Sydney family who saved $135,000 unable to buy a house in ’worst’ suburbs

The Sydney family put six offers in on houses in February alone but even with their huge chunk of money, they still can’t get into the property market.

Hannah Argaet and her husband have been saving for a house ever since they got married eight years ago and have a sizeable sum with over $135,000 in the bank.

But since getting pre approval for a loan in October last year they have had no luck and have watched in dismay as prices continue to surge in Sydney’s eye-watering property market.

The mum-of-one said they have been to at least six open houses every weekend for the last six months — “hammering” the market to try and find their forever home — and they aren’t looking for a million dollar place in the Hills district or North Shore either.

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Hannah Argaet with her husband and 3-year-old son. The couple have been going to open houses every Saturday since October. Picture: Supplied

Suburbs they have scoped out include Mount Druitt, Doonside, Lalor Park, Oakhurst, Glendenning and Rooty Hill.

“We’ve attended over 70 open homes and at times the line for the open homes extends down the road 20 minutes before the open home starts. February alone we offered on six places and missed out on all of them,” she told news.com.au.

“We’ve compared existing properties, and new builds, townhouses etc. We are really exhausting all our options and it’s disheartening to know every week it is likely moving further out of our reach. Even the new house/land packages we’ve looked at – in the space of four months have gone up $60,000.

“When I consider the first house we looked at to the latest one – both were in Blacktown, comparable size house and block, but the most recent one has had no work done to it and is in need of a lot of updating, yet we expect it to sell for over $100,000 more than the one we first saw in early October.”

The 37-year-old added they are being realistic and aren’t trying to buy “in fancy neighbourhoods with the best schools”, but just want a three bedroom place with room for her mum. The pair have been approved for a loan of $670,000.

“All we are hoping is we have enough space for my 70-year-old mum, who is on her own to build a granny flat so she can retire,” she said. “We have even looked in what’s considered some of the worst suburbs in Sydney like Blackett, south Windsor but even some houses there, it’s ridiculous what agents and sellers are asking for and what people are prepared to pay.”

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Hannah works part time as a physiotherapist using the flexibility of the job to care for her son, saving on childcare fees. Picture: Supplied

There have been heartbreaking conversations with her son too, who has attended some of the open homes and remembers them, making comments to his mum later on about their “new home”.

But with the market so dire for first time home buyers, the couple are even considering a two bedroom home to build up equity first.

She said they have gotten close at times but keep missing out. There was the one that had building work that hadn’t been approved by council so they were told to walk away and a different reasonable house in a “pretty dicey” street where someone offered $40,000 more than them.

“I don’t want to have a pity party. I know I’m not the only person in this situation,” she said. “It’s a big purchase. It’s not like buying a pair of jeans and you don’t have my size in dark blue so I’ll just buy in black. I’m happy to make compromises and happy to be in suburb that has a rough patch still in it, and I’m not expecting to live in the best school district.

“But you have to have a balance with that compromise. I don’t feel we are being picky but I’m also not just going to buy anything as that is a hell of lot of money that we have to live in for a long time.”

Ms Argaet works part time around the care of her three-year-old son, saving on childcare.

“I’m not going to miss my son’s first steps or first words just so I can buy some bricks a bit sooner and if that’s a silly decision so be it, I know what is going to mean more to me at the end of my life,” she said.

Her husband is employed full time as a production manager and together they manage to put away $1800 to $1900 a month into their savings.

The family has been looking at some of the worst suburbs in Sydney and put an offer on six homes in February. Picture: Supplied

But she’s starting to wonder if the property market is ever going to work for first time home buyers.

“My biggest frustration is feeling like the property market in Australia is the way to make money as opposed to a way to buy somewhere and make a home and have somewhere to live. I know people make investments, but I think nothing is going to change when the property market is seen as source of income for people rather than a place to call home,” she said.

“I have no idea how to fix it but until the government starts prioritising to help people – I’m not asking for handout of money from the government or to stop people from investing – I’m just asking for level playing field.

“How can I compete with someone who has three houses and can offer more than $50,000 than me? It’s a drop in the ocean for them.

“I’m not trying to buy in a suburb that is unachievable for us. I’m just trying to find somewhere to call home and pay that off so when we retire we are not trying to think about how to keep a roof over our heads.”

Ms Argaet is also frustrated by the 5 per cent deposit government guarantor loans and people withdrawing from their super to get on the property ladder, which she said just increases competition alongside investors.

“I have friends who have withdrawn from super to get into the market and have gotten a spot in the 5 per cent deposit government scheme,” she said. “One of these friends has a history of bad debt and is evident by their lack of savings but almost feels like that is rewarded and we are being punished for doing it the ‘right way’.

“My husband and I can’t believe we’ve been able to save a 20 per cent deposit and now cannot get into the market. We thought that would be the hardest part and now we aren’t sure what to do.”

The Argaet family want the government to make changes to make it easier for first home buyers to get into the property market. Picture: Suppled

The physiotherapist said dealing with agents is also “terrible” at times as the price guides are often misleading.

“We just saw one house, it comes up in the filter for max price $650,000. The agent never responded to our inquiries. Then we ask at the open home – offers over $700,000 Meanwhile the backyard is flooding, the garage roof is leaking,” she said.

“And another shows up for search under $700,000. The agent doesn’t respond to our inquiries and they tell us when we arrive offers between $750,000 and $770,000.

“After spending every Saturday looking for places and walking away with nothing – it’s hard to do, to just keep going and to keep looking.”

For now, Ms Argaet said the family was done looking and was hoping the “craziness” of the market subsides soon.

She has called on the government to do more, otherwise she predicts a huge burden coming as people get older and approach retirement.

Ms Argaet said many would not be in the best financial position and may need to lean heavily on the aged pension, because they hadn’t paid off their home as it had taken them too long to get into the market, were still renting or had depleted their super to snap up a property.

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