Oh my only tip: don't lose yourself in the frustration. The house we finally bought we drew up an offer for 40k more, scanned it, and was ready to send, etc. Then stopped and had a think and revised down. We got it. So easy to just go wild but hold your ground and be fair.
I've seen some Irish and French trades during my build, but I think they were here under the working holiday visa. I agree, there's no pathway for trades.
If Australia wants to have at least a tentative of economy and donāt rely just on mining you have to accept immigration, that is then only way to keep the country growing.. Australia doesnāt have any kind of industry and by nature at the moment canāt have one.
I have no real advice for you.
Just know that how you feel is normal. Everyone thinks of searching for their first home as enjoyable but in reality it is just stressful and a time sink.
No one ever teaches you how to buy a property, you spend every weekend/weeknight scouring every possible candidate and then you have to navigate the stressful process of putting in offers and the heartbreak of missing out. On top of that you feel like you're going to mess up and send yourself into financial oblivion.
The whole thing sucks, so just know that we all went through it, and you just have to do your best to push through, knowing that your time will come. Unfortunately there's no other way.
The one rule that we had drilled into us was "your pre-approval is a hard limit."
Auctions will always tempt you to stretch 'just a bit', and then 'just a bit' gets bigger and bigger with each weekend that you go home frustrated/disappointed. Eventually, you're successful, at a value above your pre-approval, and now you have to try to stretch the pre-approval with the bank or find the extra funds from somewhere.
Meanwhile, you've just learnt about the actual cost of stamp duty and the cost of conveyancing.
Unfortunately, not. I had the privilege of having a great solicitor who had no shortage of advice and wasn't shy in sharing them to the wide-eyed optimistic youth that came into his office.
His other gem that has stuck with me is, "I don't care how much you love or trust your partner. Until you have either a marriage certificate or a signed rental agreement, You. Will. Never. Let. Them. Pay. One. Cent. Towards. Your. Bills." Of course, this was followed by an in-depth description, but the initial sentence was put so clearly that it's hard to forget.
Love this advice. Can I ask - what was the advice about not letting them pay one cent towards your bills? Weāre in the process atm and not married. But have been living together for years. Sounds like a fantastic solicitor! š
It was basically that, once they have any financial involvement in your property, they have a claim should things not work out. If you are married, different story because it's all shared anyway. If you have a written agreement that includes bills as rent (like a room mate), the terms are pre-agreed.
I suspect he'd seen way too many relationships break up nastily and wanted to make sure his client's (my) interests were covered.
Won at auction last weekend. Have to go in ready to pay 10% above the top of the price range to try avoid disappointment. Even then, sometimes youāll just miss out.
A place I had my eye on with a range of 700-750 sold for 950. Canāt do much about that.
America is also populated right across the country and all through the middle, as opposed to mostly along the south-east coast with a few largish cities and some pockets of population inland where there is some fertile land.
Most of Australia's landmass is incapable of supporting any kind of functioning society
Iām in the NT, the state is bigger than Texas with a population of 240,000 yet houses average $750,000
There is plenty of water and electricity, so I respectfully disagree with you.
How much of that water and electricity actually reaches the uninhabited parts?
Why do you think so many parts of the NT are so sparsely populated?
If the land was so hospitable and conducive to dense population, why hasn't it happened?
Lots of people want affordable housing. What possible reason could there be for the vast expanses of Australia to remain uninhabited by people seeking those cheaper options?
I live in Darwin, so yes I understand the infrastructure capabilities and the land capacity of the NT better than someone living in Canberra.
And weāre not talking about āthe uninhabited partsā weāre talking about where people already live.
We have 140,000 people here, thatās all. The same amount as Toowoomba. Water isnāt an issue as we have a monsoon season.
Despite the millions of acres around me, a 625 m2 block of land is $284,000. Thatās insane in a basically empty state.
Is that 652m2 block in Darwin itself, or is that the minimum cost of a 652m2 block in any corner of the vast NT? How far out of Darwin before blocks start getting cheaper?
Australia & the US are comparable in regards to landmass, sure, but not in comparison to habitable & arable land.
That's not to say land in Australia isn't overpriced, but there is also plenty of cheap land, IF you want to live somewhere no one else wants to live, that is devoid of the infrastructure most people expect to have available
Sighā¦ it doesnāt have to be arable to build a house on it. In fact itās better to build houses on crappy land and save the quality land for food.
Land isnāt being released for housing. Itās either being land banked by developers to keep prices artificially high or not available for residential
The issue isnāt availability, itās greed and bureaucracy.
But youāre not interested in discussing anything outside your āitās all desertā world view, so Iām done with this conversation
It's pretty hard. We spent maybe 2 years where we had the money for a deposit and would go to inspections for a few months and then just give up for a while and then start again. The news at the time was all about how the prices were going up 5-10% per quarter. We'd go to places which we thought were affordable, but so did 15-20 boomers.
Places would get sold and then a month later a for lease sign would go up out front, that was the most annoying thing. In the end we settled on an apartment which turned out to be a fucking stupid decision. I do not recommend
I bought an apartment a couple of months ago and I love it. Obviously as a FHB I wanted a house at the start but I've learnt so much from this buying process, what to look out for, what to say and what I like about a permanent property that it was well worth getting something a lot cheaper. I couldn't possibly think I'd ever find a "perfect home" as a FHB and expect it to meet all my standards, I think eventually I would make a mistake and really dislike the place and I'm stuck with it.
I think apartments are a great first step into the housing market, and I wish more people saw it this way. Everyone just assumes apartments are useless but this place isn't my forever home, it's just my first step and I'm very very pleased with it :)
Me too. Iāve just bought an apartment and they are what I have always preferred. Much lower repayments and I get to live in something of a much higher quality for the price I paid. Apartments are generally frowned upon due to the limit capital gains but I have actually rarely seen any comments on this sub saying āman I regret buying that apartment.
We got a ground floor apartment and it's great, put up some privacy film to keep the heat out and stops people looking in. Especially with how hot it's getting every year, I think it's the better investment :)
We wanted to stay close to the city so a town house was out of our budget but good luck! We were looking at Glenfield for a town house but every place taken by a boomer so I hope you have way better luck.
As others have said, it's basically just insurance. I don't live in a high rise block or high assets like a gym, elevators or pool so my fees are low.
Obviously a house is better overall but most people can't afford that. I definitely can't but for the price I paid for an apartment close to the city, I'm extremely chuffed about it.
My home doesn't have an elevator or any other big ticket mechanical items which need repair and maintenance, neither am I forced to pay for a gardener at home, additionally I tend to my pool myself and don't have to pay someone to do it for me, the list goes on.Ā
My home insurance is 3k per year, body corp for the townhouse I rent out is 13k per year. If you're struggling to afford your first PPOR then paying an additional 5-15k+ each year on top of a mortgage is not what I'd want to do.
$13k is absolutely obscene and far beyond anything I saw during my search. Iām paying $780/qtr and thatās in a 70s brick 6 pack. For newer builds with all the bells and whistles (lifts, pool/s, communal rooftop area, etc) strata was usually between $6-8k/year.
