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The Australian dream is fine for those who can afford it

Damien Leith

by Damien Leith

30 Mar 05:40am

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Filed under: Culture, Home Ownership, Housing, Interest Rates

50 comments

To own your own home is the dream of many.  I never noticed it as much until I arrived to Australia almost 7 years ago.

A house this size is all we'll be able to afford in a couple of years

People younger than myself had already purchased their first homes; some even had additional investment properties. I was shocked; I couldn’t understand how they managed to achieve it.

In Ireland then, no one I knew in my age bracket owned their own home, instead we all rented and spent most of our disposable income on entertaining and holidays in Europe.

It was a lot of fun and despite the fact that when my wife and I packed up to relocate to Australia we realised that we could condense our entire life into two small cardboard boxes - I still wouldn’t change a thing.

We had photos, little gems of memorabilia, vital keepsakes and a fabulous vault of youthful memories. We were young and carefree and that’s all that mattered.

Over here the culture was different, many of the people I talked to rejected the idea of renting, brushing it off as wasted money. The focus was on living at home for longer, working hard and saving, only moving out when you were ready to pay a huge lump sum off your first mortgage.

It was all quite new to me. Until then, buying a house was the furthest thing from my mind and I have to admit, I wasn’t easily convinced. I even resisted the pressure in the years that followed; convinced that buying a house would only stifle my living, spontaneity and enjoyment of life.

Eventually though, the time was right, the kids soon arrived, along with one or two grey hairs and I too was ready to chase the home owners dream.

Buying a home is not only a place to call your own or having walls that you can hammer nails into confidently without a landlord beating down your neck; it’s a solid investment and for many, an indirect way to save money.

Nothing’s ever certain, but quite often, house prices increase greater than inflation and all going well and the market being right, when you do eventually decide to sell, there’s a chance you might make a few bob in the process.

I can fully appreciate this now and if I’m being honest, there are those rare occasions when I kick myself as I think back to when I was younger and the savings that I didn’t accumulate. Buying a home is a good thing, a great thing - but certainly not an easy thing!

Recently, low interest rates, the generous first homeowners grant and the commonwealth boost scheme attracted buyers into the market. As a result, the country enjoyed an increase in spending but at the same time, most cities witnessed a hike in real estate prices due to high demand.

Following on from this, the Reserve Bank, responding to the favourable financial expenditure, began increasing interest rates to compensate. Now we’re in 2010, the boost scheme has been phased out, interest rates are still on the rise and latest figures show that housing shortages in Australia will quadruple by 2020 - where does that leave new buyers who are trying to purchase their first home?

In an odd sort of way, it makes me think of a blackjack table. On the first occasion that I played, I found I had to learn quickly from the “pros” playing alongside me, that in order to increase everyone’s else’s odds, quite often you had to take one for the team - i.e. Place your bet and then take an extra card even though you know there is a high probability you will lose.

In the end, the rest of the players might benefit from your fall.

Australia has some of the most expensive real estate in the world, mortgages eat into considerable amounts of the average monthly wage and while the demand for houses remains high, the prices we’re paying in order to secure the housing dream is excessive. In the end, not everyone will benefit, especially new homebuyers.

We’re entitled to chase the house of our dream at whatever cost we’re willing to pay, we don’t have to weigh up the effect one purchase will have on the grand scheme - we simply have to live our own lives.

One thing is for certain though - if the current tide continues, we’re going to see further drops in new and younger home-buyers and if that is the case, all I can say to them is to enjoy your youth, go on that Contiki tour, have some fun and don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to be tied down to a mortgage!’

