Young couple that has attended more than 200 open homes in a year still haven’t been able to secure a home
Queensland’s property market is so tough to crack that one couple that’s attended more than 200 properties has not been able to secure a home.
Determined first-home buyers Jack Davies and Tayla Jones are the unseen casualties of Queensland’s overheated housing market.
They have attended more than 200 open homes, lodged a dozen expressions of interest and have been the under bidders at auction in the past year.
The dedicated couple even came close to purchasing a block of land in Everton Hills which is now seen as the opportunity that got away – but they’re not giving up.
“We looked at a block six months ago and offered $350,000 and it sold for $360,000 and it was back on the market recently for $430,00,” Mr Davies said.
“I’d we had gotten it for $360,000 back then we would be better off.”
RELATED: 28-year old’s savvy move could make him a millionaire landlord
After more than seven years of renting together, their journey to buy their first home started last April.
Since then they have, on average, trudged through four open homes a week and it has made them wiser and richer in knowledge but arguably poorer financially.
In that time they have been able to stockpile extra cash for their deposit and increase their budget by $100,000 to around $650,000, but house prices are outstripping their savings.
They’re constantly revising their strategy, including extending their circle of interest on Brisbane’s northside to beyond a 10km radius, but without success.
Mr Davies explained they’re not just bidding against other first home buyers, but investors and those wanting to flip houses to make a quick buck in a red-hot housing market.
“We keep looking to find something of value and we are happy to buy something that needs work,” he said.
“We have looked at a couple that have needed work and they were bought by people flipping them, so that’s added competition.”
RELATED: The Farm founders put Ballina eco retreat on the market
RELATED: Buyers bid on two houses at once in FOMO madness
Recently, they bid $653,000 for a home about 10km north of the CBD that was passed in for $655,000.
Not only did they miss out on the three-bedroom, two-bath home, but they were also out of pocket after paying for a pre-auction building and pest inspection.
The building report showed the house required up to $50,000 in renovations and repairs and that had been factored into their price ceiling, Mr Davies said
“We know heaps of people that have been to an auction like the one we did and then just said ‘stuff it’ and just paid the price,” he said.
“If we had done that sometime in the last 12 months, we would have made money, so we kind of screwed ourselves by not doing that.”
RELATED: Huge military fort becomes amazing 23-bedroom mansion
Originally published as Young couple that has attended more than 200 open homes in a year still haven’t been able to secure a home