Dnarever wrote on Jun 1
st, 2020 at 7:07pm:
cods wrote on Jun 1
st, 2020 at 6:20pm:
my grandson [22] has just signed up for his first home with his girl friend yep claimed first home buyers...
it was never an option when we bought our first home....we waited 12 years to save up...
I dont begrudge them they still have to furnish it it all helps our economy...good on em I say...
WOw the first grant was in 1964, you bought before then.
I didn't qualify for the grant when I bought in the early 80's (between schemes) but it did exist.
When we bought our first home in 1975, there was a grant then, of up to about $750 or so, from memory, but....the qualifying catch was, you had to have x amount of $$$ saved up in a bank account 3 years prior.
So I had worked 2 years at my first job at ATO, and had savings in my bank book that showed those 2 years amounts (them old fashioned little books where the teller wrote in them and initialled).
Fiancé was still earning SFA as he was still doing an apprenticeship, so his bank book wasn’t going to help with the grant.
I ended up getting about $480 as my grant for proving my savings for 2 of those 3 years.
Well that helped, every bit helps, was a lot back then. Glad I got something.
I saved $5000 and we borrowed the rest ($15,000).
We paid off our first home in 3 years.
It’s good when you are both young, working full time and no kids to put as much as possible towards your house payments.
I bought and wore a uniform to work to save money on clothes.
We didn’t do much else except work for our “home”.
No going out to eat, no holidays, no new cars, just head down and work overtime also. We did pay it off quicker that way.
Then we built a lock up garage, and a double carport.
The better cars came later.
We had bombs to drive but that was okay for us, as hubby was a mechanic and could keep them mobile.
Furniture consisting of second hand B&W TV, table & 4 chairs, fridge, and a oil heater.
Couch, bed and twin tub washing machine we bought new as we had that money as a wedding present instead of a wedding reception. My brother was doing woodwork at tech school and made me a coffee table, which I still have to this day.
We put up our own tracks and curtains on that house, and laid the carpet down too.
Learning our own skills as we went along, as whatever we could DIY was money saved.
Those books I borrowed from the Council Library about home handy hints, repairs etc were good at the time. My fave outing was the Library!
We lived in that “home” for 8 years, until I was pregnant with my 2nd child.
Then we looked at up sizing to our next home by 1983.
Our first home was $20,000 in 1975, and we sold it for $50,000 by the time we bought our second home on acreage for $150,000.
We had $50,000 saved up, earning 10% interest which was insane! But hey I no complain!
So then we borrowed $50,000, so we had $100,000 equity on that 2nd home and a $50,000 debt to bank.
The next year after we bought our 2nd home, the property boomed to double!
People I know sold their $30,000 home, put it in the bank while looking for their next home, but..... homes went booom....up double to $60,000 and they lost their opportunity to afford buy another home.
Not many people saw that boom happening, things were slow up to that point with real estste.
But I’ve bored everyone enough for now.
To be continued from 1984 (maybe)... my real estate story.🤗