How young Tasmanian hairdresser can afford her new home

A lot has changed since Lareena’s parent purchased their first home in Mornington in the 1980s for $40k — but that’s not stopped her from buying her own property. Here’s how she did it.

Lareena Hills outside her new home in Sorell. Picture: Linda Higginson

Lareena Hills can’t quite believe her parents bought their first home for $40,000.

She is buying a unit for $515,000 in Sorell and is already making sacrifices to help pay the mortgage.

The 24-year-old hairdresser has no doubt her parents were better placed financially when they bought their first home in Mornington in the 1980s.

“My parents have told me so many times this week they bought their first home for $40,000,” Ms Hills said.

“They then moved to Sorell on a big block and paid $80,000.

“You couldn’t imagine what that’s worth now, probably three-quarters to a million dollars.

“Back in the day I could have bought one of those.”

Ms Hills lived at home until she and a former partner decided to build at Cambridge.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t afford to keep it,” she said.

Lareena Hills outside her new home in Sorell. Picture: Linda Higginson

“It was very, very hard to get into the market.

“We built on a budget. We didn’t really get to do much. It was all just work, work, work and trying to do as much as we could to get where we are now, thankfully.

“I know now it’s going to be a lot tougher for me doing it by myself.”

Ms Hills will have a 30-year mortgage and says she is cutting back and “just having essentials”.

She would have liked to buy closer to her work at New Town but says units closer to the city were out of her price range.

Ms Hills will take on as much overtime at work as she can to help her pay the bills.

“I gave up my gym membership which was a big thing for me, which was really annoying because I love going to the gym,” she said.

“I’m cutting streaming services. There’s no point having extra ones sitting there each month coming out of your bank that could be going towards your mortgage.

“I don’t get my lashes or anything like that done. I’m fortunate I don’t have to pay for my hair because I work in a salon but those kind of extra beauty services most young females have, I don’t do at all.”

She also rarely eats out.

Originally published as How young Tasmanian hairdresser can afford her new home