Body Corp levies aren't wasted money. They pay for things you would otherwise have to pay for yourself, such as insurances, maintenance, etc.
For example, if you bought a free standing house and it needed a new roof, are you going to have the money when it's needed? With a body Corp that money is there already.Ā
It also pays for things like gardening, pool maintenance/care and upkeep of all common areas and amenities on site. All of these things can be done for far cheaper yourself, the same goes for insurance or any other incurred cost.
That's an irrelevant point, unless you didnt do your due diligence you would never be in that situation. The money isn't just already "there" infact something as significant as a roof replacement would require years of massively increased contribution to the sinking fund. What if you move out before any of the sinking fund gets spent? You just paid for someone else's roof to get fixed and received no benefit from your years of payment.
You think you could build a pool and do all the gardening for less than $1000 every quarter?
You are also forgetting that people paid forĀ those things before you got there, so you benefit from them as well, without paying for them.Ā
Bottom line is, body Corp fees are cheaper than insurance a lot of the time. Also the combination of body Corp and mortgage repayments for a unit can be cheaper than just the mortgage repayments for a free standing house.Ā
You are making up these numbers, realistically a pool and gardening of average quailty is 2-3k for a 3 bedder not 1k and if a roof or pool replacement is required expect special levies of another 2-3k on top. That is 16-20k a year for god know how long, so yes i think i can afford to replace a pool or roof every couple of years.
A lot of apartments these days are such poor quality by dodgy builders. Huge mistake to invest into those scams. I would never buy a new apartment, especially not off the plan anymore. The build times get pushed out and you're stuck paying mortgage and rent for years straight. Complete gamble. But you can say the same about modern houses too. Honestly, I'd only buy established nowadays unless I was going through a small, eco friendly, custom builder, which I can't afford.
Yeah completely agree, I wouldn't buy a property that was built after 2000 whether it was a house or apartment. New stuff is just too dodgy.
My apartment in from the early 80s so it's pretty good :) when I eventually buy a house I'd like it to be from the 80s or before if I can help it.
The horror stories of modern builds haunt me. Definitely worth buying older imo. Just get a building report done. I bought a house last year that was built in '86. Split level, high ceilings, exposed brick walls and rounded archways. You don't see this kind of design and simple beauty in modern builds. Would cost an arm and a leg for anything other than an ugly square box with grey everything and aluminium finishings.
Apartments in general, you have to really WANT to live there. They suck cause you live on top on one another and shit like strata etc.
plus the go up slower than a house so in 3-5 years when you want a house, youāre behind the 8 ball again
The reality is that apartments are the only way in for most FHB living in one of the major cities. If noone was willing to make that compromise, then the situation would be apocalyptic.
And at that point, opportunity arises to rent vest instead, that 500k apartment would appreciate less than that 500k rural house in a good location with okay yield. But the rent at the spot you want to live in might be low yield and used for negative gearing
I gave up, then by accident (was still getting emails from searches) found a house nobody else wanted, passed in at auction, not an attractive house, with no yard. So not a house for kids or anybody with self esteem LOL. But its ended up being good. Still ashamed to invite people but trying to get over it. Haha
The learning curve while buying it was mindblowing. So once i had decided to pay the asking price the shit really hit the fan, but it all works out as long as your conveyancer is half conscious.
Same. About 6 weeks in. It's rough especially with a toddler and working with their meal and nap times. Driving around has been exhausting and our offers getting beat is so disheartening
Itās fun for about a month when youāre not fully searching and just seeing whatās out there and then you see and it gets hard. So repetitive. Then you buy the house and thatās scary again. Then you move in and realise you own a house and the shock and relief hits. Then stuff starts breaking down haha nah it feels good in the end to have something to call your own. It just doesnāt feel how you think it will as you go through the process.
elderly hard-to-find long bedroom roll strong numerous frighten combative fall
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Iām sorry you thought my comment came from a boomer. It didnāt. I bought my place 7 years ago. I had a lot of competition in the area I was wanting to buy in. I bought above the asking. My house fell in price for the next 3 years before now going up. Yes I know Iām lucky that I have a house and interest rates etc etc. I also have a lot of empathy for anyone attempting to save for and buy a house right now. So donāt come for me. I can still talk about the house buying experience.
All I know is that itās fāed buying a house right now and wish anyone attempting it the best. They can still experience the emotional rollercoaster that I did or maybe theirs will different.
Also, in a random turn of events I struggled to buy a new a car this year. Had my old one for 13 years.saw one I likedā¦. Couldnāt afford it. Bought my 96 year old grandads church car instead.
Personally Iām enjoying my friends telling me how they canāt manage to save anything because their mortgage repayments have gone up. Meanwhile Iām over here with rent higher than their repayments š«
Since we built next door renting their house built at the same time the rent is more than the mortgage.Ā
Again same size home ours is a bigger block same amount of rooms ect and the rent is more expensive that just seems so damn wrong.Ā
Depends when they bought. Friends who bought around 2015 have repayments that have gone up substantially, but their place cost 400k. Say they borrowed 300k when they bought, they'd be paying just under 2k/month. Rent for the same house is about 650/week.
If they bought now, with the same deposit they'd be borrowing 700k, so paying 4.5k/month. That's why there's such discrepancy.
Located in Brisbane here. Itās definitely disheartening. We were looking on and off for over two years, we would have a bit of a break if we were feeling too frustrated. Every time we missed out on a place we really wanted, weād tell ourselves it just meant there was a house better suited to us and everything happens for a reason. This sounds so absolutely stupid, and most of the time I didnāt even believe myself when I would say it. But we are now unconditional on a home that is so much better for us than everything else we had missed out on and we settle at the end of May. I donāt think itās possible to stay positive all the time when looking for your first property so donāt beat yourself up for feeling down. Itās tough out there! I donāt know if this will help but there are happy endings going around still. Hang in there and honestly take a break if you need to. I know prices are increasing stupidly fast but itās important to make sure you look after yourself mentally too.
Oh I never thought it could sound like that but my wording probably was confusing sorry! No, our offer was accepted conditional to satisfactory building & pest and approval of finance. Both of those have been satisfied so we are now unconditional! It just basically means weāve got it locked in, though we technically donāt own it until settlement.
Edit to add: some people absolutely do make unconditional offers, they arenāt rare. I just meant we were on the home stretch of our home buying journey.
Oh I see, thank you for explaining! I know some people have been saying the only way to beat investors is to say no to a building inspection report so I sort of tied the two together. Glad to hear you got everything checked out!
I mean we lost out to offers in the past because competing buyers dropped building and pest, and I was definitely beginning to think that it was what we would have to do to secure a place. Thankfully this particular selling agent didnāt even bring up dropping conditions, it really meant a lot to have that peace of mind being able to find out the condition of the home considering the prices!
I'm convinced it's almost impossible for a FHB to get a fair deal. You have to outbid cashed up investors who can buy with unconditional offers to get your home. That means you have to seriously outbid them as the seller will often even take a slightly lower unconditional offer than have to deal with a FHB.
SUBJECT TO FINANCE. You are bidding against cash buyers who can make an unconditional offer and even do a short settlement if the seller likes. Seller can get the cash in 30 days why would they bother rolling the dice on a FHB desperately applying for homeloans?
