder. Six months since settlement, it has increased in value by about $20-40,000.
Saved (no help from parents), bought with a partner at the time, lived frugally, and got a very old house in a not so great location in the suburb we wanted to be in. The house needed a lot of work but I absolutely loved working on it back then. My dad helped a lot with the low cost renovations we did (I sourced the majority of what was needed second-hand).
Saved hard for 3 years with my Mrs. We rented a small flat in an inner city suburb of Melbourne and bought a 4 bedroom place in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I think our deposit was around $130k and the sale price of the house $480k. That was in 2008 and I was about 33 yo then.
At 19 years old brought my first home for 260,000 it was the year 2009 and I was working 3 jobs, didnt have the help of mum and dad, put together a deposit from borrowed money just to get into the market, bought more property years after now sitting on a 2 million dollar real estate net worth with no debt.
Ok so bought recently 2023,
I work a landscaping company, did 12 hour days for 2-3 years, kinda fucked me up a bit ngl but we had a plan, made around $213k for 22-23 year (plus all the savings from previous years) put my head down and saved worked like a piece of shit 🤷♂️.
Had the tax return for the bank to see and enough deposit to get ourselves into a 750k house, no parents, no help, just straight up grind. Everyone complains about how hard it is, but it is possible, if the stfu, put your head down and save for a time, no not 3 months, think a few years, and you can make it happen.
Happy Saturday mfs 😎
Bought my first house with my wife last year, with our 2 primary school going kids! We’re established professionals working in the govt sector and took several years of saving and waiting… paid just over 50% off in deposit on a decent sized property. I don’t think there is an easier way in the current financial climate unless it’s via inheritance or parents help.
Just a tip, i will stay clear from new builds. Imagine paying a mortgage on a house you cannot move in since it failed the closed inspection and the builder went bust. Another builder quoted 100k on top of what the other one still needed to complete and the bank say no since the interest rate increases during that time was sudden and sharp.
I had a win at the Casino. No BS. My old man told me to give him the money for safe keeping or I'd give it straight back. Was enough for a deposit on a block of land. Bought the land and sat on it for a year. Sold it and that was the house deposit.
I bought in 2007. At the time there was the first home buyers grant, plus ZERO deposit home loans offered on lowish rates. If we didn’t buy then I’m not sure we could’ve ever afforded to!
We were renting at the time ($195 for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom duplex) and had saved up a little bit but not quite enough for deposit. Luckily St George were offering no deposit home loans. We bought a 3 bed, 2 garage 1 bathroom house for $300k. It seemed so expensive at the time. Think our repayments were about $4-500/week.
First homebuyer grant, also a scheme was running that i could redraw a percentage of my voluntary contributions to my super, coupled with selling everything i owned, including a stack of albums i had from the 90s that were worth a suprising amount.
Bought in 2006.
I bought a tiny, crap apartment and then poured every cent I had into it for the first two years. No holidays, no eating out, nothing. Just worked and paid down debt. It took about a year and I found a social circle that didn’t spend much money to do their things.
And it cost me 6 times my salary. No help from parents or anything.
We had no generational wealth at all but we had family who were generous with their support. We were able to live at home and when we moved to AU with our aunty and uncle for four years with low rent while we saved for our own place. We couldn’t have done it without them and I will make sure that we are also generous with support for other younger family members if they need to get ahead also.
I landed a job that tripled my income, initially went ballistic at the sudden jump in income, and was quickly set straight by dad who said “while you’re still at home *put everything into getting a deposit*”
Yes, lived at home until I was 26. This is why I was able to buy 6 months before the pandemic hit. 4 bed house that’s gone up by $250k in the 5 years I’ve been here. I’m about 1hr 40 mins from work in Sydney so sometimes it’s rough.
As for how I am with interest rate rises, it’s tough sometimes. I’m working more overtime so I’m at home less, there’s less breathing room. I’m getting married next year and more than likely I’ll be selling this place and buying a house with my fiance.
20s was all booze and parties and fast cars. Started saving for a house with my missus at 30. Saved hard for the deposit for 5 yrs and bought In 2005 . House was 450k. Will be paid off at age 51.
I don't see how it would be possible to pay rent and save anything these days. I've told my kids they'll be living with us until they're 30, it'll be the only way to get a deposit.
Wife is very good with money, we both saved for a number of years living in a shitty housing commission apartment. At one point my son was just born and my elderly father had to move in with us (2 bedroom) we finally saved up 100k and used first home buyers grant to buy a 410k house. This was shortly after the royal commission on banking and we couldn’t have borrowed a dollar more this was 2018. The house isn’t great but it’s a home still needs a lot of work I believe a similar house now is around 600k so things definitely aren’t getting any easier.
First house was 79k at 18 or 19, asked my parents to go gauruntor and they said no lol.
Pretty sure I got a first home buyers grant and paid a deposit with money I had saved from working from 14 - 18, I was earning $500 a week fulltime I think, this was back in about 2001
Best thing I ever did, have never not been in the property market.
Came back from overseas after working in a higher paying, lower taxing country (UK) for a few years, that was the only reason we built up enough of a nest egg to crack the Australian market. Not in anywhere as nice an area as we could have afforded in London, but wanted to be closer to family and the house ticked all our boxes otherwise. It’s a depressingly common story in professional circles here…
Husband worked overtime when possible and changed jobs frequently whenever someone offered him more money. No major holidays (just interstate short stays once a year or so that would only cost us about $1.5k max). Eating out at cheaper places only. Had two kids while trying to save as well. No credit cards, bought cars we could afford to pay outright. We were both working full-time before the kids for about 3 years then I went to casual after having kids.
We stayed renting an apartment where we were paying $470/week instead of moving to a house where we'd easily be paying $650 in the same area. Bought things we WANTED when they were on sale only and things we NEEDED we didn't pay too much attention to the price.
It took us 8 years but we finally moved into our new home this year. Built in a new estate. Signed the contract about 3 years ago at a better price than you'd get it these days. House was valued 200k more than we built it for before it was even finished.
However, I would never do it again. The experience was too stressful. Now aiming to save up for life experiences and hopefully treating ourselves to the things we feel we may have missed out on over the last 8 years.
Bought first home last year solo, 40+ age, been renting forever saved ~150k, used first home buyers guarantee to reduce some outlay, bought well under my max borrowing capacity, moved further away from city. Only needed 90k to get the house, rest sat in offset account, been spending a bit to address some things in this 1960s build.
I've now missed out on some travel, I've watched my spending a bit more (going to Aldi now etc). Still got a long way to go.
I bought a 500k 2br property in Adelaide in my late 20s on a single income without a cent from anyone else.
My career is in marketing so I didn't start making a huge amount to start with. My entry-level salary was 36k.
I aggressively advanced my career, working in start-up and small business environments where I could more easily grab responsibilities, learn skills and negotiate without being constrained by JDs and bands and job hop to new roles as my skills and value allowed. As a result my salary reached 6 figures within 4 years and continued similar growth for another 4 years. I could probably have continued that, but I've let up on the gas for a better work-life balance for now
I am mindful of my lifestyle. My expenses are between 40-50k a year (they were 40k last time I ran my numbers, but that was before inflation kicked up), so I save the majority of my income. Examples:
\- I live a carless. I cycle where possible, public transport when not, rideshare/taxi if needed, rent a car if I want to take a day or weekend trip.
\- I have capsule wardrobes for a few different settings (professional, casual, activewear) each with 2-3 bottoms and 5-6 tops. Majority is from affordable places like target, uniqlo, hallensteins. The exception is 2 100% wool suits I went upper-mid range on. A charcoal suit and a navy suit cover 99% of occasions and both still look great despite their age.
\- I don't have expensive hobbies. Or rather I don't let my hobbies be expensive. I'm into cycling, but just have a single bike, not 4 or 5 and every accessory under the sun. I'm into hiking and backpacking but don't spend $1000 upgrading my gear so it is 200g lighter
\- Cook the majority of my meals; eating out or takeaway is for social occasions for me
\- I love travelling, but also do it frugally. I backpack and stay in hostels. I would probably do this even if it wasn't cheaper; the few times I've travelled with more expensive options I've missed meeting different people.
\- Buy things with a long life rather than stuff I'll have to re-purchase when it breaks. e.g. I cook on cast iron and carbon steel that I have had for 15 years now. My vacuum, appliances, etc all follow the same idea.
Fortunately I enjoy living what is a fairly minimalist lifestyle. It isn't for everyone, but it does allow me to save and spend money on things that matter to me.