 

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50 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • fred says:

      07:03am | 30/03/10

      mate i have been reading this sort of socialist spin for 40 years or more and still somehow every generation manages to get more from this great land . so stop knocking or get back to wingerland

      Reply

    • Ivan says:

      01:50pm | 30/03/10

      Spot the guy who’s mortgaged to the eyeballs…

    • Gerard says:

      09:10am | 18/07/10

      Well, I’m an Australia… but been living in London for the last 10 years. Had wished to move back to Australia, but I actually find England is now cheaper to afford to have a house for a family. The Australian Dream is for those that have ridden the wave - and good luck to you. So, I’ve gone to Wingerland, not back to it! Australia… it was once a fair go for everyone. Now, with negative gearing and the tax breaks for those with the dosh, it’s only the ‘lucky country’ in the mind. And please, spare the talk about working hard… you’ve ridden a wave of global credit and watched your properties inflate to the heavens, sitting on the sofa watching the footy smile.

    • Formersnag & Realist. says:

      08:22am | 30/03/10

      There is a limit to how long, any market can rise, before “the bubble” bursts, or there is a “correction”.

      Reply

    • Terry says:

      10:42am | 30/03/10

      haha yeah prices always rise, right america? the view is amazing at the top, but only fools buy in, ill buy in the collapse thanks.

    • dave says:

      11:43am | 30/03/10

      Indeed. Speaking of which, in comments to yesterday’s article in The Australian about RBA Governor Stevens going on commercial TV (for the first time ever) to warn about the housing market, we find the following revelation -

      ‘Waiting for the “correction” Posted at 1:22 PM Today

      Now here’s something interesting. My “relationship manager” at Westpac says the housing market is heading for a “significant correction” because the major banks are about to insist on much higher deposits because of their alarm at the amount of questionable loans on their books. This guys says the word is that the Commonwealth will soon insist on a 30 per cent deposit for new purchases and then only to existing customers. “When that kind of thing happens, the heat will immediately go out of the market so stay out of it till the dust settles”. This bloke says Westpac is especially worried about the impact of the first home buyers grant and they’re already seeing significant loan defaults as interest rates rise. “These people took their $14-thousand, then got Mum and Dad to throw them the rest of their deposit because they were led to believe they’d miss the boat. Kevin Rudd has used taxpayer funds to entice a whole lot of young people into buying places they couldn’t afford and going bankrupt as interest rates rise”. That’s a direct quote from a guy at Westpac who used to be in the business of throwing money at you. God’s honour. Maybe the South Seas bubble IS about to pop?

      Comment 5 of 20?

      If true, then our housing bubble is about to burst. And, it will take our banks down with it… http://bit.ly/bRgVlb

      Exactly like in the USA, UK, Ireland, Europe, etc.

    • Homely says:

      08:54am | 30/03/10

      You don’t make money from the sale of your home unless your home was worth considerably more than other similar homes in that location.

      For example, you sold a 4 bedroom house in Strathfield for $2m that you purchased for $500,000 where all the others are now worth $1m and would have been the same cost as yours (ie $500,000) when you bought it (even though there is nothing special about your house). This is extremely unlikely.

      This is what annoys me about the ignorant “I made money from the appreciation in value of my house” crowd. You’re all wrong.

      Yes houses are expensive in this country. This is because of an undersupply of new housing stock and increased demand because of a growing population (both from immigration and population growth) as well as relaxed foreign ownership rules and easy access to credit (100% loans, low doc loans etc).

      These problems need to be addressed if these issues about equity are to be solved. A house is a basic need for all people. It’s not something to be used to gouge those who simply weren’t around to buy when they were comparatively cheap.

      Spending all your income just to put a roof over your head is hurting our ability to save for a real nest egg and develop investments that will earn you a real income.

      Here is a good article which is short enough to digest about house prices

      http://www.ampcapital.com/K2DOCS/site_ampci/F76851F5-1B34-455C-A01C-686EAE9181A2/2010-March-24-Olivers-insights-Australian-house-prices-overvalued-but-undersupplied.pdf?DIRECT

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      09:10am | 30/03/10

      My 22yo son just out his apprenticeship, has just bought his first home in Sydney, on his own and with no help from my wife and I.  Not a McMansion and not in the most sought-after suburbs for young people, but it’s a start.

      I believe his managed because, unlike his peer group, he doesn’t smoke, drink, drive a flash car, spend a hundred dollars or two on monthly mobile phone bills,  hasn’t been overseas etc.

