Smart first home buyer moves to secure dream home
A young couple who started with a tiny deposit has revealed the small steps anyone can make to break out of the rental market. Here’s how they did it.
This young couple have used some very clever moves to get on the property ladder to secure their dream family home.
Emma Kibblewhite and Jono Blair are selling their ideal first homebuyer property to upsize with their energetic two year old Archie.
After moving from New Zealand in 2017, they saved a small deposit to break into the Australian property market, purchasing their first home in 2022, ending their many years of renting.
They purchased the home with a plan to work towards buying their dream home.
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“What we were looking for basically was what we knew would be a stepping stone that would help us to buy a bigger property, we saved enough for a deposit for a smaller place with the hope that it would help us later down the track,” she said,
The couple planned to use Mr Blair’s carpentry skills to add value to the property, build some equity and use that to upsize to their family home.
They have now listed the home with a guide of $675,000, an attractive price in Sydney where the median unit price is currently $819,000, according to PropTrack.
The couple transformed the once small kitchen to become open plan, fitted Miele and Bellini appliances, a modern stone bench top and black tapware.
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The bedrooms now had carpet and the living had wooden floors.
Located in an older boutique red brick apartment block, internally the home was modern with new heating, storage and chic finishes.
As housing unaffordability hit a new low, PropTrack economist Angus Moore said that buyers without family wealth, property equity, or within the top 20 per cent of income earners, would find it extremely difficult to crack into the NSW market in the current climate.
The couple said building equity and the ability to ‘value add,’ was a huge help to prepare them to purchase their next family home.
However, Ms Kibblewhite said she was still “shocked by selling prices,” as they began to look.
“You see a buyers guide and it sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars more … it’s a bit disheartening,” she said.
“Something I keep thinking is, we are a couple on two relatively good wages, it baffles me to think how could someone afford to buy a place on their own when we have two of us … its so unaffordable for some people,” she said.
Although unaffordability was at an all time low, Ms Kibblewhite was “excited,” for their new home and how they could renovate their next property.
“We do feel lucky that we can afford to upgrade, for so many people this could be as far as you can go,” she said.
“It is exciting looking at places that are for sale and seeing the potential with my partner as a builder and see what value we can add.”
Their agent, Marc Warren from McGrath San Souci, said the home was attractive to first home buyers, downsizers and even investors who were becoming more active in the market.
He said affordability was challenging many homeseekers, not just first home buyers.
“I feel as though the way the world is, the price of living, everyone needs a bit of help,” he said. “Hopefully rates will come down soon and help that.”
“There’s still a shortage of stock in this area, and there are way more buyers at the moment,”
“Everyone’s situation is very different … we are seeing some first home buyers are buying and then renting out for the first year or so,” he said.
The unit was set to sell at auction on Wednesday 9th of October at 5:15pm.
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Originally published as Smart first home buyer moves to secure dream home