James Batchelor was told he would never get anywhere working at a pizza joint, but he has just bought his first home at the age of 24.
The New Plymouth man has been working two jobs and 85-hour weeks to save enough money for his brand-new home.
He posted on a Facebook page aimed at first-home buyers that he started working as a delivery driver at a pizza company and when he left school he went straight into a full-time job at an accounting firm.
Batchelor said he hadn’t wanted to give up working at the pizza company, so decided to juggle both eventually working 45 hours at the pizza company and 40 hours at the accounting firm.
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When he told his boss at the accounting firm he wanted to stay on at the pizza company because it was something he enjoyed, she told him he wouldn’t get anywhere working there.
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Batchelor wrote that those nine words had only motivated him to prove her wrong.
Since starting as a delivery driver, he has worked his way up the ranks – first to assistant manager, then to auditor, and 18 months ago became a regional manager for the brand.
Batchelor added that working 80-plus hours a week juggling two jobs meant there had been some sacrifices and parties he had missed out on, but it had all paid off in the end.
“It doesn’t matter what you do, it doesn’t matter who you are. If you have passion, energy and determination, you can do anything you set your mind to. Yes there might be 80+ hr weeks, yes there might be some parties you miss out on. You must be willing to make sacrifices. Do you NEED university? No," he posted to the first-home buyers page.
Harcourts Team Green business owner Glenn Green, whose team helped Batchelor find his first home, said it was becoming more uncommon to see people in their early 20s purchase a first home on their own and it was great to help those who did.
“I’ve been in the business for 25 years and in my first 10 to 15 years of real estate it was really common to see people on their own buying and getting in and not afraid of doing the work. Nowadays you don’t see it as much, that’s why it’s really cool to see what the likes of James has done because that’s how I’ve seen so many clients get ahead by just getting into their first home.”
Green said it was such a good idea for first-home buyers to get on the property ladder as soon as they could and the ones that did never regretted it.
A lot of first-home buyers were usually couples and he had even recently seen friends joining together to buy a house.
While it was great to help anyone buy a property, he said it was often more special when it came to first-home buyers.
“You are stoked, really stoked because you know any decision for any buyer buying a property is one of the biggest decisions they make, but for a first-home buyer to do it their first time like that it’s a massive step for them and there is more emotion involved there because you know they are in unchartered territory so you go that extra mile to get advice, that’s for sure.”
Green said first-home buyers had plenty of choice in New Plymouth and a two-bedroom cross-lease home could be picked up for around $400,000, while a three-bedroom freehold home started from $500,000-plus.
Homes that would be suitable for first-home buyers were a cute two-bedroom, one-bathroom character home at 12 Brooklands Road, near Pukekura Park, that was inviting buyer enquiry over $597,000 and another two-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 1/353 St Aubyn Street in Moturoa inviting interest over $503,000.
Green said prefabricated houses built by Manor Build were also another popular option for first-home buyers as brand-new house and land packages could be purchased for between $630,000 and $750,000 depending on the size and location.
OneRoof has approached Batchelor for comment.
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