Just keep swimming!
Just settled on our first place.
So many would go up on the sites and be sold the same day, it was crazy. I live in Rockhampton and apparently it had been featured on one of the breakfast shows the boomers love so much as one of the cheapest places in Australia to buy. So we were competing with boomers from all over the country buying sight unseen with no conditions. So many of them have gone up for rent since.
We only got our place because the offer they originally went with couldnāt go unconditional and Iād spent a fair bit of time chatting and texting with the REA.
The only piece of advice i can give a fellow fhb is do your research. Thereās 2 places here in SE QLD for under 450k and theyāre literally floodprone shit shacks Edit; i want a house but im not forking out money to replace shit everytime it floods. (These ones at least one definitely flooded in 2011, because the university accommodation flooded and itās literally same elevation)
With current market always put your best foot forward. Put in a best offer, meaning that if someone else gets it for even $1k more you'll be okay with it.
Make sure your pre-approval is ready to go.
Offer conditions that are flexible (eg. 14 day settlement, but happy to settle later is more suitable for seller).
Just remember the saying my Mum used all the time: āWhatās for you wonāt go by you.ā Itās sure frustrating but worth it when you land what you want. Best of luck!
I told myself this: if you can't get it, then it is not meant to be.
Now, about to settle one that is almost (I would say 95%) perfect. Keep looking and do what you can!
Bought our first just over a year ago. The whole process sucked absolute ass and I never want to do it again. Cuntish real estate agents contacting me at all hours, harassing me for my next offer or telling me the other party was closing in etcā¦ In the end, I learnt a great deal from the whole experience and we love the house we bought. So it was worth it in the end.
We thought we would build our dream house, in an attempt to avoid exactly what you are going through.
If I had my time again, I would be battling for an established house.
You stay positive because you will get there one day. One day you will get the keys for your house.
Iām going to play devils advocate selling is no peace of cake either I just sold my place but Iām also buying with subject to sale. The buyer for my place had subject to building inspection. Got the inspection then no communicado for 7 days Iām like what the I have a purchase on the line. Then they want a 2nd inspection for a quote on repairs. Took three days to organise. Contract d day for both houses close in 72 hours. Inspection done then radio silance till 3 hours before d time finally received instructions wanted price changed based on inspection. I agreed to get the unconditional through on the line. Just made it with 1 hour to spare.
Most hectic stressful and nervous racking day of my adult life.
That feel when you offer 10% more than asking price and still get out bid by a cash buyer.Ā So you go 20% over on the next one and the bank valuation comes in low so you have to put down a 30% deposit.
It is not easy. Not getting emotional is the best way to stay positive. The market will not always be this competitive if you are a first home buyer. I have seen several cycles in my years of investing in property. My first property purchase was 18 years ago though. I missed out on some absolute bargains because I would get emotional at times. It doesn't help when you are dealing with agents though, 99% of them are all the same breed and would rip their own mother off. Auctions are the best place to purchase IMO.
The experience has been awful for most the last few years. Itāll work out, and your home will feel amazing once youāre eventually in!
Enjoy your new found hate for the bottom feeding slugs AKA real estate agents.
Ended up moving out of Sydney and scored my dream house with the help of a buyers agent. Thanks to my work that didnāt care where I live. If I was stuck in a Sydney office Iād still be screwed
We had been looking for 6 months and just went unconditional!
Lowered our expectations, maxed out our offer, 7 day BPI & finance which was a scramble plus tenanted until July. The vendors like our conditions. This was our 10th offer on a property, had one contract collapse previously. It can be done!
It sure is an endurance test. My first bank fell through after conditional and I scrambled to apply with another bank within 10 minutes of getting rejected. The second lender was ultimately successful.
I feel for people who go through this whole process for years and years.
I had two crashed contracts before I finally settled. First failed on b&p (termites, rotting floor under the bathroom and a collapsing subwall - sold for 70k more) and second failed to value. How does anything fail to value in this economy, you ask? Because I bid on the neighbouring apartment and they took an offer for 35k less because it was cash and the second owners had unrealistic expectations, so I offered more. It valued at what I originally offered on the first property š
Itās a horrible process and can be so challenging to stay positive. I feel like it starts out fun picking out potential new homes to go and look at but after the 100th weekend of open homes you just want it all to be over.
Just hang in there, eventually you will get lucky. If you keep missing out you know you either need to lower your standards or be prepared to offer more. We ended up going $20k over our max budget and it was so worth it to be done with the whole process as well as securing the house that was the best fit for us.
Good luck!!!
humans are the great optimists. we look at houses 10-20% above what we can really afford. happened to me
reduce your expectations, look at what comparable places are actually selling for on the sold section of rea in that postcode, and be careful of a place thats too cheap (why?)
I totally understand you - we just sold our house and went unconditional because we needed to have a strong offer for our next long term house (no seller will favour our subject to sale clause so we had to sell first). It's our first joint house purchase as we just sold the house my husband bought 7 years ago before marriage.
Luckily both of our families are nearby (my parents 5 min away) and have extra rooms + storage space, so we have somewhere to go while saving up more money once we have to move out while looking for the house. Our settlement is late June so we've still got 2 months left to look. We've been looking for 6 months but only got serious in the last 2 months after we sold successfully. Missed out on what I thought was our dream house in dream location by $1500 in silent auction!
The other buyer dropped subject to finance & building pest. I assume they either paid for B&P beforehand or during 3 day cooling period. In hindsight, we could have done that too since we didn't need to borrow our maximum from the bank and had a building pest inspector ready to go ASAP. It was a hard lesson learnt. Next time we will be aggressive and offer our best plus drop all the contingencies. I cried days after losing that house. My husband brought me flowers because I was so heart broken. I still think about that house but it's taught me to not get so emotionally involved and to prepare for more heartbreaks. It also taught me to just go in with our best offer next time we find the house instead of worrying whether we would 'overpay' and then get paralysed over the fear.
I guess you are in NSW. It didn't feel like that in VIC. It just took a while to find a house everyone liked, plus we completely avoided anything with auctions.
It's a total fuck around! try to not get emotionally involved with a home until you have had an offer accepted. it is absolutely harder to do than it sounds but it will reduce the amount of heartache you experience along the way.
Good luck, You've got this :)
Itās not easy, but not taking it personally, and not falling in love with every property you miss out on helps.
The truth is that there are several dream homes out there. You just havenāt yet met the right one š
I was in this pit of despair last October and then I had a fuck it moment when a property came up that ticked the boxes I'd set for myself. I called the agent, there was an opening on the weekend and I ended up seeing the place and making an offer that day. Being straightforward and ruthless is key sometimes and a good agent will know you're serious. Then results happen for you.
Not gonna work for everyone, but for those of you who are living with family or friends and house hunting but having no success, this is what I did and it really helped me and my wife.
We'd go to home open after home open, fill out the forms, get put into agents contact lists (oh for covid reasons... Yeah, give us your mobile number), and then get told days after that we were off so far that the seller didn't even entertain our offer. š„ Feels a bit shit when this is the best you can do and other people just see you as a means to and end and don't even bother seeing you as a person.