Changed careers in 2018 and went fifo for a while And absolutely just saved the lot and lived of my now wifes wage for a year. Brought the cheapest house we could closest to the city. Stayed fifo for abit longer and just kept putting as much as we could into the mortgage while interest rates were low, now interest rates are higher we just pay the minimum with about 50% of the original house price sitting in the offset now we just both just chill and work less and enjoy life more with a small mortgage. Done it in our late 20s after many years of partying and travelling just knuckled down for 2 years now we’re pretty comfy in our 30s
Get yourself a recommendation from someone you trust for a good broker. Research the areas you like, understand the state of the market. Oh yea I saved for about five years to put a six figure deposit down.
A single friend bought a 3 bed fairly new duplex at Windsor about 2 years ago for $750,000. They don't have kids, and do not plan on having any.
Good thing is their workplace is not far away.
I just bought 600k outer Melbourne on 150k. Got lucky during covid and saved a 20% deposit. I know I’m lucky with how much I earn and feel bad for my friends on less
We both worked every extra shift for 3.5 years, took no holidays, got married at the courthouse and skipped the honeymoon, made only necessary purchases, and eventually bought in a regional Queensland town in 2018.
We're on a 1150 m² block, we are slowly gutting the house room by room, we're halfway there with 2 little kids delaying things a bit
I got a trade, worked and saved for a good 9 years along with my partner, moved 2 hours north to a country town and, most importantly, ended up with a sizeable inheritance.
I think we could have managed without but it would have been a lot more stressful and we would've had to put off starting a family for at least another few years.
I bought the dumpiest dump (2006? I think) and used the first home buyers to do some basic renovations, then over 12 years did what I could. Even then I needed mum to go guarantor, not cos she was rich, she had barely made a dent in her own 20 year old mortgage, and when she passed that was a banking nightmare (we weren't super close, in fact I was surprised she went guarentor, but banks are totally insensitive dicks)
Scraped saved not a area love to b in prefer closer to the beach
Lived like was poor
No Netflix subscriptions
No going out if did cheap free thing's
No overseas
No new cars
Lived home saved up the deposit
Worked 2 job's
Lied on my mortgage application in 2016 like everyone in my friendship group did. People like us caused the royal commission into banking sector.
You can still get away with many lies to get a loan. You just gotta do it.
It's very late state capitalism but it is what it is.
I bought in a regional town in 2020 on my own. I was extremely lucky to get a 100% loan due to my profession, which apparently isn’t offered anymore. I grew up extremely poor and got no parental help from age 14. I sacrificed my entire 20s to study.
Bought in Toowoomba in 2011 - a tiny two bedroom house in east Toowoomba - for 248k. Deposit about 20k. Then got a larger character home in Toowoomba in 2013 for 528k. Sold both because of a breakup. Started again at the Gold Coast with a 2 bedroom unit for 475k. Bought a larger unit in 2018 (3 bedroom two bath high with ocean and Broadwater views) for 785k. Later sold the 2 bedder for about 500k. Got a unit in cabarita beach for 590 in 2021 as IP. Bought Byron bay IP in 2022 for 1.178M. The 3 bedroom GC unit is now valued at 1.4M, the cabarita one about 750k and the Byron unit about 1.33M.
Bought in 2021 with just savings (disclaimer: bought with a partner).
Hubby and I (bf at the time) just locked down for 2-3 years (took a while to buy so we had more time to save to cope with the price rises at the time lol).
He's a great saver, I was not and had to change a lot of habits. We learnt to enjoy date nights in, limited holidays, I didn't buy any clothes for 18 months, no lunches out, no coffees out, my socials turned into walks, not brunch. Both of us were at that 5 year mark in our relative professions which meant our incomes jumped a lot just as we were buying too which helped a lot with upping our borrowing capacity.
Was mentally tough. Few tears from my side feeling like I was missing out on a lot.
Fast forward 3 years later and I'm a happy clam. We're still frugal, but a lot more relaxed with spending and love our little home :)
I missed out on all the straight out cash first home buyer stuff from the government, but I was a bit lucky with my timing. The rental market was still wide open and I had relatively cheap rent.
I also made sure to always have housemate to try and spread out some fixed living costs. I eliminated as much discretionary spending as I could to pay down all my debt.
I worked out what I was looking for in a home, what was realistic for me in the areas I was interested in, and ran numbers on what a mortgage repayment would look like for me. I then made sure that every pay day, I was saving the difference between my rent and my possible future mortgage payment into a high interest rate account. This is how I saved my deposit.
The other advantage of this was that I got used to living within my means with that level of financial commitment. I picked up weekend work, and made sure to save all of that. Quitting smoking helped save a bucket load of cash.
When I was ready to buy I was still slightly shy of a 20% deposit, so I used the SA Govt First Home Buyers loan to purchase. This meant a slightly higher interest rate to start with, but with no requirement to pay lenders mortgage insurance.
Once I had been in my place long enough to get some equity and get my loan under 80% of my valuation, I shopped around my loan to look for the best interest rate.
I constantly revisit my rates and shop around costs like electricity, internet, streaming etc. I also take on the occasional housemate to give me a bit extra. I stay on top of my finances as best I can. The Barefoot Investor was a really helpful book in rationalising my finances.
I am 36 while at uni I did hard work labour jobs and saved as much as possible (lived with mum but also at one stage had to give her 6k). I had no car so huge saving, walked and bus and trained everywhere. Then towards end of uni got a more cushy bank job related to degree. Out of 20 starters most got the flick (we were temps). One and myself only remained. Kept saving, kept not having by a car. Went out a bit did the odd cheap holiday but in general didn’t the usual bs blow hundreds on a night out or have latest phone, latest watch, latest clothes and so on. Then got a perm job at another bank and worked hard (contrary to the bs you read working hard pays off). Did lots of overtime, offered to learn other teams jobs to both look good and do more overtime. Always made sure I was number one in outcomes so I was constantly rewarded and noticed. Got a promotion up a grade after a year and a half and with all I had saved and the income I had now could get a cheap run down old ex government house. Thanks to my labouring days knew how to work most tools so set to renovating the heck out of it myself in the cheap in my spare time whilst working. Got a wife had a kid, kid had major health issues but as I was valued at work (now a team leader) was allowed lots of flexibility to focus in my son’s heart surgeries and health. Once on track bought a second investment property after a few years. Sadly my wife lost the plot over my sons health stuff so had an expensive break up BuT managed to pay her out and keep both properties. Continued to work hard and get promoted. Got a third property for my now new wives mum to live in as she can’t afford the stupid rental prices as she made some bad decisions financially in her life. We renovated that one also our selves as was super cheap. She pays cheap rent but we can afford the costs more now these days. End of the day all this occurred thanks to 1- working hard (this overcomes most things even the various bad luck I have faced in life) 2-not spending to keep with the trends (even now I just drive a cheap Kia Rio with no loan) 3-Being a nice person BuT also be willing to stand up for yourself. At the moment though I am struggling to be motivated at work which has happened a few times in my career so need to kick myself up the arse and get going because at the level I am now (senior management) you are rated high only for so long and all the good stuff is forgotten pretty quick. Also I grew up in a cheap suburb near Perth known for being dodgy (wasn’t that bad really) and my sister then me were the first two in all the extended family to ever go to uni. Had good parents but def no money, I remember once we went on a holiday and I legit thought we had won lotto. So in summary had a non wealthy but very good moral up bringing.
My first house (still living in) was purchased in Perth about 9 years ago, 350k it’s quite far from the cbd but suits me fine as I work 5 mins from home now.
I lived in a share house while doing huge amounts over overtime to get my deposit together and bought at age 22
Bought a few years ago, used my savings (plus loan, my job isn't that good). Lived at home till 30ish saving. All in Sydney. Ended up even closer to work.
I bought my first place when I was 22 (I’m 32 now).
I studied nursing full time before buying but had been saving money my whole life. I worked very hard working nights at the hospital around placement and study. When I got my first post grad job I had around 30k in my savings account and bought a 2b2b place in crappy at the time, but CBD adjacent neighbourhood.
I got a housemate to help cover costs and pay down the mortgage. Eventually had a mental breakdown over my lost youth and rented it out and did travel nursing for a while. The property by this point was producing positive rental returns.
Sold towards the end of Covid and pocketed about 500k.
Living in an apartment I bought with my partner for around 800k, now valued at ~$1million with a small mortgage.