      In other words he has bought his first home by making sacrifices the same as previous generations (who didn’t have first home owner grants)  in order to achieve his goal.

      The trouble with the current spoilt, whinging generation(s) is they’re unwilling to go without the ‘necessities’ of modern life and unable to see and plan for the bigger goals.

      Reply

    • JJ says:

      12:14pm | 30/03/10

      I would say the trouble with the majority of the “current, spoilt” generation as you put it Peter is that we (most of us) had to spend 4+ years at uni earning a pitiful income which mostly went to inflated rent prices in order to get a decent job before we could even think about saving for a home. In the days where a degree (or two) wasn’t necessary for a decent income and kids could start full time work at 18 these issues were not so great.

    • PresqueVu says:

      02:55pm | 30/03/10

      In other words, he can’t just enjoy being 22.

    • Mick says:

      06:35pm | 30/03/10

      I’m 27, I work hard, I don’t smoke, I drink but socially and I don’t go out every weekend for a blinder, nor do I have the 55 inch TV that everyone who can’t afford a house supposedly has, I have a modest car etc…but it really is just skewed against us younger folk. It’s hard enough getting a rental record, then to pay the exhorbitant rent that takes a big chunk out of potential savings, and feel a house is just totally out of reach..there is no way I am going that deep into debt. I have saved a decent amount, but no way am I buying while this keeps up. Like my old neighbours, same age as me, 400,000 for a shoebox they’ll likely be paying off for the rest of their lives.

      People complain about the whingers, but I think moderately priced housing is one of the few fundamental things every citizen is entitled to. Just having A house. Not in a cave out in whoop-whoop but a modest home somewhere reasonably close to civilisation. Hopefully soon it’ll return to a state where that is once again possible.

    • sha says:

      06:07pm | 01/04/10

      What a sad and dreary life for a 22 year old.Mate…you are a long time dead.

    • sha says:

      06:16pm | 01/04/10

      I found myself homeless at 19 when both my parents died….I did something really crazy… Ileft uni and got a fulltime job and a flat…sometimes the dreams have to wait to be fulfilled.

    • sha says:

      06:11pm | 01/04/10

      Wish I was you lol

    • SCOB says:

      09:14am | 30/03/10

      The modern mortgage is indentured slavery, it hangs heavy around ones neck and takes a lifetime to become free from it, renting is even worse.

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      09:25am | 30/03/10

      So SCOB, so you sound like you’ve already put your name down for subsidised public housing?

      A mortgage is paying for something you’ve bought just like any other product, and it can be paid off in a lot less time than the contract period with commitment and a bit of sacrifice.

    • John A Neve says:

      09:37am | 30/03/10

      SCOB,

      I fail to see today’s mortgages as any different to those in my day. As for “indentured Slavery”, how so?  People take on a mortgage for their on reasons and by their own choice.

      As for renting; again no one asks you to “rent my place”, it’s your choice.

    • Joan says:

      09:27am | 30/03/10

      The whole thing is one big phoney price hike created by a Mr Phoney himself Rudd using one gigantic stimulus a big IOU to China. You call that clever- I don’t.  We sell ore to China, we sell our homes to China and we have a massive IOU with China. My suggestion to young Australianš  is best thing you can do is learn Mandarin as Australia gets sold out and Imperial China rules the world.

      Reply

    • T.Chong says:

      10:21am | 30/03/10

      Joan , it was under Howard that house prices started their artificial hi rise. Can you remember back that far?
      As for selling houses to China, WTF are you talking about.? Is any one forced to do so ?
      You’ll probaly find that many of those non caucasians that trouble you are just as likely to be from Hong Kong or Taiwan as from mainland China. Or does that not matter as they all probaly look the same to you?

    • Russell says:

      10:49am | 30/03/10

      Joan, please! Why turn everything into a race-based whinge? T Chong is right, and the Chinese (from various countries) have exactly the same problems in the housing market as we all do. But when they do come here, they find intolerant people like you. Fortunately, not many any more, you are mostly all dying off.

