How Harry Doig owned two homes in Rockhampton by 25

From homeless to homeowner by age 23, one young Queensland tradie has shared his tips on how he has overcome obstacles to buy two homes. SEE THE VIDEO

At a time when the cost of living is high, rental vacancy rates are low and many young people not seeing home ownership in the foreseeable future, a young tradie is living proof that owning your own home isn’t just a pipe dream.

Harry Doig is just 25 years old and he is the proud owner of two homes, one of which he’s in the process of renovating on his own, with the goal of building his own “empire”.

Coming from a “disadvantaged background” where his family didn’t have much money, Harry moved to Brisbane after he finished high school to get an apprenticeship as a mechanic after having no luck finding opportunities in Rockhampton.

Harry has done all of the restumping of his Murray St home himself.

“During that period of doing my apprenticeship in Brisbane there were times where I had to sleep in my car because of unpredictable housing and high cost of living on very low wages,” he said.

“I had this mindset of getting the opportunity of owning my own home and I tried to keep it at the top of my mind no matter how hard it got.

“Going through those tough circumstances and living off two-minute noodles, unpredictable accommodation, high cost of living … I just had to make it work no matter how hard it got.”

‘TWO MINUTE NOODLES, NO SUBSCRIPTIONS, NO EATING OUT’

Despite living on a low wage, Harry was determined to achieve his goal.

He sold most of his tools when he moved back to Rockhampton and made many sacrifices to save every penny he could.

“It was very hard, it was a matter of sacrifice,” he said.

“What I found really helped was not having all the subscriptions (such as Netflix and Spotify), not having things like ZipPay, (and) not eating out.

“Being in the pandemic helped as well because when we had to stay home it was easier to save money.”

At just 25 years old Rockhampton tradie Harry Doig has already purchased two homes and he isn't planning on stopping there.

The sacrifices and hard work saving paid off, with Harry purchasing his first home on Arnold St in Allenstown in January 2021 for $170,000.

He now rents the property out after doing some work to put on new doors and getting new carpet.

But shopping around for the right bank to help buy his first home was also not an easy feat.

‘BANK JUST LAUGHED; THAT WAS PRETTY DEMORALISING’

“The buying process was quite difficult, the first bank I spoke to was NAB and I remember telling the person the house I wanted to borrow for and the deposit I had and I remember him just laughing at me on the phone … that was pretty demoralising,” he said.

“There was a broker in Yeppoon I contacted and he said it was a high-risk lending money to me because of my age, income and credit inquiries.

“Then I got third time lucky and went to CommBank and told them what I wanted, I had the 10 per cent deposit there and got mortgage insurance … they were pretty helpful.”

At just 25-years-old Rockhampton tradie Harry Doig has already purchased two homes and he isn't planning on stopping there.

In January last year Harry purchased his second home on Murray St for $210,000 and is in the process of restumping and renovating the property on his own.

But he doesn’t plan on stopping there, always keeping an eye out for the next property to add to his portfolio.

Harry said he wanted to invest in property to “create a better life” for himself.

“I wouldn’t say it was an inspiration from when I was a kid, because when you’re a kid your version of the world is always going to be different to what it is as an adult,” he said.

INSPIRED BY LOWER ROCKY PROPERTY PRICES

“I looked at landlords I had in the past and saw the way they did things and some of them owned multiple homes around Brisbane and started in their 20s.

“I realised a lot of people don’t really endeavour like that anymore because they don’t think it’s possible … but what inspired me was the property prices in Rocky are a lot lower than in Brisbane so it’s a lot easier to invest.”

At just 25 years old Rockhampton tradie Harry Doig has already purchased two homes and he isn't planning on stopping there.

HARRY’S ADVICE:

He shared his advice to young people who have the dream of owning their own home one day.

“The biggest issue is all the subscriptions people sign up for, things like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, expensive phone plans and people just buying everything on credit cards,” he said.

“My biggest advice is people should not be so persistent on getting things on credit and should only live within their means, it’s not as comfortable but it’s well worth it in the long run.”