Natasha Osborne, 23, and her partner have just bought their first home in South Australia, after saving a massive $ 50,000 in a year, that’s how they did it.
When Natasha Osborne, 23, and her partner Dylon Memen, 27, decided to jump on the property ladder, they saved an impressive $ 50,000 in a year under a strict savings system.
The young couple bought their first home in Salisbury North, South Australia in April, after looking for the home of their dreams for six months.
The couple, who both work as packers, bought a three-bedroom house on a generous 630-square-foot block for $ 400,000 at an auction with a five percent deposit and 45-day foreclosure.
Despite initial nerves, Ms Osbourne said her partner made the first bid for $ 380,000, which “knocked out half of the people at the auction.”
“We were very excited about the house and before you know it, we were the first and last offer,” he said.
Once the couple found out they wanted to buy a house, Ms Osbourne said “they’ve saved a lot of money, but we were living pretty tight lives”.
“Unlike most couples, we had the flexibility and availability to go home with our parents,” she said.
“We didn’t go out much, we kept it to a minimum and we played board games together at home instead of spending $ 100 a night.”
The couple also maintained a “strict but realistic” budget, keeping a book in the car to help manage and keep track of their spending habits.
“We wrote down everything we spent and at the end of the month we realized,‘ Okay, we can stop doing this and do it, ’” he said.
“You’ll be amazed at how much this really opens your eyes to what you’re really spending where you’re spending it.”
Despite their savings plan, the couple claims it “didn’t seem too crazy for a house” because the market was unpredictable and doubts about how much they could borrow from banks.
But thanks to the help of their Mortgage Choice broker Chris Longwill, the couple bought the house of their dreams without the bank’s prior approval.
“I’m only 23 and I was very scared of going into debt for madness,” Ms Osbourne said.
“But Chris made it very easy with what to expect and what we’ll pay when interest rates go up.”
“When we were looking at the market, we were looking at what we wanted to spend so we could go higher if we wanted to.”
Longwill said he reviewed the couple’s updated documentation with a “fine-toothed comb,” knowing they would not have prior approval in time for the auction.
“They won the auction, we raised the finances and we were able to sell in 45 days without any worries,” Longwill said.
“If you’ve been pre-qualified very rigorously with your broker, you can bid on an auction without prior approval.”
For Natasha and Dylon, Mr Longwill said the couple were “superstars” when it came to budgets, as they “saved a lot of money very quickly for people on relatively low incomes.”
“It simply came to our notice then. It depends on what you do with your money, not how much you earn. “
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