A Christchurch couple who has managed to snag their first home at the young ages of 19 and 21 say they are even surprised at how quickly it happened.
Emily Walker 19, and Bradyn Taylor, 21, only started saving for their first home at the start of this year and were not expecting to be in a position to have a 10 per cent deposit needed to buy a house until 2023.
But three weeks ago, a three-bedroom home in Rolleston caught Walker’s eye after she was having a scroll through a property website one night.
They did a quick search on OneRoof to check the property estimate and when it looked like it could be within reach, they quickly arranged a private viewing.
Start your property search
Two days later they submitted their offer with just two hours to spare before the deadline closed and were shocked to hear their conditional offer of $550,000 had been accepted. The offer is also the maximum amount they can spend in Christchurch to be eligible for the First Home Grant.
“It was mental,” Walker said.
Walker, who works on a service desk for an IT company, and Taylor, a landscape gardener, had been looking at suburbs all over Christchurch and had initially thought Rolleston was over their budget.
The 1980s home on Byron St had been a rental property so had some minor paint chips, but Walker didn’t expect the cosmetic work to cost too much to fix.
“It’s a bit of an older home. It’s definitely not the nicest one in Rolleston, but it’s hopefully going to look amazing by the time we are done with it.
“We thought it would be an amazing opportunity because of how much Rolleston is growing and I think it’s going to just continue climbing from there.”
The Rolleston home had been a rental property but was still in good condition. Photo / Supplied
After their conditional offer was accepted, the couple then worked with their mortgage brokers at Loan Market and by gaining approval for Kāinga Ora’s First Home Grant and First Home Loan and they were able to secure their first home with just a 5% deposit.
The property went unconditional on Tuesday and Walker said she’s still in shock.
“It was incredible. Honestly, we thought we were not going to get it because of how hard it has been for lots of buyers.”
Walker said they saved their $32,000 contribution by being really careful with their spending this year. Their deposit was further bolstered by the $20,00 in their KiwiSaver accounts and the First Home Grant.
“We had been saving non-stop and spending as little money as possible, but also we wouldn’t be missing out on things.”
Their only bills were rent, utilities and groceries so they didn’t have any major debts other than a couple of credit cards which they have now paid off. On the budget they set themselves, they were still able to save $600 a week.
They also got in a flatmate to help pay the rent on their two-bedroom inner-city apartment so they could save more money.
“We tried not to spend too much, but at the same time we didn’t feel like we were always trapped by the boundaries of which we had set ourselves.”
“Something that’s also quite amazing is that we had no financial help from parents or anyone, it was just the banks and Kāinga Ora.”
While moving about 30 minutes out of the CBD would mean Walker would have to endure a longer commute on the days she went into the office, she said it was worth it to be paying off their own mortgage and not someone else’s.
A lot of people their age thought homeownership was a pipe dream, she said, but they were proof that it is achievable.
“I think a lot of the time people around our age aren’t really thinking about that I guess, which is something a few adults have said to me – you've got your head in the right place – definitely a good idea.”
Houses in Lincoln, Selwyn. Prices in Canterbury are proving attractive to first home buyers. Photo / Peter Meecham
She urged first home buyers to also keep any eye out on what was for sale as the right property could pop up when they least expected. The Government increasing the cap on how much could be spent on properties and still be eligible for the First Home Grant had also worked in their favour.
“At the moment a lot of people are saying it’s not an ideal time to by – all the first home buyers are probably going to come back next year if those prices have hit their lowest so that was also another thing that motivated us to go now.
“The average house price in Rolleston is ridiculous, which is why it was just incredible that we were even able to buy out there. Other times we were looking at poorer areas in Christchurch because we were likely that’s probably where we are going to have to go. Very much right time, right place.”
Loan Market mortgage adviser Angela Wanoa, who helped Taylor and Walker, said it is absolutely achievable for first home buyers to get in the market now as long as they have prepared themselves.
“I seriously think at school there’s a real missing piece for young people and as soon as kids get their first job they should start contributing as much as they can into KiwiSaver to start building your deposit.”
Keeping short-term debts low or even better not having them and making sure the accounts stay within their limits will also help people when they apply to the bank for their first mortgage, she said.
While Walker and Taylor were Wanoa’s youngest clients to buy a home, she said Kāinga Ora removing the cap for the First Home Loan had helped more first home buyers buy houses with only a 5% deposit even if they had spent over $550,000 and were not eligible for the First Home Grant.
“Our amount of loans we are sending through Kāinga Ora have increased because at the moment a lot of the banks are restricted on how much lending they will do over 80%. A lot of them aren’t doing lending over 80% so Kāinga Ora has become the only option for a lot of people.”
Wanoa encouraged people looking to get on the property ladder to contact a mortgage broker as they would be able to advise whether they were in a position to get a loan or what they needed to do to be ready.
- Click here to see more properties for sale in Canterbury
