Home Loan Blog

Despite the negative rhetoric about the housing market at the moment, we thought we would brighten your week with our story of a young couple who purchased their first home just before Covid-19.
Why may you ask? Because despite all the negativity, we have several of our clients making purchases over the weekend. This trend is supported by my good friend Terry Ryder’s commentary that “Melbourne’s real estate has stayed solid, as supply and demand has remained roughly on balance”. Click here for more from Terry.

Before and After shots of the yellow walls and living area

Here’s Sam and Davey’s story:

Q. How did you first hear about Louise and her services?
We were referred to Louise by a good friend of ours.
Q. Did you feel a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of buying a property? If so, in what way?
We were most overwhelmed by the responsibility of the loan. It’s a lot of money over a really long period of time! We’d lived together before and knew what to expect living in our own place, but this time we’d be paying off our own mortgage, not somebody else’s. We were relatively calm about the rest of the process.
Q. How long had you been saving for a deposit? I understand you were both working 2 jobs at some stage?
Yes! At one stage we were both working full time in novated leasing as well as our casual jobs on weekends (Davey in hospitality, and me in the fitness industry). It took us about a year to get serious about saving and make up the deposit.
Q. You looked in a few different areas to buy and ended up Bayside? Was there any reason for that?
I’ve always loved the beach, but never thought we’d be able to afford living close enough to one, so I guess I just ruled it out. It wasn’t until Davey’s mum suggested looking out toward Mornington Peninsula that I realised it was possible, and the more we looked at the bay the more we loved it. We have everything we need here. It’s easily accessible and we’re a 5-minute drive from the beach!
Q. How did you feel dealing with Agents and making offers? Did Louise advise you on this part of the process?
We were nervous at first because we had no idea what to expect from the agents, but Louise did of course, so she talked us through it. Thankfully we only had to make the one offer! Very lucky to have secured the first property we loved enough to talk numbers about.
Q. I understand you were happy to buy a property that required work, is that what you ended up with?
Yes and yes! Our house was structurally sound, but it was built in the 70s, so we had mustard yellow walls, mission brown architraves, archways, and a mirror tile feature wall to contend with.
Q. Are you both handy or would need professional help to do any renos?
One of our close friends has renovated many homes in his life, so he taught us everything we needed to know and even stayed with us for the first two weeks to get done as much as we could! The only professional help we had was to install some new lights and air conditioners, and a plasterer to square off the archways and patch up where the old air conditioners were removed.
Q. Did you understand what lenders mortgage insurance was? And how that can vary from lender to lender?
We had a pretty good idea before meeting with Louise, but it wasn’t until we spoke to her about it that we truly understood it and how it varies between lenders.
Q. Overall, how did you find the process of buying your first home and would it have been more onerous without the assistance of a broker in your opinion?
Buying our first home was super exciting. Settlement took a little longer than we were hoping, due to a unique situation on the vendor’s end, but apart from that I only feel happy when thinking back on that time. The happiness far outweighed any stress or nerves we felt, and we owe a lot of that to Louise. I honestly don’t know what we would’ve done without her. We wouldn’t be in this house today, that’s certain.