Ned Hirst helps you avoid common errors commonly encountered when you start looking at real estate.
- Thinking You Can Buy Your Dream House Straight Away
Too many first home buyers dream too big, too soon. Sure, everyone wants the inner-city lifestyle but many urban centres outside the CBD like Dubbo offer more affordable housing and you can always work your way further east from there! Alternatively, you might like to consider some luxuries you can do without in a home. For example, many free standing structures offer protection from the rain without the use of walls, and do you really need a toilet and a sink?
- Buying Your First House First
It’s tempting to start off by buying your first house, but if you buy your second house first, you can use negative gearing to subsidise the portion of your mortgage not covered by the rent you’re receiving. Not only that, but a house is great collateral to have when you go to the bank to secure a deposit for your first house!
- Not Having a Good Job that Pays Good Money
Sure, paying off a mortgage can be pretty difficult, but one easy way around this is to have a job that pays you more money than the money you have to fork out for your mortgage repayments! You can use the money left over for things like food, clothes and why not treat yourself to the occasional night out or holiday?
- Not Inheriting Money from your Parents
It’s annoying to remember to buy flowers for mother’s day every year, but young people who have managed to buy their own properties can assure you that it’s more than worth it! When you’re fed up with looking at yet another florist’s website, just picture the view from your Potts Point mansion and try to ignore the exorbitant shipping expenses.
- Being Born Poor
If there’s one mistake that young people today make more than any other, it’s being born from an underprivileged socioeconomic background. Sure you can work your way up theoretically, but how do you expect to secure a good job if you can’t afford a decent education? If you have made the mistake of being born poor, don’t fret! But at least try not to further jeopardise your chances of property ownership by being female or from an ethnic minority.