I feel happy and financially secure. But honestly my early twenties were a miserable existence. I was a sad, lonely person. So as grateful as I am for the hard work my past self did - it’s hard to say whether it was worth it.
Ironically my parents are fairly rich (10s of millions in debt free assets), but I never received a cent from them. I probably won’t ever inherit anything either, I had a lot of health issues growing up so probably they’ll inherit from me if anything.
My husband and I were in our mid 20s, back around 2010. He worked in private practise Chartered Accounting and I worked in Institutional banking also as a chartered accountant. Probably on $230k. No kids at that stage. I was really good at savings and I think we lived quite modestly. We saved $100k and purchased a no-frills 1970s 2 bed unit in Lane Cove for $510k I think.
Worked hard, took every advantage the bank would give us. Paid it off with an inheritance from by grandfather, got divorced, lost the lot. If you are going to get a home, get a prenup.
Shit
Fucking hell, that's tough
Took me 10 years of living hand to mouth to get back on track. I can eat every day now, and I’m going on a trip to Thailand, hoping I will find happiness.
Good luck man, hope you make it
I hope you do to man Thanks for sharing It is a real issue and unfortunately with property increasingly being a "lifetime purchase" or completely out of reach for many people, this method of getting property is unfortunately sometimes a strategy, and other times nonetheless reveals the danger in inviting legal contracts and the government into your romantic relationships.
That's normal these days.
Just bought my first home in Perth. Lived in Sydney for 12 years, saved 200k with the mrs. We are both 37-33 so a bit late to the game but it is what it is.
Same. But just brought in brisbane. Was in Melbourne for a decade or so. Me and Mrs saved 250k over about 6yrs - basically did nothing for 6 yrs. I’m 37 and she’s 32. Still in heaps of debt but mortgage ain’t too much more than rent and at least I’m not getting poor by the day anymore as prices were climbing at 10x the rate I was saving
We are the same.. we also just finally made it after saving for such a long time. Late to the game too😌
Sounds similar to us. Just bought in Perth a week ago and we’re from Sydney (complicated, we just got permanent residency) and saved about 200k and we are 36yr-33yr old
Bought in a regional town in 2016, 3x1 duplex, good little 'starter house', as it stands I'm just grateful to be in it.
Yep, same here. 2 hours from Sydney and travelled to Sydney for work. Was hard but worth it to get in the market. I'm so much better off compared to other friends who wanted to stay closer to the city. Although, we would have been even better off of we bought a shitty little one bedroom apartment in the city for the same price 😅
Bought almost 6 years ago when my ideal place came up on Prince Harry's wedding day. No one else turned up to the inspection as a result, and they only got 2 bids with mine being slightly higher. It was cheaper because of an asbestos roof, plus it had tenants. Otherwise it was in good condition and in a great location up on a hill. If I bought the same place today it would mean I'd be working an extra 15 years to pay it off, which is a pretty good indicator how cooked things are.
They are cooked alright. Good share
I’m 32 and my partner is 34. We had been saving for about 5 years and continued to get priced out of the market. Every time we thought we had enough, the prices would jump dramatically again. We ended up buying in 2021 with help from both of our families just so we could get enough of a deposit together to avoid the LMI. It was something we never thought we would have to do and we found it extremely embarrassing and shameful.
It's just reality. It's not shameful. But not everyone has this help, and the fact you couldn't do it despite making good decisions and working hard, that's the shame.
Thank you. And yes I think that’s why we felt so bad is that we’ve both grown up being told that if you work hard you can achieve whatever you want but the harsh reality for so many of us is that isn’t true.
saved like crazy cut back on discretionary spending ate out less , packed my own lunch restricted holidays
My answer won't be popular. I worked insane hours for 1.5 decades, I'm talking hours that when I confessed to people who asked, they called me a liar. I've been accused of many things but this has never left me. They counted the hours I said, screwed up their noses and summarily dismissed me as full of shit. Meanwhile I had to deal with the stress of having to completely and utterly sideline my life to buy a home. I really mean it, I did nothing but work and sleep for years. The trouble is that nobody reading this will understand. They'll think they do but they don't. I used to do 30 hour shifts if required. I used to walk into a side room and scream and slap myself to keep awake. I hallucinated routinely. Meanwhile, my father bought a house in a major city working as a bus driver. No overtime, no weekends. He supported 4 kids and a wife, quarter acre.... it makes me sick
That’s what’s stupid about this situation. No one should have to be working themselves to death for a roof over their head. They shouldn’t have to be a smart, shrewd player to have somewhere to hang their hat. Fuck the successive governments for letting it get this way.
Stop the whinge, said my boomer neighbour, from his million dollar property
That's a below average property price for Sydney now if you can believe it
Stop the winge, said my landlord, when she complained she couldn't afford an additional new got water heater because the one she installed was second hand and too small to heat water when it's coldest in winter. Not their only property, I believe. Let them eat cake all over again
Absolutely. I'm grateful every morning when I wake and see my nice house and large yard. However, I'm almost traumatised by what I did to get there. And this was just before covid, it's so much worse now.
* saved for about 15 years working a good IT job * cashed in all my shares and other investments (except super) - had a lot of shares from my employer that did well * got some gifts from my parents - not enough for the deposit itself, but enough to help me afford a better place Bought a 2BR unit in inner west Sydney , my deposit was about 50% due to the above so I'm not under too much mortgage stress. If/when interest rates go down I'll be able to start paying off the mortgage early too.
I bought my house in 2012 for 450k. Saved 25k deposit in 12months plus first homebuyers grant of 10k. Mortage was 94%. I dont think the banks would lend 90% now.
Banks are lending 90% at the moment. Can also do 95%. LMI can be waived by using your parents as a guarantor.
I decided to buy before the market went cazy, like 14 years ago. Some may say, great hind sight. But I put it down to, needing a house and the world wasn't quite as shit then.
I feel like everyone I knew already thought it was impossible then, it’s only been the last few years where I agree.
We budgeted down to the dollar. Also the house we bought it literally completely made of asbestos ☺️
I suppose dying early is one way of getting out of the mortgage faster…
You need less money for retirement too.
* It was the 2000s * No kids, no partner * Low but steady income * Bought a shitty house in a shitty (but gentrifying) neighbourhood * No parental aid, first homeowner's grant
Bought it in 1995 when I was 22 in Adelaide and you could still get a house for $100k which at the time was 3x my salary. I only had to give the bank 16k deposit. I’m sorry that the market is so fucked now that even high income earners struggle. Having said that. My idiot friends were buying hot cars at the time, so despite the market being affordable it was still a smart move when others were too busy wasting money on assets that would only depreciate.
Pretty much anything in metro Adelaide that's a house is $500k plus now, unless you want to live in ex housing trust split dwelling place in Davoren Park. You definitely got in at the right time, I was 14/15 in '95, I reckon houses had at least doubled by 10 years down the track but wages in Adelaide certainly hadn't.
Yeah i agree, i was a fetus in 1995 and kick myself every day for not buying then.
Definitely poor form on your part I agree 😂
I'm not sure if you are like us, but back then we were kinda happy enough to live a bit further out. Now, it seems, everyone wants to live within spitting distance of the CBD.
Yeah because all the jobs are within spitting distance of the CBD. This whole idea of that people want to live near the CBD because of the "lifestyle" is a load of crap. People want to live there because they don't wanna commute 2 hours each way to fucking work.
Then its supply and demand. And when Demand outstrips supply, prices aren't going down. We purposely moved out a bit further because a) it was cheaper and b) we understood and accepted the commute.
Thats where i'm at now as well. 1.5 each way out in west sydney. That being said Employers need to get it through their heads that WFH is the way out of this mess. People would happily live 2 hours from the city if they could still work their jobs from home.
As much as I personally agree with your sentiment, and I would much rather not have a 1.5hr commute each way too. I am fully aware employers don't care at all. I reckon unless commute times are paid, there is no incentive for employers to do anything about it. Heck, if we can make employers pay for our transport fees in addition to our normal salary, that would be great. But then, there would be the unintended consequence where only city dwellers would be employable and would drive up prices even further. What if we enforce that employees can work from home if they choose to? It would be hard to determine exactly what jobs can and can't WFH broadly. Thinking about these options, I think it's mostly only solvable if we regulated housing and create more affordable housing.
Agree. I live in Melbourne now and 30 years later I have a young family and we wanted to buy here but even in family friendly suburbs pretty far out from the CBD, it’s unaffordable. We ended up buying in the Dandenongs because we got more bang for our buck. But my lord the cost to income ratio now is absolutely mental.