    • Joan says:

      11:53am | 30/03/10

      Who said anything about race? China`s the country going around the world buying up big not Fiji or Samoa they`re not running around buying up everything. You guys are racist - why can’t China`s name be mentioned? Who does Australia owe money too, and who is buying up our resources ?  Let`s be ostriches and bury our heads in the sand too scared to say China word meanwhile China does as it pleases because it can afford to ,coffers lined with Australian consumer dollars as Stern HU has found out.

    • T.Chong says:

      01:29pm | 30/03/10

      Joan, they can only buy what is offered for sale, whether it be houses or resources. Whats your problem with our farmers and miners exporting to China ? our trade with China is worth billions. .
      Who should be allowed to buy our exports?
      Does your apparent Sinophobia have any basis you can argue ?, thats not Cold War based?

    • Joan says:

      02:18pm | 30/03/10

      T Chong :  Being overly dependent on one customer is no good for any business, and borrowing money to run your business from the same customer to finance your business is even worse.

    • Dan says:

      04:32am | 31/03/10

      Joan,  whether it’s good business or not is debatable. What is not debatable is that nobody forces us to sell anything to China, or to any other nation. The fact that you say nonsence like ‘best thing you can do is learn Mandarin as Australia gets sold out and Imperial China rules the world’ only reveals how ignorant you are. China is not going to rule the world, and if they want to buy, and it is on sale, who are you to stop them? Or are only certain nations allowed to buy from Australia?

    • Russell says:

      10:58am | 30/03/10

      Making some money out of housing is not all that easy. Sure, home ownership offers security (and the probability of a lifetime of servitude to the banks thanks to their “generous” revolving lines of credit), but capital gain can only be made when you downsize, or move to a less desirable location.

      Then factor in 100 grand for stamp duty, estate agents fees and moving costs, and a great chunk of your “gain” is gone. Many boomers will not downsize, they’ll look at the increasingly expensive alternatives, and decide to stay put. That means one or two people occupying a family home, the sort which would have once housed 4 - 6

      Housing scarcity force prices higher and higher… and so it goes on and on.

      And we are living till we’re 90. That means the “beneficiaries” of this bizarre system (our children) will themselves be their 60s. And won’t need that inheritance or a “helping hand” themselves.

      It’s such a distorted way of allocating our national resources. Damien’s “Irish way of life” (common in Europe) sounds more appealing.

      Reply

    • Jimmy says:

      11:01am | 30/03/10

      It really amuses me each time I read an article like this and then read the comments. So what if you “own” a house (it is not your until you pay the whole mortgage or pay for the house with cash) or you actually save more money on renting. What matters is that you have a place you feel comfortable calling home and you enjoy living there.

      It is also amusing to read about those who earned so much money by selling their house seem to forget to mention how much they spent fixing it up, repairing it and just keeping it up to standards.

      Reply

    • Scott Glennon says:

      11:47am | 30/03/10

      I agree 100% with your comment, without renters I couldn’t afford to pay off my investment.

    • PresqueVu says:

      03:01pm | 30/03/10

      Glad to hear you’re positively geared Scott Glennon or are you another whose investment is being subsidised by the taxpayer.

    • Scott Glennon says:

      05:23pm | 30/03/10

      I get SFA from the government.

    • BigBob says:

      11:02am | 30/03/10

      Joan This not a platform for your racism, the whole world does revolve around Australia. China and many other countries probably have the same housing issues we are having. We have many many delighful people of Chinese descent in this country and many have been here since The Gold Rush. Why insult them and us by these comments.

      Reply

    • Ryder says:

      12:15pm | 30/03/10

      Lay down here Damien and relax -> points to couch.

      Now, when did you first notice this ever increasing desire to buy a home and when did you start to feel like you had missed the boat.

      Soon after my arrival in Australia Doctor. I would get panic attacks and worry that we were being left behind by all the other people buying homes and we would somehow end up homeless and broke.

      Ahh I see. Till then you considered yourself a well adjusted individual who could happily enjoy your life and friendships without a home yet upon becoming immersed in this culture you started to think you were somehow less than those people with homes.

