First home buyers smash avo-on-toast excuse

A SUNSHINE Coast real estate identity says home ownership is within reach of young people who are motivated enough to try for it.

TOASTED: A Coast real estate identity and first home buyers say young people should not put home ownership in the "too hard” basket and eat out instead. Picture: Contributed

A SUNSHINE Coast real estate identity says home ownership is within reach of young people who are motivated enough to try for it.

Brett Graham, principal of five Ray White offices on the Sunshine Coast, was speaking after social commentator Bernard Salt raised the ire of millennials over the weekend by suggesting they forego smashed avocado on toast to buy their own homes.

Some young Australians responded they may as well treat themselves to breakfast out and overseas holidays because they would never be able to afford a house deposit anyway.

But Mr Graham said home ownership was within reach of first home buyers on the Sunshine Coast if they set their minds to it.

He said the availability of stable employment, low interest rates and and comparatively low prices made it a good time for first home buyers to get in to the market on the Sunshine Coast.

"Employment is strong. People are saying it's a good idea to buy rather than rent. Interest rates are low," he said.

"I have a number of our staff who are first home buyers."

Billy Seller, 24, a property manager at Ray White, Buderim, bought his first home with his partner, Shane Randall, nearly a year ago.

Mr Seller said they used a mortgage broker to get the best possible mortgage and spent about a year looking around and considering their options before they found a suitable house at Nambour.

"I think a lot of young people put it in the too hard basket. They say, 'I want to travel'. You either want one or the other and if you want to purchase your own home, you have to make it happen," he said.

Mr Seller and Mr Randall plan to use the equity in their home to buy an investment property within a few years.

Tanaya Erikkson, a property manager at the same office, and her partner, Kody Kehrer, bought their first home about the same time.

Ms Erikkson, 21, said they had been working towards buying a home for about two or three years.

"We were kind of looking into it, just saving money, considering our options," she said.

"I think saving for a deposit was the hardest. Obviously, you're paying rent as well as trying to save on top of that," she said.

"Now we're in and making weekly repayments, it's definitely affordable," she said.

Neither couple used a first home buyer's grant, which is only available for new builds.

Ms Eriksson said she and her partner chose a 12-year-old four-bedroom home at Sippy Downs because it had a bigger yard and gave them better value for money than a new home.

Both she and Mr Seller said first home buyers needed to educate themselves on what was available in terms of finance and homes to get the best possible deal.

Mr Graham acknowledged that "young people are young people" who often had difficulty with long term goals but if they were serious about home ownership, there was a way.

"Simply work hard and save money," he said.

Ms Eriksson said she and her partner still ate out occasionally and Mr Sellers said he still went out for breakfast, even with a mortgage.

"Most weekends I got out for breakfast. I work hard," he said.

Originally published as First home buyers smash avo-on-toast excuse