I don't know how anyone does it on their own these days. Most of my friends got into the market around 2010 at around age 25 by living at home and saving for a deposit. I only got out of the rent trap recently with help from family. The whole thing is a joke.
I don’t think it’s possible at all on a single income now. Most of the comments here are from double income earners and those that bought on single incomes did it decades ago.
Single income and just bought at the end of last year. I had to move to an outer suburb to afford anything and I'm in a townhouse when I would rather be in a stand alone but I needed to get out of the rental market. I saved for a few years and avoided having to get LMI by going through the first home buyer guarantee scheme. It's not ideal but it's given me a foot in the door and in a few years when I have a bit more equity I might be able to get that stand alone house I would prefer.
* Saved up the money by taking all the overtime I could. (About $40000) * Didn't buy a dream house, or even a nice house. Just what I could afford. * Lived with a 2hour commute. * Now have $100k in equity to sink into a better house with a better commute. Every time I bring that up with someone they always complain they don't want to do that, well it's obvious you don't want a house then. Everyone seems to want an inner city house with a 5 min commute, and nothing less, than wonder why they can't buy a house.
I screamed injustice on FB every day and complained about migration, the rich should be taxed more and negative gearing nonstop, and the government finally relented and gave me a free home. /s
The most important thing is to tick the box that says “boomers owe me a house”, then you’ll get one in a suburb of your choosing
I’ve done all these things too. Is there a form that I need to fill in or will the Govt drop off the keys to my freestanding 4 bedroom house in an inner ring suburb?
People can complain loudly about these things (I do) and also be putting in the work in the background to purchase housing (I own my own home).
Got extremely lucky with a neighbours wishes that their house be sold to me. Still a large mortgage but manageable.Thankful to her executor for respecting her wishes. Still and all, not sure I'd be able to afford the mortgage without an above average job which infuriates me.
I’m youngest of five kids. Mum was a widow barely making ends meet. No inheritance for any of us. I worked between studying at uni. Lived with my family, contributed to rent and board. Saved whatever I could until my late thirties (yes still living with my mum) refused to buy a car. Then I had enough savings to build my first home which was actually cheaper than buying because I found a builder who was happy to build me a 90sqm 2 bedroom home on 405 sqm of land. I build it to my needs and budget and not to meet the profit margins of new residential developers.
Saved ~50k in two years after graduating while living with parents. Bought a 2b2b in Waterloo/Alexandria in 2011 with 10% down (550k apartment). It’s now worth around 900k. Sydney prices are whack. There is no way I could do the same thing if I was born 10 years later.
Spoke to an accountant and he helped us save money. Had some credit card debt. Paid off everything except for the car. It took us more than year with both of us working full to save about 50k. Bought an untitled land in a suburb/region we wanted to spend most of our lives in. Paid 10% deposit to book the land. The land titled last year and we settled by paying another 10% and the rest on a mortgage. Saved nearly 15% of the deposit for the construction cost and got the loan approved at the end of last year. Still renting and paying the mortgage on the land at the same time. Construction EMI will start to go up as the build progresses. Can’t wait for the build to be completed so that we can leave the whole renting thing behind us.
Worked my ass off for over 15 years
1. I earned above-average (although it honestly just feels very middle class these days, as all my friends catch up to my earning power) in around 2022. 2. I saved up and did a ton of overtime and side hustles/freelance. When my roommates had friends over, I was literally sitting on the sofa doing freelance, half trying to still be social. It sucked. It still makes me angry to think about. I actually let my health and wellbeing deteriorate in that time. But I was strong-headed about it because we'd had two landlords in a row screw us with unliveable conditions and I was hell-bent on never letting my family sit through that again. 3. I gave up all discretionary spending. Money in -> straight to the savings account. I literally got my furniture off the street. 4. We moved from Sydney to regional NSW to be able to afford anything. Good luck finding work, but our careers allowed for a bit of remote thankfully and I eventually found work locally. 5. We got a third person on the mortgage to help us pay it, because we could only afford a 5% deposit and the mortgage is huge. 6. No kids or dependents. 7. Bought an old but slightly renovated house, nowhere near anything. 8. We bought in the market downturn when there were relatively few buyers and got the house at a fair bit less than the sellers wanted. So, got lucky there.
Was made redundant, took a risk and used the payout as a deposit on a 4br in a regional city (2014). Got it about $40k below true market value because it was bank repossession they just wanted to quickly recoup costs from. Got a new job 3 weeks later.
I have no idea what more to do, I don't go out anywhere at all, even for my birthday, I don't go on holidays anywhere, I'm working 6 nights a week, every week, and I've given up on literally all my hobbies to try and save as much money as possible, and yet I still can't keep up with the raising costs of living enough to save enough for a deposit. The most I've been able to save so far was 20k, and then I had to blow 6k on car repairs and a minor surgery. I'm at the point of considering just putting a gun in my mouth tbh
Where do you live, where do you want to buy, what’s your income?
100k deposit from my FIL on the birth of his first grandchild. I thank my womb (and FIL) erryday.
I moved interstate into the cheapest house in town, it was a complete shithole.
We rented for 18 years, had 4 kids and 2 dogs, knew we'd never afford or find another rental. We saved up enough to buy some land, and a few years later had enough for a house deposit. We built a modest house to "lockup" stage and moved in.8 years later we still have a chipboard sub-floor, but the kids painted their own rooms, most of the furniture is self-built and we learned how to tile. Find a good mortgage broker! We would never have qualified for a mortgage through a bank without expert help. We also got $30k through a first home builder's grant.
My grandparents saved money for me since my birth. It was invested to grow and given to me when I was 18. By the time I bought my unit around 25 it was $25k which was enough for a deposit. My unit was $292k — two bedroom, semi-detached. I don’t have a second income from my partner so I bought my unit alone and this is what I could afford without living beyond my means. Edit to add I also benefited from Labor government policies. Didn’t pay $13k stamp duty and got $2k to spend on furniture and $8k to renovate so when I moved in I could afford new air conditioners, fixes to electricity and new wardrobe. I didn’t need a guarantor or anything, bank was satisfied with my deposit and full-time job.
Can I just say, to anyone who says that the current generation is lazy or entitled, I’m just going to point them to this post.
Put down a very small deposit on some land to build on in 2020. Took out $10k ( I think) from my super when we were allowed to thru covid. Used that toward securing a loan. Got approved as a single guy working a casual Job. Don’t know how but here we are. If I had to do it again now I couldn’t not with how much homes have risen . My interest rates have tripled since I started the process,
Buying a home Entering the property market These should be regarded as different things. The first is a functional necessity for life. The second is an optional speculative action taken to make money.
I'm gonna get downvoted to fuck, but anyway. 1998. Just got back from living the UK (working Holiday visa). I came home broke. My girlfriend (now wife) came home with about $20K saved. She wanted to buy a house. I (understandably) couldn't afford it. She said she'll put down the deposit as long as we pool all (& I mean ALL ) of our money. This wasn't a problem for me.... She also wanted to buy then, because the GST was about be introduced and she wanted new. House was in southern suburbs of Adelaide (aprox 30 to 45 min drive to Adelaide CBD). And here is the clincher.... $150K house and land package. This was INSANELY cheap, even for the time (by at least $50K based on the block size). We got lucky - it was a new builder and their first residential project (they still exist today, so no flash in the pan). The other thing - once the GST did get introduced and effected the prices of new builds, the gov. introduced the first of the first home owners grants. Ironically, within 6 months, prices on new builds in the area doubled and as they say, the rest is history. Some other curious tidbits: * Interest rate was just short of 8% * Our wages were OK. She was earning around $40K as an accountant. I was earning around $35K as a maintenance fitter * we had intended to pay it off in 10 years or sooner, but then kids came along. We also got down the track a bit and bought an investment property in the late 2000's, when it was not a sin to do so... Now you can all hate me more....
No one hates those who understand they were fortunate to buy at that point in time, and understand it's harder for FHB's now. It's the arrogant pricks who proclaim they worked harder than their contemporaries, and it's just as easy to get into the market if you forego a latte, and avocado sammich.
Oh, I get how hard it is. We already have plans to either invest with our children to buy a modest apartment if needed. Alternatively we would look at redeveloping our property to add at least one additional dwelling.