      Yes I did Doctor, till I arrived here I never gave it a thought, but now its all I think about. I know all about the benefits of negative gearing and how I can best maximise the profit potential of my home. Its all I talk about now at social functions and my old friends back home say they no longer know who I am *cries* .
      I turned down an invite to an old friends wedding because that was more money I could pay into my loan and I was asked to go on a canal trip to Holland with some friends and their partners but how could I afford that when a house is the most important thing in the whole world!

      Stop there Damien, I don’t need to hear anymore today. My initial diagnosis is that you have an infection. You caught it soon after arriving in this country and because most people living here are similarly infected it has gone unnoticed and untreated for a long time. You yourself barely notice it anymore and it would appear you can go long periods with no awareness of this sickness at all, in fact it would appear you see it as great good usually.

      Your a slave Damien as are all the others like you, you spend your lives toiling to acquire a house when the rules have all changed and you never got the memo.

      Educate yourself and understand how economies function nationally and globally and see it for the scam it is. You work and pay, work and pay your whole lives thinking you are getting ahead when at the end of the day you own a shelter for yourself, something you could have built yourself in a single year, cost you your entire life.

      Your owners, because thats what they are, do own you; they own your lifes labour and they own your days and for many now, your nights too. They now have both parents working fulltime and the children as soon as they are able and for what, shelter and essentials mainly.
      They own you completely, yes completely, even though you may think otherwise and in fact you get quite upset when the truth is pointed out to you. You will make excuses and say, that is how the world is and other such nonsense because you have been blinded to the truth.

      It is all charade and your nothing but a modern slave with certain well defined limits to your freedom.

      Now go put your powerball entry in and maybe you can one day be rich (I know someone whose cousin knows someone that is best friends with someone that won $50,000 so it can happen!) and dont forget to pick up a new script for soma while at the mall.

      Reply

    • jo says:

      12:39am | 01/04/10

      or find a rich partner

    • Sarah says:

      01:19pm | 30/03/10

      When I lived at home I had no desire to buy my own home. I wanted to travel, to be free and explore the world. Then unexpectedly my parents went bankrupt and moved to the country. I had to stay in the city for uni and rent. Since renting I now want to own a home. Renting is very expensive (probably 3/4 of the cost of a modest mortgage) and I am sick of living in run-down, over-priced shacks without any repairs being done on the property. My only wish is to be able to improve my standard of living, and the only way to achieve this is to buy a home so I have the freedom to fix leaking roofs with wildlife living in them (and yes we have tried to get the RBA to help us, to no avail). However because my occupation requires 3 degrees (7-8 years of study) I am still stuck at uni (one year to go) and am hoping that at least before I’m 30 I’ll be able to secure a decent job and save for a house (which will take at least 3-4 years given 20% is about 100K these days). I have done a bit of travel but its too expensive to do often. I also don’t have the cushy comforts of running home to mum and dad when I run out of money. Life is different for us 20 somethings now, you are 25 before you even finish uni and earn a wage, let alone think about buying a house. It’s quite sad really - such a wasted youth spent studying and worrying about money. That’s how my life’s turned out anyway.

      Reply

    • BT says:

      07:53pm | 31/03/10

      Sarah, you and I share very similar circumstances. After a very bitter divorce my parents went their separate ways and “staying home and saving” was not an option for me either. The only option I had was to try and further my education (thus getting into debt) and get ahead that way, which is expensive and very stressful as you would know. I am now 32 and have had nothing but stress and worry over family life, money and trying to stay afloat. I am so angry with the government which has left our generation high and dry with it’s generosity to investment property owners and relaxed immigration policies. I too refuse to buy a house in Australia. Once my degree is complete, I will move to the UK and buy there as, believe it or not, it’s far more affordable than here. I will not be conned into financing the lifestyles and retirements of baby boomers.

    • E says:

      01:29pm | 30/03/10

      Negative gearing is the elephant in the room, without it prices would be lower by at least the top marginal tax rate.