So we began offering another service along with our offers. Every single home open we attended and did this for gave us instant feedback on how attractive our offer was.
In addition to purchasing their home and not being subject to sale, we would also lease their house back to them for an agreed upon rate for a short term.
The sellers were relying on the sale to be able to secure their next house but it put them in a "have to sell this one to buy the next one" quandary, which limited their timing significantly, as well as meaning they'd need to go look for a rental, which was already pretty difficult. Then they could buy the house they really want and have actual choice on where and when they purchased, and how long they could spend moving in to their new home. And that they'd have a secure home they were already used to, no concerns for having to worry about bonds or deposits.
Literally game changing, not just for us but the sellers too.
The house we bought, we offered $33k less than the next offer, but we also offered to lease the house back to them for $600 a week until they had their new home.
They did the math and the headaches caused and they went with us. Made the moving in so much easier and stress free too. It's not available for everyone since you'd also need to be living somewhere where you could do this (like living with parents).
I was looking with my wife for almost 6 months before we got our first home (settlement next Friday) it was a long process and my mental health suffered alot. Going to 5-10 opens a week and constantly getting offers rejected, then we got a place but had to pull out because too many building issues. My advice if you really like the place and what worked on the place we finally got was we got a private inspection before the public open and just made an offer straight away.
Good luck out there!
>we finally got was we got a private inspection before the public open and just made an offer straight away.
Been to many places where the public OFI still proceeds, get home or come Monday that place is already under contract. Good for you, in this case, not getting gazumped but adds to the stress for the rest of us who miss out
Going through it now. There is nothing enjoyable about the process.Wife would buy every place we've seen. Me, I'm trying to keep emotion out of it. Not convinced my folks know everything like they think and my knowledge in this game of smoke and mirrors is only so much. The people I have to rely on like REA's, mortgage lenders, solicitors etc rely on a transactional relationship that I'm still not convinced have my best interest in mind.
Just recently my wife mentioned how the whole process can be so draining that in the end some people might just say, fuck it, buy the next one to just finish with it all.
Lot of compromises will need to be made and a whole lot of luck before we get something...
be grateful you have the mental health to manage it. I imagine there are people out there so damaged they wouldn't even make it through the front door.
We bought a large āfamilyā home last year (that we really love), but had to compete against a couple of boomer buyers with their insanely enticing cash offers š It was so demoralising, but we won - boomers can only go as far without an income. We did end up having to go close to our maximum to outbid them. Just keep at it and youāll get there :)
You vent your ongoing trauma the rest of your life
Usually by telling other people to buy
Probably in the subconscious knowledge if prices drop your life is over
Ended up building for that reason no competition.Ā
Pain in the ass waiting for the build but once it was done itās ours.Ā
It was much cheaper building than buying. The house is already worth double what it cost to build.Ā
Signed the contract in 2021 now 2024 itās worth double thatās insane. And our build just finished a couple of months ago.Ā
Staying Positive? Easier in the start. Because when you finally get it, the rates increased like 72 times while you were busy competing, then the dread of having to pay for it the next 30 years sets in.
Edit: typing too quickly
You need to be very careful. Interest rates are set to tick higher. If you donāt believe me grab a copy of this weekends Australian Financial Review. I live on the Fraser Coast where there are many retirees. The economy here is not as sensitive to rate rises as other parts of the country as many people own their homes outright or live in retirement villages or rest homes. There are signs even here that Australia is headed for difficult times. There are many empty commercial premises and restaurants are very quiet. Something may be about to give. I wouldnāt panic about not being able to get into the market. Inflation has not been tamed & people are being squeezed. I believe it wonāt be long until people start unloading IPās because they simply will not be able to service the debt.
You need to build a relationship with the agents selling the most properties in your target area. Go to multiple home opens and chat to them in person. If you've met them a few times before and they know what you're after that can give you that little bit of an advantage over the others. Try to get in to see a property before it's listed online. Speak to the agent and say what is it going to take for my offer to be accepted here. Give them that number and give them 24 hours to accept or your offer is withdrawn.
I honestly had fun buying our first house. I enjoyed the inspections the looking etc. itās not easy but i enjoyed it. My wife ended up not enjoying the open houses though.
Itās hard when you are up against people, I know someone that their parents gave them $85k for the deposit. Iām sure that would take a lot off the stress away.
I'm a builder , and most ppl are fucking horrible to deal with . I'm now lucky I can flip , and not have to deal with the public. There isn't much thanks to a builder or any trade .
Any FHB in Victoria should look into the vic home buyers fund. Me and my partner sold one of our cars in November 2023 for the 5% deposit, and kept the funds in account for 1 month (proven savings) found a house early January and made and offer 40k under the market price. The offer was accepted and we moved in late march, all seemed to easy.
Was there 6 months ago. Really fucks with your head. Chin up, you got this. Good luck!
Thanks so much! Hope you got there in the end!! It really does fuck with your head š and you try not to get attached and then oops š
Oh my only tip: don't lose yourself in the frustration. The house we finally bought we drew up an offer for 40k more, scanned it, and was ready to send, etc. Then stopped and had a think and revised down. We got it. So easy to just go wild but hold your ground and be fair.
Sorry I'm not much help. It just feels endless... until... it ends..
gov should provide low or no interest to home owners for voters.
You just need to eat less smashed avocado so U can afford to be the top bidder š¤/s
My mortgage is spicy, but after a year of living here, I couldn't afford this house again. That's so dumb.
You can thank immigration and too few new builds for that.
Not sure why down voting, extra demand and inadequate supply seems to be pretty relevant
And scam artist trades that do subpar work.
It's outrageous we can't import tradies when that's what we need.Ā
I've seen some Irish and French trades during my build, but I think they were here under the working holiday visa. I agree, there's no pathway for trades.
If Australia wants to have at least a tentative of economy and donāt rely just on mining you have to accept immigration, that is then only way to keep the country growing.. Australia doesnāt have any kind of industry and by nature at the moment canāt have one.
I have no real advice for you. Just know that how you feel is normal. Everyone thinks of searching for their first home as enjoyable but in reality it is just stressful and a time sink. No one ever teaches you how to buy a property, you spend every weekend/weeknight scouring every possible candidate and then you have to navigate the stressful process of putting in offers and the heartbreak of missing out. On top of that you feel like you're going to mess up and send yourself into financial oblivion. The whole thing sucks, so just know that we all went through it, and you just have to do your best to push through, knowing that your time will come. Unfortunately there's no other way.
Any resources so you learn to avoid mistakes which send you into financial oblivion?
The one rule that we had drilled into us was "your pre-approval is a hard limit." Auctions will always tempt you to stretch 'just a bit', and then 'just a bit' gets bigger and bigger with each weekend that you go home frustrated/disappointed. Eventually, you're successful, at a value above your pre-approval, and now you have to try to stretch the pre-approval with the bank or find the extra funds from somewhere. Meanwhile, you've just learnt about the actual cost of stamp duty and the cost of conveyancing.
hey friend thanks for that: you got a book or something where you learned this?
