14 P E R C E N T : AV E R AG E P E R C E N TAG E CA N B E R R A N S S P E N D O N R E N T O R M14 PER CENT: AVERAGE PERCENTAGE CANBERRANS SPEND ON RENT OR MORTGAGE.O R T G AG E .#So, how do youbuy a propertythese days?THESE CLEVER LADIES CRACKED THE CODE.
LEARN FROM THEIR SECRETS“I was 24 when I bought my property. I had
some savings but never really thought about
buying property until my parents said they
were downsizing and I’d need to move out. I
searched on realestate.com.au for properties
to buy. I didn’t want to pay someone’s mortgage
whenIcouldpaymyown.Ifoundafewstudios
and one-bedders in my budget, and then a two-
bedroom house popped up. I thought it was a
mistakesoIwenttotheviewinganditwasa
reallyrundownterrace.Isnaggeditfor$470,000.
The property was in terrible condition. Once
we started the small reno we ended up having
to gut the entire thing and start from scratch,
whilekeepingtheheritage-listedwallsand
facade and working with an architect to fix and
extend the rest. I planned on spending $100,000
which turned into $250,000. I finally moved in
threeyearslater.Icouldn’twaittoliveinit!It’s
finally my home, and I just want to enjoy that.”Stamp duty
This is a tax applied by
the state for every
owner-occupied property
bought. The amount
varies from state to state,
and there are diferent
concessions for first home
buyers, depending on
where you’re buying, but
essentially: prepare
yourself for at least
another $15,000 spent.
In NSW, the stamp duty
on a $400,000 property
is $13,490. In SA, it’s
$16,300. Yourmortgage.
com.au/calculators/
stamp_duty has a guide.
This expense can be
built into your loan.Fees
Solicitors’ fees,
about $1500Inspections and
reports
Pest inspections, building
reports and strata reports,
around $500 each.Mortgage insurance
Applies if you’ve got
less than a 20 per cent
deposit. For a property
worth$400,000,witha
deposit of $40,000, you’ll
be up for around $6000 in
mortgage insurance. This
canbebuiltintoyourloan.“My parents taught me the importance of
property; I was always aware of property prices
and the need to put away money. Even when I
was18andstudyingfull-time,Isaved.Ihad
barely any money, but I could put away $12.50
a week. It doesn’t sound like much but I did it
forsixyearsandmanagedtosavejustunder
$4000.ForanothersixyearsIsaved$100a
week, which came to over $31,000. In my early
thirties, I began to save $300 a week. Four years
later, I had over $60,000. And after that, at 34,
IjustthreweverythingIcouldatmysavings.
There’snobigsecrettosaving.Youjust
have to be mindful of your spending. I threw
every cent I had at my deposit. It took a long
time,butintheendIhad$180,000andwas
able to buy my dream home: a two-bedroom
house with a backyard and plenty of light.”“I was looking to buy a
place, but I hadn’t found
anything half decent. I’d
almost given up when
my brother told me about
apartments being sold
off the plan at Sydney’s
Wentworth Point. For
$390,000, I could get a
gorgeous one-bedder. It
wasfurtheroutthanI’d
planned on buying, but
it was brand new and
beautiful. Brand new also
meantIgotaheapoftax
breaks – no stamp duty
on top of the first home
owner’sgrant.Ialso
lovedthatIonlyhadto
put down a 10 per cent
deposit and do nothing
for the next 18 months
while it was being built.
Buying off the plan can
be risky, but I thought
if it wasn’t what I wanted,
I’d sell it. Real estate in
Sydney is crazy, I could
have sold it the day I
moved in. Long-term,
this will probably be my
investment property.”FIND A
FIXER-UPPER
Liana, 27, bought
a dump for cheap
and renovated it.BUY OFF THE
PLAN
Amy, 31, got her one-
beddero the plan.BUYING PROPERTY IS
CRAZY EXPENSIVE, BUT
THERE’S MORE TO IT
THAN JUST A DEPOSIT
AND THE INTEREST.SAVE, SAVE,
SAVE!
Natasha, 36, saved
for most of her life.
Yep, really.Hiddencosts tolookout forWORDS BY LAUREN SAMS. BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU; THINKSTOCK
buying vs renting
COSMOPOLITAN March 2016 75