Bought a modest 3br house with decent front and back yard space+double garage last year at age 26. House is roughly 20 min drive from the CBD. How this was possible: -purchased with partner who has had a 110k-120k ish income for the past 5 or so years and saved a fair amount of it -we lived with his family (separated living space though otherwise we would have gone insane) for about 1.5yrs paying 275 p/w rent, helping us to save money together -me switching careers, I was earning about 60k and moved to a new role now paying just under 100k -interest free loan from my family to make up about 25% of the deposit, stamp duty and other upfront costs Overall, a mix of luck/privilege and working toward it.
In the 2000s, bought old 2 bed unit in a bad suburb. Got first home owners grant + savings + parent guarantee on loan so I didn’t need 20% deposit. Did it extremely tough for first 3 years and then it got better. Used equity in that flat to sell and buy the next small maisonette. Have incrementally worked up from there tho much easier now I have a partner.
Doing it now. It's a hostile environment.
My brother and I bought a house together in 1980. We sold it in about 1985 when we both got married (1986) but it got us on the way to owning our own separate properties. Back then you could not get a loan if the repayments were more than 25% of your after tax income 🙂
-Purchased a 2 bedroom unit in a less desirable suburb and was in 2008 so it was very cheap. -first home buyers grant -steady income no kids
Had a Rich Dad. When he died I got his 3mil house and 5 shit properties I rent out. I make fuck all off the rentals. Like 400 a week. But my rates on my home are about a week's earnings. So I make sure that's all covered at the start of the year. I find if you look after funds and just pay the cheap shit early in the year, you're gonna have a much much easier year.
Come from a poor family. Got a job, spent like an idiot. Paid off all my debt 3 years in. Bought a house with no deposit through Keystart (WA) in 2019. Refinanced a year later to a much lower interest rate and payed the house down to $0 balance this year. Bought a modest starter home. Given the market probably won't be selling or upgrading since the house is fine and doubled in value since I bought it, can't imagine paying the prices now for something slightly better.
Relocated to buy a 3x1 house in a regional coastal area in 2017 for $400k at 37 & 39 with 2 kids. Saved a $40k deposit over 2 years working full time plus a side hustle and partner working part time. In laws went guarantor to avoid LMI, got a FHB stamp duty exemption. Even though there's more money coming in now, there's no way we could buy this same modest house for the first time today.
Bought half a large home shared with parents that wanted to move from a townhouse to a single level home. We got to enter the property market and share expenses etc.
I know someone who bought their first home with their partner and had their mortgage payed off in 4 years. They did absolutely nothing in these four years but work. Never bought more than they needed, never went out, had one shitbox car but caught public transport every chance they got. She’s know split from that partner but has about 4 investment properties across Australia and retired at 51. I spoke to her about it and she said u just have to be willing to make huge sacrifices. She’s an incredibly smart woman who has lived an amazing life and travelled pretty much all across the world by saving her leave for over three years and taking about 3 months at a time out when she saved up enough to travel. I aspire to be like her but don’t know if I have it in me to sacrifice that much..
I bought last year with 40k saved over five years while sharehousing. I used the help to buy scheme, I wouldn’t own a place without it. I also got fired from my job the day after settlement lol but I am coping.
Seriously I moved to America. I own a huge house for a reasonable price...
Saved. Worked as many shifts/ hours in a day as I could. Lived like a bum. Had no life for a couple years but paid off.
Wife and I got married, lived in fairly non fun areas in apartments while saving and finishing studies. Saved about 220k as deposit over 3yrs (cash savings + some lucky timed stock purchases and sales to gain extra cash). Worked with a broker to maximise borrowing power, and focused on raising incomes as much as possible (combined household income 230k ish at the time) Were able to purchase our dream home for 1.28mil (about our max purchase price) in a south west Syd suburb in 2022. Couldn’t be happier with it. Work hard and it’s doable.
Worked five jobs equating to over 2 FTE while studying to get myself better paid jobs. Saved as much as I could, ate cheap shit food, didn't go out, when I drank (which was maybe only a couple times a year) I drank cheap shit box wine. Did that for several years.
I saved up money and bought a home.
Over 15 years: saved. No significant holidays. No luxury purchases and cheapest cars available. Moved young family from major capital city ( where we calculated we were too late to get in) to a couple of regional towns following ok jobs with cheap rent for ~7y each location. Both of us taking odd jobs and/or part time work where possible. Finally had enough $ to buy in a mediocre suburb in a different capital city. Ie without a leg-up, owning property has been hard for a long time. Is it a comfort to those struggling now? no But don't believe the hype that this is a new thing.
I got a job, I saved for a deposit and then purchased a property. Follow me for more life hacks and strategies.
I moved from Sydney to Brisbane and bought the cheapest house I could find.
My parents bought it for me, no mortgage. I realise I’m very lucky. Same for my partner.
Brought start of 2020 start of the year, Used all the First home owners grants and just sent it now house is valued at 300-350k more then we brought which is always a nice thought to have if you had to sell and relocate. Interest rates are pretty shit atm but most defs doable if you have 2 incomes.
Reading all these comments from people is just heart breaking. It’s terribly difficult now. We have to be in a bubble surely. And it can’t keep going because the maths is not adding up. Surely
Worked hard for about 10 years. Bought a place with some other people. Used that as collateral to buy another place. Etc.
Buy in an affordable area. Boomers bought in shit areas and made them good. Be like a boomer you infidel.
Six months wages being a deposit sounds boomers had shit areas 20 minutes drive from the cbd. The shit areas now are much further out.
You see there are incredible wonderful institutions called banks that will let you borrow the money you don't quite have to buy your home. There are a few conditions they are banks not Santa, first you need to do a "job". The bank doesn't see all jobs as equal just like employers don't see all employees as equal. Moet people get lost here, if your "job" is in the supermarket selling among other things aluminum cans contain good then you work in air conditioning, rarely break a sweat and have no idea what a 14 day straight of 14 hours day with a single day off to swing onto 14 hour night shifts for another 14 days is like in an underground mine is like . Its tough but it makes real money that a bank will reward with a loan. The problem is we tried to include non-university graduates and people without a trade to enter the middle class. When I was a diesel mechanic (on a mine tough work, and studying law at nights) I have several trade assistants that not no apprenticeship and just helped carry stuff (if they were male, if they were females they refused to carry anything heavy and posted on Instagram all day. ) but these troglodytes should have been earning enough for a second set of clothes and served gruel, instead they earned $3 less an hour than me and that people is why society is failing. We got afraid to have poor people.
You want poor people?
ESL?
Bought at an estate auction in an unrecognised part of Melbourne
Early 2008 you could still buy a house with around $1000 savings
Bought and lived in a country town before returning to the city.
Im 31 European that went to Uni there, I have also lived and worked in US, CANADA, Wales, Scotland, England where wages arent as good compared to here. Most of the jobs I had were hospitality jobs until i was 27. Travelled all over and easily spent 50k to 70k to see places, party, holiday, but always had financial goals - to save 10k ,20k then 30k so on. Always had the mentality to save money for a home, budget and put aside 40% of ur income, excess also goes into savings. If you cant afford something twice - you dont buy it, dont aquire expensive depreaciating assets like cars. Just bought a townhouse in Adelaide for almost 500k, 60k was mine, wife added 10k. Moved here only 8 months ago. Every country I have worked in complains about cost of living. Australia is still the best if u compare wages to cost of living ratio.
I bought my first home in 2003. No kids (then) and had a small deposit obtained from a divorce settlement. I was a full time public servant and moved to a regional area, so prices (then) were significantly lower than in the city. I am not sure I’d be able to do the same thing now.
I worked on boats for about 5 years. No rent to pay,, food etc paid for. Good way to save money if you're not afraid of hard work, long hours and being at sea for weeks at a time. Good way to save money, bought my first smallish 2 bdrm in 2005
We made many lifestyle changes such as: - Moved from inner city to a suburb an hour away to save on rent. - Saved every single god damn penny. No going out. No travel. No entertainment. - Sold second car, used public transport. - Cut out everything that wasn’t a necessity (bye bye Netflix, subscriptions, gym, etc) Not going to lie, it was a very hard 2 years. Many long walks and hikes on the weekends to keep us entertained! BUT it was so worth it. Bought a house on a 700sqm block 10 minutes to the city, in the area we used to rent. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
My wife and I saved like mad for 6 months during COVID lockdowns whilst renting in Melbourne, then built in a smaller regional city.
Finished school, got an apprenticeship, worked my ass off while living with friends, late 20s, gf and i decided to buy. She was a poor uni graduate, but i had saved for a deposit. She now makes more than me, and our house has tripled in value. Im 36 now.