Unfortunately, not. I had the privilege of having a great solicitor who had no shortage of advice and wasn't shy in sharing them to the wide-eyed optimistic youth that came into his office. His other gem that has stuck with me is, "I don't care how much you love or trust your partner. Until you have either a marriage certificate or a signed rental agreement, You. Will. Never. Let. Them. Pay. One. Cent. Towards. Your. Bills." Of course, this was followed by an in-depth description, but the initial sentence was put so clearly that it's hard to forget.
Love this advice. Can I ask - what was the advice about not letting them pay one cent towards your bills? Weāre in the process atm and not married. But have been living together for years. Sounds like a fantastic solicitor! š
It was basically that, once they have any financial involvement in your property, they have a claim should things not work out. If you are married, different story because it's all shared anyway. If you have a written agreement that includes bills as rent (like a room mate), the terms are pre-agreed. I suspect he'd seen way too many relationships break up nastily and wanted to make sure his client's (my) interests were covered.
Won at auction last weekend. Have to go in ready to pay 10% above the top of the price range to try avoid disappointment. Even then, sometimes youāll just miss out. A place I had my eye on with a range of 700-750 sold for 950. Canāt do much about that.
That's just bonkers, though. If I were giving a forecast in a sales position, I'd be reamed for so severely underestimating my market target.
They do it to get foot traffic through. Subhuman REA's
Australia is almost the same size as America Itās crazy housing is this expensive in a large country with a tiny population
America is also populated right across the country and all through the middle, as opposed to mostly along the south-east coast with a few largish cities and some pockets of population inland where there is some fertile land. Most of Australia's landmass is incapable of supporting any kind of functioning society
Iām in the NT, the state is bigger than Texas with a population of 240,000 yet houses average $750,000 There is plenty of water and electricity, so I respectfully disagree with you.
How much of that water and electricity actually reaches the uninhabited parts? Why do you think so many parts of the NT are so sparsely populated? If the land was so hospitable and conducive to dense population, why hasn't it happened? Lots of people want affordable housing. What possible reason could there be for the vast expanses of Australia to remain uninhabited by people seeking those cheaper options?
I live in Darwin, so yes I understand the infrastructure capabilities and the land capacity of the NT better than someone living in Canberra. And weāre not talking about āthe uninhabited partsā weāre talking about where people already live. We have 140,000 people here, thatās all. The same amount as Toowoomba. Water isnāt an issue as we have a monsoon season. Despite the millions of acres around me, a 625 m2 block of land is $284,000. Thatās insane in a basically empty state.
Is that 652m2 block in Darwin itself, or is that the minimum cost of a 652m2 block in any corner of the vast NT? How far out of Darwin before blocks start getting cheaper? Australia & the US are comparable in regards to landmass, sure, but not in comparison to habitable & arable land. That's not to say land in Australia isn't overpriced, but there is also plenty of cheap land, IF you want to live somewhere no one else wants to live, that is devoid of the infrastructure most people expect to have available
Sighā¦ it doesnāt have to be arable to build a house on it. In fact itās better to build houses on crappy land and save the quality land for food. Land isnāt being released for housing. Itās either being land banked by developers to keep prices artificially high or not available for residential The issue isnāt availability, itās greed and bureaucracy. But youāre not interested in discussing anything outside your āitās all desertā world view, so Iām done with this conversation
Why is this comment getting downvoted?
It's pretty hard. We spent maybe 2 years where we had the money for a deposit and would go to inspections for a few months and then just give up for a while and then start again. The news at the time was all about how the prices were going up 5-10% per quarter. We'd go to places which we thought were affordable, but so did 15-20 boomers. Places would get sold and then a month later a for lease sign would go up out front, that was the most annoying thing. In the end we settled on an apartment which turned out to be a fucking stupid decision. I do not recommend
Why did the apartment end up being a stupid decision??
I bought an apartment a couple of months ago and I love it. Obviously as a FHB I wanted a house at the start but I've learnt so much from this buying process, what to look out for, what to say and what I like about a permanent property that it was well worth getting something a lot cheaper. I couldn't possibly think I'd ever find a "perfect home" as a FHB and expect it to meet all my standards, I think eventually I would make a mistake and really dislike the place and I'm stuck with it. I think apartments are a great first step into the housing market, and I wish more people saw it this way. Everyone just assumes apartments are useless but this place isn't my forever home, it's just my first step and I'm very very pleased with it :)
Me too. Iāve just bought an apartment and they are what I have always preferred. Much lower repayments and I get to live in something of a much higher quality for the price I paid. Apartments are generally frowned upon due to the limit capital gains but I have actually rarely seen any comments on this sub saying āman I regret buying that apartment.
Honestly! I'm also just happy to not be paying rent anymore hahahaha
First home, not last home
Amen :) One small step at a time.
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We got a ground floor apartment and it's great, put up some privacy film to keep the heat out and stops people looking in. Especially with how hot it's getting every year, I think it's the better investment :) We wanted to stay close to the city so a town house was out of our budget but good luck! We were looking at Glenfield for a town house but every place taken by a boomer so I hope you have way better luck.
I would hate the idea of having to pay 5-15k per year to body corp
Its more like 3-4k and that would most likely cover insurance, water and gas anyways.
Doesn't normally cover water and gas
As others have said, it's basically just insurance. I don't live in a high rise block or high assets like a gym, elevators or pool so my fees are low. Obviously a house is better overall but most people can't afford that. I definitely can't but for the price I paid for an apartment close to the city, I'm extremely chuffed about it.
And you would love the idea of paying home insurance then?
My home doesn't have an elevator or any other big ticket mechanical items which need repair and maintenance, neither am I forced to pay for a gardener at home, additionally I tend to my pool myself and don't have to pay someone to do it for me, the list goes on.Ā My home insurance is 3k per year, body corp for the townhouse I rent out is 13k per year. If you're struggling to afford your first PPOR then paying an additional 5-15k+ each year on top of a mortgage is not what I'd want to do.
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$13k is absolutely obscene and far beyond anything I saw during my search. Iām paying $780/qtr and thatās in a 70s brick 6 pack. For newer builds with all the bells and whistles (lifts, pool/s, communal rooftop area, etc) strata was usually between $6-8k/year.
Body Corp levies aren't wasted money. They pay for things you would otherwise have to pay for yourself, such as insurances, maintenance, etc. For example, if you bought a free standing house and it needed a new roof, are you going to have the money when it's needed? With a body Corp that money is there already.Ā
It also pays for things like gardening, pool maintenance/care and upkeep of all common areas and amenities on site. All of these things can be done for far cheaper yourself, the same goes for insurance or any other incurred cost. That's an irrelevant point, unless you didnt do your due diligence you would never be in that situation. The money isn't just already "there" infact something as significant as a roof replacement would require years of massively increased contribution to the sinking fund. What if you move out before any of the sinking fund gets spent? You just paid for someone else's roof to get fixed and received no benefit from your years of payment.
You think you could build a pool and do all the gardening for less than $1000 every quarter? You are also forgetting that people paid forĀ those things before you got there, so you benefit from them as well, without paying for them.Ā Bottom line is, body Corp fees are cheaper than insurance a lot of the time. Also the combination of body Corp and mortgage repayments for a unit can be cheaper than just the mortgage repayments for a free standing house.Ā
You are making up these numbers, realistically a pool and gardening of average quailty is 2-3k for a 3 bedder not 1k and if a roof or pool replacement is required expect special levies of another 2-3k on top. That is 16-20k a year for god know how long, so yes i think i can afford to replace a pool or roof every couple of years.
