Once upon a time an early thirties couple buying their first home wouldn’t have been newsworthy, but with the property market so painfully geared against young Australians, it’s certainly an achievement.
Gabi Stephen, 31, and her husband Joey, 36, have just bought a $1.1 million two bedroom place together, in Manly no less.
The sustainability consultant says it wasn’t rich parents or sheer dumb luck that got her their either.
She credits her new home to thinking ahead and sensible investment, made possible by a lifetime of saving, and has shared her tips for other millennials without being all Bernard Salt about it.
Gabi and Joey just bought a $1.1 million home. No, really. Source: Facebook
“I lived with my parents and worked all the way through high school and did part time jobs," Gabi told the Daily Telegraph.
"Even when I went travelling and did seasons in the snow in Japan and Canada I worked the whole time.
"My earnings went in to savings. Half of my tax back each year would be spent on travelling and the rest would go in to savings>"
The former events manager saved up $20,000 in her teens and twenties, which she used as a deposit for a $190,000 studio in a residential complex in Pennant Hills.
Andrew Winter discusses the property market on Can't Live Without:
She began renting it out immediately.
"At first I was charging $290 per week in rent and breaking even, but each year I was able to put the rent up until I was making $1000 extra on top of the rent," she said.
She combined the extra funds with additional savings, allowing her and her partner to get a deposit on their new place, meanwhile her unit is expected to fetch and additional $100,000 at auction on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get a property loan if it wasn’t for Pennant Hills. It hasn’t been a burden to me in the slightest," she said.
"In your 20s you don’t necessarily want to be thinking about being tied down to a mortgage, but it is so important to make these decisions when you are young."
For some house-spiration check on the Obamas new $7 million Washington pad:
Top Comments
We are in a similar situation. My husband bought a unit at 20 before we met, whilst I bought a unit at 22. When we met we decided to live in one and rent out the other, whilst saving and working full time. After a modest wedding and honeymoon we sold one unit to buy our 4 bedroom house at 26, whilst keeping one unit as an investment.
It is completely possible to buy a house in Sydney if you make some smart choices and some small sacrifices. We had to make the choice between expensive holidays and a huge wedding versus property - for us it was easy. It is hard to have sympathy for those complaining housing is expensive when they don't make smart choices with their money..
My husband and I are 31, we just bought a $1.3m house in Sydney. For anyone interested....this is how we've done it.
- Then boyfriend (now husband) and I saved about $50,000 in late teens/early 20's (living away from home). We took a year off and worked full time before Uni, had part time jobs through the whole of uni.
- Had a very small, cheap wedding (<$5000). Parents gave us money for house deposit instead ($10,000)
- Continued saving while working and renting in mid 20's (average grad salaries of about 60k p/a)
- At 27 purchased first unit for about $650,000. Had $80,000 in savings, borrowed $100,000 from parents. No first home buyers grant, paid stamp duty.
- Paid minimum repayments on mortgage over a few years, plus tried to save extra to pay back parents. At this stage earning about $150,000 combined income. A year of maternity leave in here too.
- Sold unit at 29 for $1,000,000. Paid back all of $100,000 to parents.
- Rented while trying to buy next house. Continued to save. No big holidays. Shop at Aldi. Buy cheap clothes at H&M/ cotton on. No fancy restaurants. No designer furniture. Very ordinary car. Combined income now closer to $210,000.
- Bought house for 1.3m. Mortgage close to $950k.
Hope that's helpful. Some dumb luck with buying our unit at the right time, lucky that parents could lend us money, lucky that husband earns good income.... but also some smart decisions and sacrifices (e.g. no big holidays, no big wedding).