      Reply

    • PresqueVu says:

      03:17pm | 30/03/10

      And capital gains tax consessions for selling your own residence.

      I mean ask yourself.  Why should I as a tax payer subsidise the investments of someone who doesn’t really need any tax help.

    • Michelle says:

      01:33pm | 30/03/10

      If you want affordable housing, you should kick Kevin Rudd out of office: “RESERVE Bank governor Glenn Stevens… was monitoring how much the federal government’s decision last March to relax its rules on foreigners owning property had contributed to surging prices for housing… Treasurer Wayne Swan eased restrictions for those on temporary visas, such as business owners and foreign students… buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong kick-started Melbourne’s prestige property market…”
      http://www.news.com.au/money/property/chinese-buyers-underpin-housing-prices/story-e6frfmd0-1225846277697

      Add to that the pressure on prices and rents from Rudd’s record-high immigration and foreign student numbers: “It has became terrifying, the way we’re so recklessly importing yet more people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday announced the country grew last year by an astonishing 451,900 people, two-thirds of them immigrants. That’s a record. And there’s no more savage indictment of our lack of leadership at every level of politics. Consider: at this rate, we must build the equivalent of a new Melbourne every eight years.”
      http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_nowhere_to_put_all_those_new_australians/

      And this will be compounded by Rudd’s move towards an open-borders Asian Union: “Using the very crude equivalent measure of Poles moving to the UK after its accession to the EU with these figures, an EU-type organisation that included Australia and these three Asian countries (leaving aside all the other proposed members) would see a migration to Australia of about 21.256 million people.”
      http://onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7488

      Imagine 20 million Asians moving here! Not to worry, we can all live in a prefab shipping container made in China. I kid ye not: “This project is believed to be a first in Australia – a residential facility whose construction is based on stacked shipping containers. The major benefit of this design is the comparatively short construction time. Containers are purpose built, including interior fit-out, in China, shipped to Australia, transported from port by road and installed on site.”
      http://accom.anu.edu.au/UAS/43.html

      The only sane voice in all this globalised madness is Bob Birrell: “In a plea to the Rudd Government to slash the current migrant intake… Dr Birrell warned that the predicted population of 36 million by 2050 would be a disaster for urban living and the environment. “One would have to wander deaf, dumb and blind through Australian capital cities to not notice how urban congestion has already reduced the quality of life,” he said. “Why are Labor elites apparently unmoved by these concerns? ... We are losing core elements of what was once shared. Almost all could once aspire to a house and land … “”
      http://www.news.com.au/national/mass-migration-kills-aussie-culture-says-demographer-bob-birrell/story-e6frfkvr-1225844560248

      Why is Labor unmoved? Because they’ve got a bad case of the Ban Ki-Moons: “This is, after all, an era of integration. Regional integration is taking place all over the world”. Rudd-Labor are intent on opening us up to regional integration with Asia, no matter what the cost. They are card-carrying globalists. They are nuts.

      Reply

    • Mr Subramanian says:

      04:37pm | 30/03/10

      “Be Afraid! Be Fearful! Blame the Other Political Party; look to My Political Party for Salvation!”

      *sigh* It worked for John Howard in 2001, I suppose, which is why the Liberal Party and its supporters continue to trot it out. I personally wish we could get beyond the politics of fear and distrust and talk about the things we can aspire to and the sort of people we could be. This is what saddens me most about our current - and prior, I guess - political climate.

    • Michelle says:

      07:50pm | 30/03/10

      *sigh*, fear is what motivates us, Mr Sub, to avoid disaster - and Kevin Rudd is a UN-proxy wrecking ball, so we should fear him. There are times to aspire to great heights, and there are times to dig in and prevent a great catastrophe. So let’s vote Rudd out and then we’ll have all the time in the world to think about those positive aspirations. BTW, the Liberals are not much better, so look to fringe parties to break the globalist groupthink.

    • Homely says:

      02:59pm | 30/03/10

      Russell, Jimmy and Ryder - it’s good to see some people out there actually understand what’s going on. It depresses me when I hear of people that don’t understand simple economics and finance.