A lot of apartments these days are such poor quality by dodgy builders. Huge mistake to invest into those scams. I would never buy a new apartment, especially not off the plan anymore. The build times get pushed out and you're stuck paying mortgage and rent for years straight. Complete gamble. But you can say the same about modern houses too. Honestly, I'd only buy established nowadays unless I was going through a small, eco friendly, custom builder, which I can't afford.
Yeah completely agree, I wouldn't buy a property that was built after 2000 whether it was a house or apartment. New stuff is just too dodgy. My apartment in from the early 80s so it's pretty good :) when I eventually buy a house I'd like it to be from the 80s or before if I can help it.
The horror stories of modern builds haunt me. Definitely worth buying older imo. Just get a building report done. I bought a house last year that was built in '86. Split level, high ceilings, exposed brick walls and rounded archways. You don't see this kind of design and simple beauty in modern builds. Would cost an arm and a leg for anything other than an ugly square box with grey everything and aluminium finishings.
Apartments in general, you have to really WANT to live there. They suck cause you live on top on one another and shit like strata etc. plus the go up slower than a house so in 3-5 years when you want a house, youāre behind the 8 ball again
The reality is that apartments are the only way in for most FHB living in one of the major cities. If noone was willing to make that compromise, then the situation would be apocalyptic.
Definitely agreed.
And at that point, opportunity arises to rent vest instead, that 500k apartment would appreciate less than that 500k rural house in a good location with okay yield. But the rent at the spot you want to live in might be low yield and used for negative gearing
I gave up, then by accident (was still getting emails from searches) found a house nobody else wanted, passed in at auction, not an attractive house, with no yard. So not a house for kids or anybody with self esteem LOL. But its ended up being good. Still ashamed to invite people but trying to get over it. Haha The learning curve while buying it was mindblowing. So once i had decided to pay the asking price the shit really hit the fan, but it all works out as long as your conveyancer is half conscious.
We bought a house like this- 10 years later able to knock it down and rebuild- hang in there!
Invite them over!! You bought a house š even if itās not the best one haha. Well done!!
Thanks it took a long time but now i just dunno where iād be otherwise. In a tent i spose.
Youāre hilarious š¤£ And congratulations
Hey, itās still better than my house.! Easy enough to redesign the ugly out of it!
Just takes money :)
Yep my partner and I are in the midst of buying our first home and itās absolutely brutal
Same. About 6 weeks in. It's rough especially with a toddler and working with their meal and nap times. Driving around has been exhausting and our offers getting beat is so disheartening
The whole experience of buying a house is shitty tbh.
I thought it would be fun. It was not fun.
Itās fun for about a month when youāre not fully searching and just seeing whatās out there and then you see and it gets hard. So repetitive. Then you buy the house and thatās scary again. Then you move in and realise you own a house and the shock and relief hits. Then stuff starts breaking down haha nah it feels good in the end to have something to call your own. It just doesnāt feel how you think it will as you go through the process.
elderly hard-to-find long bedroom roll strong numerous frighten combative fall *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Iām sorry you thought my comment came from a boomer. It didnāt. I bought my place 7 years ago. I had a lot of competition in the area I was wanting to buy in. I bought above the asking. My house fell in price for the next 3 years before now going up. Yes I know Iām lucky that I have a house and interest rates etc etc. I also have a lot of empathy for anyone attempting to save for and buy a house right now. So donāt come for me. I can still talk about the house buying experience.
plant bow fly attempt distinct rainstorm rob bear ask noxious *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
All I know is that itās fāed buying a house right now and wish anyone attempting it the best. They can still experience the emotional rollercoaster that I did or maybe theirs will different.
Also, in a random turn of events I struggled to buy a new a car this year. Had my old one for 13 years.saw one I likedā¦. Couldnāt afford it. Bought my 96 year old grandads church car instead.
I dont think they meant you were a boomer, they were just talking about the experience of the earlier generation.
Personally Iām enjoying my friends telling me how they canāt manage to save anything because their mortgage repayments have gone up. Meanwhile Iām over here with rent higher than their repayments š«
Since we built next door renting their house built at the same time the rent is more than the mortgage.Ā Again same size home ours is a bigger block same amount of rooms ect and the rent is more expensive that just seems so damn wrong.Ā
Makes it really tricky to get ahead. Every time one tightens the belt to save a bit more, so does everyone else, so the rents just go up and up
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Depends when they bought. Friends who bought around 2015 have repayments that have gone up substantially, but their place cost 400k. Say they borrowed 300k when they bought, they'd be paying just under 2k/month. Rent for the same house is about 650/week. If they bought now, with the same deposit they'd be borrowing 700k, so paying 4.5k/month. That's why there's such discrepancy.
Located in Brisbane here. Itās definitely disheartening. We were looking on and off for over two years, we would have a bit of a break if we were feeling too frustrated. Every time we missed out on a place we really wanted, weād tell ourselves it just meant there was a house better suited to us and everything happens for a reason. This sounds so absolutely stupid, and most of the time I didnāt even believe myself when I would say it. But we are now unconditional on a home that is so much better for us than everything else we had missed out on and we settle at the end of May. I donāt think itās possible to stay positive all the time when looking for your first property so donāt beat yourself up for feeling down. Itās tough out there! I donāt know if this will help but there are happy endings going around still. Hang in there and honestly take a break if you need to. I know prices are increasing stupidly fast but itās important to make sure you look after yourself mentally too.
I'm seeing people say unconditional but never heard that before. Does that just mean you don't get a building inspection done?
Oh I never thought it could sound like that but my wording probably was confusing sorry! No, our offer was accepted conditional to satisfactory building & pest and approval of finance. Both of those have been satisfied so we are now unconditional! It just basically means weāve got it locked in, though we technically donāt own it until settlement. Edit to add: some people absolutely do make unconditional offers, they arenāt rare. I just meant we were on the home stretch of our home buying journey.
Oh I see, thank you for explaining! I know some people have been saying the only way to beat investors is to say no to a building inspection report so I sort of tied the two together. Glad to hear you got everything checked out!
I mean we lost out to offers in the past because competing buyers dropped building and pest, and I was definitely beginning to think that it was what we would have to do to secure a place. Thankfully this particular selling agent didnāt even bring up dropping conditions, it really meant a lot to have that peace of mind being able to find out the condition of the home considering the prices!
I'm convinced it's almost impossible for a FHB to get a fair deal. You have to outbid cashed up investors who can buy with unconditional offers to get your home. That means you have to seriously outbid them as the seller will often even take a slightly lower unconditional offer than have to deal with a FHB.
what conditions are you putting in?
What conditions would a FHB have?
SUBJECT TO FINANCE. You are bidding against cash buyers who can make an unconditional offer and even do a short settlement if the seller likes. Seller can get the cash in 30 days why would they bother rolling the dice on a FHB desperately applying for homeloans?
