Not too long ago, Australian Kris Hanny was facing eviction as well as mounting debt.
But less than three years on, he’s not only repaid the lot — he’s also just months away from moving into his new, dream home.
When the 31-year-old from Queensland was “kicked out” of his rental at the end of 2016 when the owners decided to sell up, he made up his mind to become a homeowner and escape the rental market forever.
But there was just one problem — he had a personal loan and several credit card debts totalling around A$15,000.
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After speaking with a mortgage broker, he was told the first step was to eliminate that debt, so the Gold Coast man paid off some with his existing savings before coming up with five key strategies to pay off the rest — and build a deposit.
He rented a spare room off a mate for “less than half the price” of his original rental bill, and then changed his lifestyle to maximise his savings, including giving up smoking and other unnecessary expenses.
“I became a minimalist and got rid of everything I didn’t need,” he explained.
But the real key came down to one foolproof hack to ensure Mr Hanny stuck to his savings goals.
“I gave myself an allowance each week, which meant I had X amount to pay the bills and everything, and the rest went into my savings. I did that for a good 18 months,” he said.
“It was also important to set realistic goals — rather than saying I needed A$60,000 in savings, I set a goal of A$10,000 in a month.
“It’s also a good idea to break down (your spending) step by step because you might be surprised how much money you waste on things like fast food and buying lunches.”
Mr Hanny said it was ‘exciting’ to build from scratch. Photo / Supplied
Mr Hanny, who earns upwards of $90,000 a year as a quality assurance co-ordinator, managed to stash away around $55,000 over a two-year period to use as a deposit by following those five strategies.
He then scored a further A$15,000 to add to the kitty in the form of the First Home Owners’ Grant.
Originally, Mr Hanny was looking at older, pre-existing houses with an approximate price tag of A$500,000, but he soon realised for roughly the same amount of cash, he could score a new home if he decided to build.
Queenslander Kris Hanny is building his first home. Photo / Supplied
He ended up settling on a A$292,000 block of land in Maudsland in Queensland and a A$253,000 house package with Porter Davis Homes.
The site is starting to take shape, and by the middle of this year, Mr Hanny’s new, four-bedroom home should be complete.
Mr Hanny told news.com.au he never planned on building a home — in fact, he was dead against the idea originally.
This Killara display village home is similar to the one Mr Hanny is building. Photo / Supplied
Later this year he will have a new, four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with a double lockup garage. Photo / Supplied
“I was completely against building when I first set out,” he said.
“You never hear too many good things about it, it comes with a bit of hassle, it takes time to get the ball rolling, and then building takes even longer — I could have bought an existing house already, but I couldn’t find anything that suited and that was value for money.
“The difference between the asking price (of established homes) versus what I could build for that was huge, and this way I could chose my own finishes and build a home from scratch, which makes sense.”
He said the hardest part of the entire process had been settling on his home’s interior design touches, while the financial side more or less fell into place.
Mr Hanny said it was “exciting” to see his home take shape step-by-step, and he was looking forward to moving in later this year.
He urged other young people to get their finances under control and said buying a first home wasn’t as out of reach as many seemed to believe.
- news.com.au