      Peter - I pity your son. Never travelled, doesn’t do much but at least he has a house. Maybe one day he’ll have a personality and some life experience.

      Reply

    • Sarah says:

      06:10pm | 30/03/10

      Actually, you can do it all.  It just takes goal setting & disapline. I’m Gen X but house prices were high when I bought my first unit at the age of 24 on my own.  I started working at 14 yrs of age & spent a little but saved a lot.  I went to uni & worked while I was at uni.  Then I travelled by obtaining working holiday visas & working while I travelled on a budget.  I returned to Australia & bought a unit, lived there for a year & then rented it out.  The tenants helped pay it off while I took advantage of tax breaks for rental properties & travelled some more on working holiday visas.  I then sold that unit & bought a house with my now husband & set about paying that off.  I’m now 40 & we own our house outright.  House prices in Australia are high, but the real problem is lifestyle expectations.  I have never lived on my own, I always had flatmates to help pay the mortgage/rent.  I am female but have always done my own nails, hair colour, waxing etc ... I don’t smoke & drink moderately.  I love to dine out but its a once a month special treat.  I don’t buy take-out coffee etc.  All these little savings go a long way to paying off a mortgage.  I don’t feel like I have missed out on anything in life as I made every dollar stretch.  I have lived in 6 countries, travelled to countless others, have a degree, own my own home with my husband (I brought all the money to the marriage) & have two small children who I can afford to stay home & take care of.  Work collegues used to laugh at our frugal ways but now they are asking us for advice.lol

      Reply

    • Lou says:

      07:28pm | 30/03/10

      Well done Sarah. The award is in the mail.

    • Jim R says:

      04:58pm | 31/03/10

      Well said Lou.

    • LIsa McDonald says:

      08:30pm | 30/03/10

      Hey Damien,

      Its like being married to a house hey?

      Lisa

      Reply

    • notSue says:

      10:48am | 31/03/10

      Hey Damien,
      Finance nd economics aren’t my forte, so I can’r really comment on the wisdom or not of home ownership from that standpoint, but I note onething that seems to be missing from this conversation and that’s the idea of being secure and settled in a home one is buying (as long as you haven’t mortgaged yourself beyond your means, taking into account possible income fluctuations and possibel interest rate rises). Being a renter means your security is in the hands of your landlord, who may decide to sell at any point and you may be turfed out to find new accomodation. I’ve seen this happen to friends of mine. It’s traumatic. I think that’s why you caught the disease. You have a beautiful family to provide a roof for and their security and contentment is more important to you now than the footloose lifestyle you once (enviably and luckily) enjoyed.

      I think that one of the problems with first home buyers now is that they want five bedrooms, two and a half baths, a study and a double garage. They aren’t content to begin with a three bed fixer-upper..if they can find one. Also, it’s true that a much larger percentage of annual income is spent on mortgages now then in the previous generation. Just whose fault that is is beyond my limited understanding, although our economy seems to be influenced much more by global trends than the tinkering of our political parties IMO, no matter what spin they put on it.

      Cheers for another thought-provoking read.

      PS. Finished your just-released novel Remember June too. Really enjoyed it, you clever man.

      Reply

    • Saskia says:

      04:18pm | 01/04/10

      I pity the younger people now.  I guess the timing was right for me when the first homeowners grant came out in the early 2000’s and I was able to purchase my home and investment property and another 6 since with this valuable grant.  The loophole is almost closed now but either study property or tax law or find someone that does.  I made my fortune and now we are happy on one income with the kids all set with their own houses that will be paid off by the time they are 21. 

      I pity renters and that mentality.  Slaves to others for life with no idea that using their brain for 5 minutes would set them free.

      Reply

    • martinX says:

      06:24pm | 01/04/10

      Who says you have to buy in a city where the houses are super expensive?

      Reply

    • z80 says:

      11:09pm | 17/04/10

      The first million dollars is the hardest, after that they just grow by themselves.

      Reply
 
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