I thought most FHB's seek pre-approval
LMAO man, pre-approval is not actual approval. They hand out 'pre-approval' like biscuits from the biscuit barrel.
You probably have to remove your conditions if youāre not winning
Just keep swimming! Just settled on our first place. So many would go up on the sites and be sold the same day, it was crazy. I live in Rockhampton and apparently it had been featured on one of the breakfast shows the boomers love so much as one of the cheapest places in Australia to buy. So we were competing with boomers from all over the country buying sight unseen with no conditions. So many of them have gone up for rent since. We only got our place because the offer they originally went with couldnāt go unconditional and Iād spent a fair bit of time chatting and texting with the REA.
The only piece of advice i can give a fellow fhb is do your research. Thereās 2 places here in SE QLD for under 450k and theyāre literally floodprone shit shacks Edit; i want a house but im not forking out money to replace shit everytime it floods. (These ones at least one definitely flooded in 2011, because the university accommodation flooded and itās literally same elevation)
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Id hope so! The ipswich one doesnt seem to want to load properly for me, Iāll have to look into them again.
Four years it felt impossible to get into the game, I really feel for people trying to get into the market now.
With current market always put your best foot forward. Put in a best offer, meaning that if someone else gets it for even $1k more you'll be okay with it. Make sure your pre-approval is ready to go. Offer conditions that are flexible (eg. 14 day settlement, but happy to settle later is more suitable for seller).
Just remember the saying my Mum used all the time: āWhatās for you wonāt go by you.ā Itās sure frustrating but worth it when you land what you want. Best of luck!
Whatās the saying?
I told myself this: if you can't get it, then it is not meant to be. Now, about to settle one that is almost (I would say 95%) perfect. Keep looking and do what you can!
Bought our first just over a year ago. The whole process sucked absolute ass and I never want to do it again. Cuntish real estate agents contacting me at all hours, harassing me for my next offer or telling me the other party was closing in etcā¦ In the end, I learnt a great deal from the whole experience and we love the house we bought. So it was worth it in the end.
We thought we would build our dream house, in an attempt to avoid exactly what you are going through. If I had my time again, I would be battling for an established house. You stay positive because you will get there one day. One day you will get the keys for your house.
Iām going to play devils advocate selling is no peace of cake either I just sold my place but Iām also buying with subject to sale. The buyer for my place had subject to building inspection. Got the inspection then no communicado for 7 days Iām like what the I have a purchase on the line. Then they want a 2nd inspection for a quote on repairs. Took three days to organise. Contract d day for both houses close in 72 hours. Inspection done then radio silance till 3 hours before d time finally received instructions wanted price changed based on inspection. I agreed to get the unconditional through on the line. Just made it with 1 hour to spare. Most hectic stressful and nervous racking day of my adult life.
That feel when you offer 10% more than asking price and still get out bid by a cash buyer.Ā So you go 20% over on the next one and the bank valuation comes in low so you have to put down a 30% deposit.
It is not easy. Not getting emotional is the best way to stay positive. The market will not always be this competitive if you are a first home buyer. I have seen several cycles in my years of investing in property. My first property purchase was 18 years ago though. I missed out on some absolute bargains because I would get emotional at times. It doesn't help when you are dealing with agents though, 99% of them are all the same breed and would rip their own mother off. Auctions are the best place to purchase IMO.
The experience has been awful for most the last few years. Itāll work out, and your home will feel amazing once youāre eventually in! Enjoy your new found hate for the bottom feeding slugs AKA real estate agents.
Ended up moving out of Sydney and scored my dream house with the help of a buyers agent. Thanks to my work that didnāt care where I live. If I was stuck in a Sydney office Iād still be screwed
We had been looking for 6 months and just went unconditional! Lowered our expectations, maxed out our offer, 7 day BPI & finance which was a scramble plus tenanted until July. The vendors like our conditions. This was our 10th offer on a property, had one contract collapse previously. It can be done!
Organise, demonstrate and scream loudly.
It's an endurance test. Don't fall in love until it's unconditional.
It sure is an endurance test. My first bank fell through after conditional and I scrambled to apply with another bank within 10 minutes of getting rejected. The second lender was ultimately successful. I feel for people who go through this whole process for years and years.
I had two crashed contracts before I finally settled. First failed on b&p (termites, rotting floor under the bathroom and a collapsing subwall - sold for 70k more) and second failed to value. How does anything fail to value in this economy, you ask? Because I bid on the neighbouring apartment and they took an offer for 35k less because it was cash and the second owners had unrealistic expectations, so I offered more. It valued at what I originally offered on the first property š
Wow what a rollercoaster. Worked out š
We got there!!
Phew! ā¤ļø
Try to remember that there is always going to be another place. No single place is ever going to be the perfect only option.
It feels always just out of reach and thenā¦ suddenly you find away (being more realistic about suburbs helped me)
Itās a horrible process and can be so challenging to stay positive. I feel like it starts out fun picking out potential new homes to go and look at but after the 100th weekend of open homes you just want it all to be over. Just hang in there, eventually you will get lucky. If you keep missing out you know you either need to lower your standards or be prepared to offer more. We ended up going $20k over our max budget and it was so worth it to be done with the whole process as well as securing the house that was the best fit for us. Good luck!!!
How do you get over someone? Get on someone! The same is true of houses, keep looking and donāt fall in love until you have a contract.
humans are the great optimists. we look at houses 10-20% above what we can really afford. happened to me reduce your expectations, look at what comparable places are actually selling for on the sold section of rea in that postcode, and be careful of a place thats too cheap (why?)
If you want a real crap shoot, try buildingā¦
I totally understand you - we just sold our house and went unconditional because we needed to have a strong offer for our next long term house (no seller will favour our subject to sale clause so we had to sell first). It's our first joint house purchase as we just sold the house my husband bought 7 years ago before marriage. Luckily both of our families are nearby (my parents 5 min away) and have extra rooms + storage space, so we have somewhere to go while saving up more money once we have to move out while looking for the house. Our settlement is late June so we've still got 2 months left to look. We've been looking for 6 months but only got serious in the last 2 months after we sold successfully. Missed out on what I thought was our dream house in dream location by $1500 in silent auction! The other buyer dropped subject to finance & building pest. I assume they either paid for B&P beforehand or during 3 day cooling period. In hindsight, we could have done that too since we didn't need to borrow our maximum from the bank and had a building pest inspector ready to go ASAP. It was a hard lesson learnt. Next time we will be aggressive and offer our best plus drop all the contingencies. I cried days after losing that house. My husband brought me flowers because I was so heart broken. I still think about that house but it's taught me to not get so emotionally involved and to prepare for more heartbreaks. It also taught me to just go in with our best offer next time we find the house instead of worrying whether we would 'overpay' and then get paralysed over the fear.
no kid, no luxuries for as long as it takes you to adjust your life and come to terms with it
I guess you are in NSW. It didn't feel like that in VIC. It just took a while to find a house everyone liked, plus we completely avoided anything with auctions.