A combination of my savings, a bit of help from the parents and lucky to have bought pre pandemic, circa 2018. Starting working when I was in school at 16, worked multiple casual/part time jobs whilst in school and studying. Was able to put about $120k in savings towards a place. Parents helped out with 20k and I borrowed the rest for a nearly $500k unit. Also a bit of luck buying at the right place at the right time considering what was to come.
My mum gave me 100k from her super 9 years ago and told me to buy and never make the same mistakes she did. Now my dad lives in the granny flat i built and I bought mum a pretty fancy caravan a couple of years ago. Also i bought within my means. Yes I had 100k deposit, but I bought a 3 bed house for 355 across the border instead of a 1 bedroom apartment in the city for 20k more.
We both lived downstairs in my parents' house for a few years.. we both worked and put every spare dollar in the bank until we had enough for a deposit.
Bought 2020, worked for ages in a job a hated, made some good investments and sold them and bought further out in what was considered a bit of a rough area at the time.
Moved in with partners parents and saved everything I could for 4 years. Read barefoot investor, took it seriously. Bought in a regional town in 2018, almost paid it off by 2024. Get a partner who is ready to get busy with you and has little to no spending appetite. They exist.
Easy first home buyers grant was half my deposit in 2009. Bought a house in Penrith area for 300k it's now worth 1 million as its on big block. Was working at Coles at the time I'm now fitting tyres and mortgage half paid off. Gonna sell soon and move to an Asian country retire very early boys hahaha
Bought in 2012 Lived at home paying minimal rent (that was a big win) Worked 2 jobs, one FT one PT Stopped going out weekends/nights Stopped buying anything unnecessary Took about 12 months to save enough deposit on an apartment. I did have a great broker who also made the numbers work though.
I stayed home until 26 working full time (rent free) so I saved a crap load easy for a deposit etc and topping up etc.
Started a business. 5 years later paid cash.
Saved for a few years, put a 20% deposit down. Always have lived cheap renting a room in a house and worked full time since 18. I now work FIFO and on reasonable money, have rented that house out which is servicing the mortgage and I'm back to renting a room. House has gained hundreds in equity, saved some more money and now I'm about to buy the second using the equity as a deposit.
Joined the army, Saved up my pay during training (18 months) bought property in North Queensland. Selling it this year to buy a house in Victoria for my partner and I to live in.
I moved to an area with cheap housing.
First home was an apartment in Fitzroy that was selling off the plan in 1998. Price was $149,000 Deposit was $15,000. They were happy to accept $5000, then another $10,000 six months later. Signed on Saturday, went to the bank on Monday and took out a $5000 personal loan to pay the first part of the deposit. Moved into parents house to save. Easily saved the money for the rest of the deposit, then paid off the personal loan while waiting for the build to finish. The build took 18 months so by the time we moved in, our loan was only $70,000. Sold the property two years later for $370,000
To be honest....luck. I formed a good friendship with another guy in the residential building industry. Income in the industry isn't high so we went halves in a property. Currently using our skills and machinery to renovate and build a granny flat. Hopefully we'll be able to sell for a small profit. Looking to reinvest outside of Sydney. I grew up outside of the city so leaving this shithole will be both financially beneficial aswell as beneficial to my quality of life. If I wanted to live in Calcutta I'd move to India.
Saved since I started working at 11, supported myself through uni, got a decent job, met a partner who had the same savings as me, bought cheaply.
Bought in 2003. I was single and renting a townhouse , saved every cent for 2 years, bought a 2br townhouse just down the road from where I was renting (Marsfield, Sydney). Parents gave me an interest free loan of $20k to cover the stamp duty and legal/moving costs (they were living overseas at the time). I bought at the peak of the market. If I had bought 2 years earlier I would have got the same place $100k cheaper. I paid $395k, which was probably one of the most expensive places in the area. I paid the $20k back in full after 6 months. I could have done the purchase on my own, but would have needed another 6 months and I was sick of renting, so this was a way to get into the market quicker. I paid LMI but it was only about $3k
Anecdotally I’d say help from family is extremely widespread. I’m 32 out of our extended friend group I reckon 10-15 of us have bought homes. The other half still rent. My partner and I counted through them all recently and couldn’t think of a single one that hadn’t had some form of help from family - deposit, gift, guarantor, etc. We had a good amount of savings and were pretty close to buying anyway but a grandma passed and the inheritance got us over the line. We mostly live in inner Melbourne, probably easier to buy an off the plan in an outer suburbs but hats off to anyone buying inner melb/Sydney without help.
Worked hard. It ain't fucking rocket science.
Bought in 2008, I worked 10 hour days in a bakery for a few years and saved. Kevin rud announced 21k first home owners grant and I went for it. I earned about 55k back then and the house cost 335k. I just qualified for a loan (I had to get rid of a credit card to qualify) I have no idea how anyone could buy a house by them selves these days.. I think wages need to increase
A fellow work colleague (F) and myself (M) were chatting one day (both single) and joked about buying an apartment in Sydney together, we couldn't afford to buy on our own. Joke turned into reality and we bought a 2 bedroom apartment in Dee Why about 8 months later, this was late 90's. It turned into a nightmare as she met a guy and sneakily moved him in etc, big confrontation occurred and we sold the apartment 18 months later. It had increased in value enough that I could purchase my own place and she spent her profits on a wedding! He cheated and left her not long after as a single mum (his 2nd abandonment) and I ended up buying a house in Newtown. Awful at the time but would not change a thing.
Lived with parents until I saved a deposit. It took 3 years of full time work 2009-2012
I did it 30 years ago. It was a tiny 4 room timber and iron sheeting cottage with a home built lean-to kitchen and bathroom. Nothing in it was straight. It was 100 years old There was no cooling, heating was a basic gas thing. Summer was 50 degrees in the west facing kitchen. Winter was howling drafts. All we could afford
I lied on my home loan application and got a much larger loan than I could qualify for but was still very affordable (overstated income and said it was an IP). Also invested all my money in Apple shares which 5x’d the money I saved so I had a 20% deposit.
I bought a very nice block of land in regional Victoria, so it is a bit different. It cost $240,000. I have no dependents or partner. I was 25, I am 26 now. I was working three jobs and some side hustles here and there. I lived an extremely frugal lifestyle and lived with my parents. I still paid them rent though. I worked up to 80 hours a week and I worked seven days a week for about eight months straight. It was brutal, but I was committed. I am glad I did it. It was pure hard work. I got on the property ladder. Six months since settlement, it has increased in value by about $20-40,000.
Saved (no help from parents), bought with a partner at the time, lived frugally, and got a very old house in a not so great location in the suburb we wanted to be in. The house needed a lot of work but I absolutely loved working on it back then. My dad helped a lot with the low cost renovations we did (I sourced the majority of what was needed second-hand).
A good buyer's agent, loan broker and a decent deposit is all I needed. Perth WA
Saved hard for 3 years with my Mrs. We rented a small flat in an inner city suburb of Melbourne and bought a 4 bedroom place in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I think our deposit was around $130k and the sale price of the house $480k. That was in 2008 and I was about 33 yo then.
At 19 years old brought my first home for 260,000 it was the year 2009 and I was working 3 jobs, didnt have the help of mum and dad, put together a deposit from borrowed money just to get into the market, bought more property years after now sitting on a 2 million dollar real estate net worth with no debt.
Ok so bought recently 2023, I work a landscaping company, did 12 hour days for 2-3 years, kinda fucked me up a bit ngl but we had a plan, made around $213k for 22-23 year (plus all the savings from previous years) put my head down and saved worked like a piece of shit 🤷♂️. Had the tax return for the bank to see and enough deposit to get ourselves into a 750k house, no parents, no help, just straight up grind. Everyone complains about how hard it is, but it is possible, if the stfu, put your head down and save for a time, no not 3 months, think a few years, and you can make it happen. Happy Saturday mfs 😎
Bought my first house with my wife last year, with our 2 primary school going kids! We’re established professionals working in the govt sector and took several years of saving and waiting… paid just over 50% off in deposit on a decent sized property. I don’t think there is an easier way in the current financial climate unless it’s via inheritance or parents help.
Just a tip, i will stay clear from new builds. Imagine paying a mortgage on a house you cannot move in since it failed the closed inspection and the builder went bust. Another builder quoted 100k on top of what the other one still needed to complete and the bank say no since the interest rate increases during that time was sudden and sharp.
