‘I cried’: 27yo reveals $20k buying hack

One young buyer has revealed the $20,000 hack that got her into the market and why it made her cry.

Buying into Sydney, Australia’s most expensive city, is not affordable and one young buyer has revealed the $20,000 hack that got her into the market.

According to realestate.com.au, Sydney’s median house price is now north of $1 million. It’s enough to defeat anyone, but Katelin Gregg remained dogged in her efforts to become a homebuyer in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Ms Gregg never expected to buy an apartment this year, but after a long-term relationship ended unexpectedly, she figured it was better to use her savings towards a deposit than enter back into an inflated rental market.

Sydney’s medium rent price is the highest nationally, at a staggering $745. Melbourne comes in second with $565.

Ms Gregg, 27, runs Australia’s first membership-based skin clinic, Fayshell, which has two locations in Bondi Junction and Neutral Bay.

She’s been grinding away for years, and when her relationship ended, she decided it was time to put her savings into an apartment.

“Do I rent for a year and spend so much on that or buy something? It was an unexpected situation,” she told news.com.au.

She ended up unexpectedly single which is why she wanted to buy. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

She knew she wanted to buy in Sydney. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

Ms Gregg said she didn’t have a massive budget, especially because she wanted to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

She also wasn’t real estate savvy.

“I had no idea what I was doing. I’d never thought about it before,” she said.

“I had no idea what I should be considering, and I remember going to open homes by myself, and I didn’t know what to ask. I felt shy and it was all intimidating.”

Ms Gregg hunted for two months, but it was hard to balance with running a business, and she wasn’t always able to consistently attend Saturday inspections.

“I wasn’t really making any progress, and I was throwing a lot of money at short-term rentals,” she said.

Running a business made it hard to find time to buy. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

She's thrilled she found a place. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

In the end, a friend advised that she used a buyer’s agent. A buyer’s agent is different to a real estate agent because they work for the buyer.

An agent working for you will do the work for you. They will scope out properties, evaluate properties, and even negotiate on your behalf. Their fees differ, but usually, the buyer pays the agent a percentage of what they pay for the property.

In Ms Gregg’s case, it was 2 per cent plus other costs. Originally, she wasn’t sure if a buyer’s agent was right for her, and the last thing she wanted to do was spend more money.

“I didn’t want to do it because it is quite expensive, but then a friend told me that when you go buy a business, you get expert advice,” she said.

“For someone who is young and never done it before and this will be the biggest investment of your life. Why would you want to go blindly?”.

She didn’t want to buy blindly. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

She said the buyer’s agent was a massive help. Picture: Instagram/katelingregg

She met with a few buyer’s agents before she found one that she really liked, and within a week, she purchased her property.

The 27-year-old said it wasn’t just the time she saved because the buyer’s agent had the time to check out properties and research them; they also had “really good relationships” with real estate agents.

“When we found the property I wanted, she knew the real estate agent because she works in the area and she organised it all,” she said.

In the end, Ms Gregg snagged a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for under a million, practically unheard of in 2024.

“I was really set on what I wanted. The best thing about a buyer’s agent is that they work with your budget. The biggest thing for me was the time saving,” she said.

Ms Gregg paid her buyer’s agent around $20,000, but she said it was well worth it when you consider how much money she’d have spent on short-term accommodation without help finding somewhere.

She was also thrilled that her buyer’s agent had been supportive in helping her stick with her budget and get what she wanted.

“I was more worried that setting a budget would pigeon hole me into getting what I didn’t want,” she said.

When she heard that she’d bought the apartment, she was beside herself. It was a huge achievement.

“Oh my gosh. I cried. I’d just spent four months living in an Airbnb, and it was stressful,” she said.