Lachie and Amy are homeowners who purchased their first property in November after being tenants. Picture: Mark Stewart.
First-time buyers Lachie and Amy worked two jobs to afford their rent and save for a home deposit at the same time.
Both working full-time as teachers, Lachie, 35, tutored in the evenings, while Amy, 32, worked for a youth orchestra on Saturdays to push the needle forward on their saving goals.
Lachie said it was a challenge to save for a home deposit and pay their lease concurrently, especially when they had to adjust their budget to any rent increases.
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“We were saving pretty hardcore,” he said.
“We adjusted our lifestyle in terms of eating out for dinner less and that sort of thing, for probably a good couple years before we bought this place.
“We worked a little bit extra and then just really tried to make sure that we were shopping when sales were on … trying to use all the money hacks that we could.”
Lachie and Amy worked two jobs to save a deposit on their first Melbourne home. Picture: Mark Stewart.
Buyer’s agent Emily Wallace, who helped the pair purchase their Hawthorn townhouse in November last year, said some of her clients had been renting and saving for as long as seven years, unless they had the luxury of living at home with their parents.
“There was one person I spoke to last week, he was like, I’ve been saving for five years, trying to build up a deposit because it’s so hard to rent and save at the same time,” Ms Wallace said.
“If they’re not eligible for any schemes, they don’t have a guarantor … (or) some sort of help for the deposit, it can be a five to seven-year process to save.”
Buyer’s agent Emily Wallace said property investors in Victoria were selling up, leaving more tenants with little choice but to flee the rental market and buy a home.
She added that she was being asked to help more tenants escape the rental market and purchase their own home because of the amount of property investors selling out of the market.
“A lot of conversations are, I’m sick of being moved around all the time … properties I’ve been renting out are now being sold to owners, so I have to get out,” Ms Wallace said.
“That then creates this idea of feeling unstable in the rental market.”
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