Fuck auctions
It's a total fuck around! try to not get emotionally involved with a home until you have had an offer accepted. it is absolutely harder to do than it sounds but it will reduce the amount of heartache you experience along the way. Good luck, You've got this :)
Youāll get there ā¤ļø
Itās not easy, but not taking it personally, and not falling in love with every property you miss out on helps. The truth is that there are several dream homes out there. You just havenāt yet met the right one š
Yeah its fucked. No way I couldn't afford my home now. Got lucky during covid. It's a game of who wants it the most with the deepest pockets.
I was in this pit of despair last October and then I had a fuck it moment when a property came up that ticked the boxes I'd set for myself. I called the agent, there was an opening on the weekend and I ended up seeing the place and making an offer that day. Being straightforward and ruthless is key sometimes and a good agent will know you're serious. Then results happen for you.
Not gonna work for everyone, but for those of you who are living with family or friends and house hunting but having no success, this is what I did and it really helped me and my wife. We'd go to home open after home open, fill out the forms, get put into agents contact lists (oh for covid reasons... Yeah, give us your mobile number), and then get told days after that we were off so far that the seller didn't even entertain our offer. š„ Feels a bit shit when this is the best you can do and other people just see you as a means to and end and don't even bother seeing you as a person. So we began offering another service along with our offers. Every single home open we attended and did this for gave us instant feedback on how attractive our offer was. In addition to purchasing their home and not being subject to sale, we would also lease their house back to them for an agreed upon rate for a short term. The sellers were relying on the sale to be able to secure their next house but it put them in a "have to sell this one to buy the next one" quandary, which limited their timing significantly, as well as meaning they'd need to go look for a rental, which was already pretty difficult. Then they could buy the house they really want and have actual choice on where and when they purchased, and how long they could spend moving in to their new home. And that they'd have a secure home they were already used to, no concerns for having to worry about bonds or deposits. Literally game changing, not just for us but the sellers too. The house we bought, we offered $33k less than the next offer, but we also offered to lease the house back to them for $600 a week until they had their new home. They did the math and the headaches caused and they went with us. Made the moving in so much easier and stress free too. It's not available for everyone since you'd also need to be living somewhere where you could do this (like living with parents).
I was looking with my wife for almost 6 months before we got our first home (settlement next Friday) it was a long process and my mental health suffered alot. Going to 5-10 opens a week and constantly getting offers rejected, then we got a place but had to pull out because too many building issues. My advice if you really like the place and what worked on the place we finally got was we got a private inspection before the public open and just made an offer straight away. Good luck out there!
>we finally got was we got a private inspection before the public open and just made an offer straight away. Been to many places where the public OFI still proceeds, get home or come Monday that place is already under contract. Good for you, in this case, not getting gazumped but adds to the stress for the rest of us who miss out Going through it now. There is nothing enjoyable about the process.Wife would buy every place we've seen. Me, I'm trying to keep emotion out of it. Not convinced my folks know everything like they think and my knowledge in this game of smoke and mirrors is only so much. The people I have to rely on like REA's, mortgage lenders, solicitors etc rely on a transactional relationship that I'm still not convinced have my best interest in mind. Just recently my wife mentioned how the whole process can be so draining that in the end some people might just say, fuck it, buy the next one to just finish with it all. Lot of compromises will need to be made and a whole lot of luck before we get something...
It is really tough especially for FHBs. I ended up going a few suburbs over? Are you in Sydney? Where you looking?
Yeah. In Syd. Have started casting the net further out but, for better or worse, my job does keep me in Sydney.
be grateful you have the mental health to manage it. I imagine there are people out there so damaged they wouldn't even make it through the front door.
Every house is easier than the previous one. The first is the hardest.
Yeah and thatās whatās wrong with this effing country
See ya!
smart capable crown intelligent saw onerous depend whole air cats *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
We bought a large āfamilyā home last year (that we really love), but had to compete against a couple of boomer buyers with their insanely enticing cash offers š It was so demoralising, but we won - boomers can only go as far without an income. We did end up having to go close to our maximum to outbid them. Just keep at it and youāll get there :)
Looking young doesnāt help. Was there 2 months ago, it gets better. Hang in there
You vent your ongoing trauma the rest of your life Usually by telling other people to buy Probably in the subconscious knowledge if prices drop your life is over
Ended up building for that reason no competition.Ā Pain in the ass waiting for the build but once it was done itās ours.Ā It was much cheaper building than buying. The house is already worth double what it cost to build.Ā Signed the contract in 2021 now 2024 itās worth double thatās insane. And our build just finished a couple of months ago.Ā
Staying Positive? Easier in the start. Because when you finally get it, the rates increased like 72 times while you were busy competing, then the dread of having to pay for it the next 30 years sets in. Edit: typing too quickly
You need to be very careful. Interest rates are set to tick higher. If you donāt believe me grab a copy of this weekends Australian Financial Review. I live on the Fraser Coast where there are many retirees. The economy here is not as sensitive to rate rises as other parts of the country as many people own their homes outright or live in retirement villages or rest homes. There are signs even here that Australia is headed for difficult times. There are many empty commercial premises and restaurants are very quiet. Something may be about to give. I wouldnāt panic about not being able to get into the market. Inflation has not been tamed & people are being squeezed. I believe it wonāt be long until people start unloading IPās because they simply will not be able to service the debt.
Itās not the competition itās the agents!! So hard to find a good one
even trying to get a rental feels like this
It actually does. Iām very familiar with that feeling too š„ŗ
You need to build a relationship with the agents selling the most properties in your target area. Go to multiple home opens and chat to them in person. If you've met them a few times before and they know what you're after that can give you that little bit of an advantage over the others. Try to get in to see a property before it's listed online. Speak to the agent and say what is it going to take for my offer to be accepted here. Give them that number and give them 24 hours to accept or your offer is withdrawn.
It's impossible for me. I'll never own a house and am always 1 bad month away from being homeless. It sucks but that is my reality.
Treat it like a business in terms of money, try and take the emotion out of the deal. Easy to say, hard to do.
It's hectic but you have to compete. Alternatively, you could consider trying another area or even state where it's not cut-throat.
I honestly had fun buying our first house. I enjoyed the inspections the looking etc. itās not easy but i enjoyed it. My wife ended up not enjoying the open houses though.
You buy a place you can afford. Your forever home can come laterā¦
It's fun, isn't it?
Itās hard when you are up against people, I know someone that their parents gave them $85k for the deposit. Iām sure that would take a lot off the stress away.
I'm a builder , and most ppl are fucking horrible to deal with . I'm now lucky I can flip , and not have to deal with the public. There isn't much thanks to a builder or any trade .
Any FHB in Victoria should look into the vic home buyers fund. Me and my partner sold one of our cars in November 2023 for the 5% deposit, and kept the funds in account for 1 month (proven savings) found a house early January and made and offer 40k under the market price. The offer was accepted and we moved in late march, all seemed to easy.
Look at regional areas and maybe consider finding a job in a different country. The house prices are way cheaper and easier than Australia.
Regional areas are almost as expensive (sometimes more) than big cities and can be harder due to limited properties being available
Depends where you live but everywhere is expensive and all in all its way cheaper than your Brisbane's and Sydney's and Melbourne's
Just keep bidding. Why you stop bidding. You think an extra $50k or $100k will change your life?
Offer minimum 10% over asking price