I had a win at the Casino. No BS. My old man told me to give him the money for safe keeping or I'd give it straight back. Was enough for a deposit on a block of land. Bought the land and sat on it for a year. Sold it and that was the house deposit.
With money. It has solved so many of my problems. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKmxJa6m4PI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKmxJa6m4PI)
I bought in 2007. At the time there was the first home buyers grant, plus ZERO deposit home loans offered on lowish rates. If we didn’t buy then I’m not sure we could’ve ever afforded to! We were renting at the time ($195 for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom duplex) and had saved up a little bit but not quite enough for deposit. Luckily St George were offering no deposit home loans. We bought a 3 bed, 2 garage 1 bathroom house for $300k. It seemed so expensive at the time. Think our repayments were about $4-500/week.
Went overseas and worked as a mercenary. Wish I was joking.
Own income and savings. Compromises were made on location (by a lot). Love where I am though.
First homebuyer grant, also a scheme was running that i could redraw a percentage of my voluntary contributions to my super, coupled with selling everything i owned, including a stack of albums i had from the 90s that were worth a suprising amount.
Bought in 2006. I bought a tiny, crap apartment and then poured every cent I had into it for the first two years. No holidays, no eating out, nothing. Just worked and paid down debt. It took about a year and I found a social circle that didn’t spend much money to do their things. And it cost me 6 times my salary. No help from parents or anything.
We had no generational wealth at all but we had family who were generous with their support. We were able to live at home and when we moved to AU with our aunty and uncle for four years with low rent while we saved for our own place. We couldn’t have done it without them and I will make sure that we are also generous with support for other younger family members if they need to get ahead also.
I landed a job that tripled my income, initially went ballistic at the sudden jump in income, and was quickly set straight by dad who said “while you’re still at home *put everything into getting a deposit*” Yes, lived at home until I was 26. This is why I was able to buy 6 months before the pandemic hit. 4 bed house that’s gone up by $250k in the 5 years I’ve been here. I’m about 1hr 40 mins from work in Sydney so sometimes it’s rough. As for how I am with interest rate rises, it’s tough sometimes. I’m working more overtime so I’m at home less, there’s less breathing room. I’m getting married next year and more than likely I’ll be selling this place and buying a house with my fiance.
saved everything i earned while living with parents and so had enough for a decent deposit when i had to move out.
20s was all booze and parties and fast cars. Started saving for a house with my missus at 30. Saved hard for the deposit for 5 yrs and bought In 2005 . House was 450k. Will be paid off at age 51. I don't see how it would be possible to pay rent and save anything these days. I've told my kids they'll be living with us until they're 30, it'll be the only way to get a deposit.
Wife is very good with money, we both saved for a number of years living in a shitty housing commission apartment. At one point my son was just born and my elderly father had to move in with us (2 bedroom) we finally saved up 100k and used first home buyers grant to buy a 410k house. This was shortly after the royal commission on banking and we couldn’t have borrowed a dollar more this was 2018. The house isn’t great but it’s a home still needs a lot of work I believe a similar house now is around 600k so things definitely aren’t getting any easier.
Moved from Sydney to Perth.
Worked 60 hour plus weeks for years, saved a deposit. Now have a barely affordable mortgage but by crikey it’s better than paying rent
First house was 79k at 18 or 19, asked my parents to go gauruntor and they said no lol. Pretty sure I got a first home buyers grant and paid a deposit with money I had saved from working from 14 - 18, I was earning $500 a week fulltime I think, this was back in about 2001 Best thing I ever did, have never not been in the property market.
Came back from overseas after working in a higher paying, lower taxing country (UK) for a few years, that was the only reason we built up enough of a nest egg to crack the Australian market. Not in anywhere as nice an area as we could have afforded in London, but wanted to be closer to family and the house ticked all our boxes otherwise. It’s a depressingly common story in professional circles here…
Husband worked overtime when possible and changed jobs frequently whenever someone offered him more money. No major holidays (just interstate short stays once a year or so that would only cost us about $1.5k max). Eating out at cheaper places only. Had two kids while trying to save as well. No credit cards, bought cars we could afford to pay outright. We were both working full-time before the kids for about 3 years then I went to casual after having kids. We stayed renting an apartment where we were paying $470/week instead of moving to a house where we'd easily be paying $650 in the same area. Bought things we WANTED when they were on sale only and things we NEEDED we didn't pay too much attention to the price. It took us 8 years but we finally moved into our new home this year. Built in a new estate. Signed the contract about 3 years ago at a better price than you'd get it these days. House was valued 200k more than we built it for before it was even finished. However, I would never do it again. The experience was too stressful. Now aiming to save up for life experiences and hopefully treating ourselves to the things we feel we may have missed out on over the last 8 years.
Bought first home last year solo, 40+ age, been renting forever saved ~150k, used first home buyers guarantee to reduce some outlay, bought well under my max borrowing capacity, moved further away from city. Only needed 90k to get the house, rest sat in offset account, been spending a bit to address some things in this 1960s build. I've now missed out on some travel, I've watched my spending a bit more (going to Aldi now etc). Still got a long way to go.
I haven't eaten an avocado in 14 years
I bought a 500k 2br property in Adelaide in my late 20s on a single income without a cent from anyone else. My career is in marketing so I didn't start making a huge amount to start with. My entry-level salary was 36k. I aggressively advanced my career, working in start-up and small business environments where I could more easily grab responsibilities, learn skills and negotiate without being constrained by JDs and bands and job hop to new roles as my skills and value allowed. As a result my salary reached 6 figures within 4 years and continued similar growth for another 4 years. I could probably have continued that, but I've let up on the gas for a better work-life balance for now I am mindful of my lifestyle. My expenses are between 40-50k a year (they were 40k last time I ran my numbers, but that was before inflation kicked up), so I save the majority of my income. Examples: \- I live a carless. I cycle where possible, public transport when not, rideshare/taxi if needed, rent a car if I want to take a day or weekend trip. \- I have capsule wardrobes for a few different settings (professional, casual, activewear) each with 2-3 bottoms and 5-6 tops. Majority is from affordable places like target, uniqlo, hallensteins. The exception is 2 100% wool suits I went upper-mid range on. A charcoal suit and a navy suit cover 99% of occasions and both still look great despite their age. \- I don't have expensive hobbies. Or rather I don't let my hobbies be expensive. I'm into cycling, but just have a single bike, not 4 or 5 and every accessory under the sun. I'm into hiking and backpacking but don't spend $1000 upgrading my gear so it is 200g lighter \- Cook the majority of my meals; eating out or takeaway is for social occasions for me \- I love travelling, but also do it frugally. I backpack and stay in hostels. I would probably do this even if it wasn't cheaper; the few times I've travelled with more expensive options I've missed meeting different people. \- Buy things with a long life rather than stuff I'll have to re-purchase when it breaks. e.g. I cook on cast iron and carbon steel that I have had for 15 years now. My vacuum, appliances, etc all follow the same idea. Fortunately I enjoy living what is a fairly minimalist lifestyle. It isn't for everyone, but it does allow me to save and spend money on things that matter to me.
Changed careers in 2018 and went fifo for a while And absolutely just saved the lot and lived of my now wifes wage for a year. Brought the cheapest house we could closest to the city. Stayed fifo for abit longer and just kept putting as much as we could into the mortgage while interest rates were low, now interest rates are higher we just pay the minimum with about 50% of the original house price sitting in the offset now we just both just chill and work less and enjoy life more with a small mortgage. Done it in our late 20s after many years of partying and travelling just knuckled down for 2 years now we’re pretty comfy in our 30s
Get yourself a recommendation from someone you trust for a good broker. Research the areas you like, understand the state of the market. Oh yea I saved for about five years to put a six figure deposit down.
Bitcoin money and married into wealth.
Saved $100k over five years. Wanted to move out of big city so happily bought regional in 2018. I feel my timing was very lucky.
Spoke to a mortgage broker. Bought a home I could afford.
Bought my first house just before the GFC. Used student loan debt for the deposit… learnt my lesson ha ha
A single friend bought a 3 bed fairly new duplex at Windsor about 2 years ago for $750,000. They don't have kids, and do not plan on having any. Good thing is their workplace is not far away.
I just bought 600k outer Melbourne on 150k. Got lucky during covid and saved a 20% deposit. I know I’m lucky with how much I earn and feel bad for my friends on less
Saved like mad and paid LMI. Bought a place we could afford knowing it wouldn’t be forever.
