Gen Z couple’s 7-year plan to buy $550k home

Brisbane couple Maddison Smillie and Kingston Rapaea saved for a home from age 17 High school sweethearts Maddison Smillie and Kingston Rapaea made a ruthless move to crack the property market at just 23 without a cent from the Bank of Mum and Dad. They acted broke for seven years. It was a big ask for Ms Smillie, a Gen Z content creator and social media manager immersed in consumer trends through the hyper-aesthetic online world. “I know it sounds crazy, but we acted like we were poor, and that helped,” Ms Smillie said. While their friends blew cash on the weekend party circuit and flaunted weekly clothing hauls, the young couple lived a stubbornly minimal life at her parents’ house, deliberately driving an older car and skipping impulse buys. The couple in their newly purchased townhouse. Picture: Liam Kidston Saving from the age of 17, Ms Smillie and her scaffolder partner bought a three-bedroom Brisbane townhouse in March 2025 for $550,000. “My friends definitely went through that party phase like every 20-year-old does, but we were like, ‘It’s not really worth it in our eyes’,” she said. “We didn’t care about having fancy things. But the savings become addictive; seeing the mo...