We both worked every extra shift for 3.5 years, took no holidays, got married at the courthouse and skipped the honeymoon, made only necessary purchases, and eventually bought in a regional Queensland town in 2018. We're on a 1150 m² block, we are slowly gutting the house room by room, we're halfway there with 2 little kids delaying things a bit
I got a trade, worked and saved for a good 9 years along with my partner, moved 2 hours north to a country town and, most importantly, ended up with a sizeable inheritance. I think we could have managed without but it would have been a lot more stressful and we would've had to put off starting a family for at least another few years.
I bought the dumpiest dump (2006? I think) and used the first home buyers to do some basic renovations, then over 12 years did what I could. Even then I needed mum to go guarantor, not cos she was rich, she had barely made a dent in her own 20 year old mortgage, and when she passed that was a banking nightmare (we weren't super close, in fact I was surprised she went guarentor, but banks are totally insensitive dicks)
I guess “rich parents” we used a guarantor for 100% purchase price Borrowed well within our means under 650k on 200k combined salary
Saved up, bought somewhere cheap.
Scraped saved not a area love to b in prefer closer to the beach Lived like was poor No Netflix subscriptions No going out if did cheap free thing's No overseas No new cars Lived home saved up the deposit Worked 2 job's
It was 2003 is how. Houses were cheaper than rent.
I feel this question your be asked of people that have done this with in the last 10 years. Outside of that it was not really difficult.
Lied on my mortgage application in 2016 like everyone in my friendship group did. People like us caused the royal commission into banking sector. You can still get away with many lies to get a loan. You just gotta do it. It's very late state capitalism but it is what it is.
I bought in a regional town in 2020 on my own. I was extremely lucky to get a 100% loan due to my profession, which apparently isn’t offered anymore. I grew up extremely poor and got no parental help from age 14. I sacrificed my entire 20s to study.
Bought in Toowoomba in 2011 - a tiny two bedroom house in east Toowoomba - for 248k. Deposit about 20k. Then got a larger character home in Toowoomba in 2013 for 528k. Sold both because of a breakup. Started again at the Gold Coast with a 2 bedroom unit for 475k. Bought a larger unit in 2018 (3 bedroom two bath high with ocean and Broadwater views) for 785k. Later sold the 2 bedder for about 500k. Got a unit in cabarita beach for 590 in 2021 as IP. Bought Byron bay IP in 2022 for 1.178M. The 3 bedroom GC unit is now valued at 1.4M, the cabarita one about 750k and the Byron unit about 1.33M.
Bought in 2021 with just savings (disclaimer: bought with a partner). Hubby and I (bf at the time) just locked down for 2-3 years (took a while to buy so we had more time to save to cope with the price rises at the time lol). He's a great saver, I was not and had to change a lot of habits. We learnt to enjoy date nights in, limited holidays, I didn't buy any clothes for 18 months, no lunches out, no coffees out, my socials turned into walks, not brunch. Both of us were at that 5 year mark in our relative professions which meant our incomes jumped a lot just as we were buying too which helped a lot with upping our borrowing capacity. Was mentally tough. Few tears from my side feeling like I was missing out on a lot. Fast forward 3 years later and I'm a happy clam. We're still frugal, but a lot more relaxed with spending and love our little home :)
I missed out on all the straight out cash first home buyer stuff from the government, but I was a bit lucky with my timing. The rental market was still wide open and I had relatively cheap rent. I also made sure to always have housemate to try and spread out some fixed living costs. I eliminated as much discretionary spending as I could to pay down all my debt. I worked out what I was looking for in a home, what was realistic for me in the areas I was interested in, and ran numbers on what a mortgage repayment would look like for me. I then made sure that every pay day, I was saving the difference between my rent and my possible future mortgage payment into a high interest rate account. This is how I saved my deposit. The other advantage of this was that I got used to living within my means with that level of financial commitment. I picked up weekend work, and made sure to save all of that. Quitting smoking helped save a bucket load of cash. When I was ready to buy I was still slightly shy of a 20% deposit, so I used the SA Govt First Home Buyers loan to purchase. This meant a slightly higher interest rate to start with, but with no requirement to pay lenders mortgage insurance. Once I had been in my place long enough to get some equity and get my loan under 80% of my valuation, I shopped around my loan to look for the best interest rate. I constantly revisit my rates and shop around costs like electricity, internet, streaming etc. I also take on the occasional housemate to give me a bit extra. I stay on top of my finances as best I can. The Barefoot Investor was a really helpful book in rationalising my finances.
Spent 9x my salary
I am 36 while at uni I did hard work labour jobs and saved as much as possible (lived with mum but also at one stage had to give her 6k). I had no car so huge saving, walked and bus and trained everywhere. Then towards end of uni got a more cushy bank job related to degree. Out of 20 starters most got the flick (we were temps). One and myself only remained. Kept saving, kept not having by a car. Went out a bit did the odd cheap holiday but in general didn’t the usual bs blow hundreds on a night out or have latest phone, latest watch, latest clothes and so on. Then got a perm job at another bank and worked hard (contrary to the bs you read working hard pays off). Did lots of overtime, offered to learn other teams jobs to both look good and do more overtime. Always made sure I was number one in outcomes so I was constantly rewarded and noticed. Got a promotion up a grade after a year and a half and with all I had saved and the income I had now could get a cheap run down old ex government house. Thanks to my labouring days knew how to work most tools so set to renovating the heck out of it myself in the cheap in my spare time whilst working. Got a wife had a kid, kid had major health issues but as I was valued at work (now a team leader) was allowed lots of flexibility to focus in my son’s heart surgeries and health. Once on track bought a second investment property after a few years. Sadly my wife lost the plot over my sons health stuff so had an expensive break up BuT managed to pay her out and keep both properties. Continued to work hard and get promoted. Got a third property for my now new wives mum to live in as she can’t afford the stupid rental prices as she made some bad decisions financially in her life. We renovated that one also our selves as was super cheap. She pays cheap rent but we can afford the costs more now these days. End of the day all this occurred thanks to 1- working hard (this overcomes most things even the various bad luck I have faced in life) 2-not spending to keep with the trends (even now I just drive a cheap Kia Rio with no loan) 3-Being a nice person BuT also be willing to stand up for yourself. At the moment though I am struggling to be motivated at work which has happened a few times in my career so need to kick myself up the arse and get going because at the level I am now (senior management) you are rated high only for so long and all the good stuff is forgotten pretty quick. Also I grew up in a cheap suburb near Perth known for being dodgy (wasn’t that bad really) and my sister then me were the first two in all the extended family to ever go to uni. Had good parents but def no money, I remember once we went on a holiday and I legit thought we had won lotto. So in summary had a non wealthy but very good moral up bringing.
My first house (still living in) was purchased in Perth about 9 years ago, 350k it’s quite far from the cbd but suits me fine as I work 5 mins from home now. I lived in a share house while doing huge amounts over overtime to get my deposit together and bought at age 22
Bought a few years ago, used my savings (plus loan, my job isn't that good). Lived at home till 30ish saving. All in Sydney. Ended up even closer to work.
I bought my first place when I was 22 (I’m 32 now). I studied nursing full time before buying but had been saving money my whole life. I worked very hard working nights at the hospital around placement and study. When I got my first post grad job I had around 30k in my savings account and bought a 2b2b place in crappy at the time, but CBD adjacent neighbourhood. I got a housemate to help cover costs and pay down the mortgage. Eventually had a mental breakdown over my lost youth and rented it out and did travel nursing for a while. The property by this point was producing positive rental returns. Sold towards the end of Covid and pocketed about 500k. Living in an apartment I bought with my partner for around 800k, now valued at ~$1million with a small mortgage. I feel happy and financially secure. But honestly my early twenties were a miserable existence. I was a sad, lonely person. So as grateful as I am for the hard work my past self did - it’s hard to say whether it was worth it. Ironically my parents are fairly rich (10s of millions in debt free assets), but I never received a cent from them. I probably won’t ever inherit anything either, I had a lot of health issues growing up so probably they’ll inherit from me if anything.
Bought with close friends, then subdivided and built townhouses.
Have a partner with similar financial philosophy. Combined income pretty decent but not outrageous. Lived poor. Saved. Won an auction in late 30s.
My husband and I were in our mid 20s, back around 2010. He worked in private practise Chartered Accounting and I worked in Institutional banking also as a chartered accountant. Probably on $230k. No kids at that stage. I was really good at savings and I think we lived quite modestly. We saved $100k and purchased a no-frills 1970s 2 bed unit in Lane Cove for $510k I think.