How to move from renter to owner

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There’s a general progression that people on the real estate journey, one that most of us follow at some point in our lives. On the day we move out on our own, we are following generations of people before us, and while not everybody’s path is identical, there are nonetheless well-trodden sections to move through.

Despite the increasingly tough property market conditions, the great Australian dream of buying a first home is alive and well, with the proportion of housing finance commitments coming from first home buyers sitting at over 15% according the the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Before accruing all of the finances they need to make that leap into home ownership, the vast majority of Australian first home buyers would have spent time renting. So how can you join the party, and transition from home renter to homeowner?

How Much Will it Cost?

It’s easy to read the frequent news reports about skyrocketing house prices and historic low housing affordability and be intimidated. However, should you know where to look, and how to temper your own expectations, finding affordable housing for purchase is not as difficult as you might think.

In fact, as reported in the Courier Mail in some 111 suburbs in the city of Brisbane, rent is actually higher than the ABS’ figures on weekly housing costs for people with a mortgage. The median $453 weekly spend for mortgagees equates to approximately 18 per cent of income spent on housing costs, while renters were finding themselves spending 20 per cent.

As you can see, perhaps breaking out of the cycle of renting is not as out-of-reach as you might think.

How Can you Get There?

One of the greatest hurdles to buying a home can be saving the required deposit. Bankwest First Time Buyer Report shows that for most couples, saving 20% for a home deposit will take on average 4.9 years for a house and 3.6 years for a unit. In some of the larger cities such as Sydney and melbourne where property values are higher, however, that median stretches to as much as 8.2 years. Sell your home in Fort Collins

Having to grind out savings for over eight years is, for many people, simply an unreasonable ask. There’s a silver lining though – you shouldn’t have to do it on your own. Each state and territory in Australia offers its own first home buyer incentives, including grants (up to $15,000 in Queensland) that can help you on your way to building your deposit. No-one is saying it’s easy, but thousands of Australians every year make the jump, and you can too. Click here to find out about the grant in your state or territory along with all the first home owner information you need.

From Tenant to Landlord

Perhaps you’re interested in real estate ownership as an income stream, as well as or in place of just owning a home for yourself to live in. Owning investment property is a great way to build your assets, so if you don’t necessarily want to move to the place you’re buying, that doesn’t mean you should disregard the opportunity to buy altogether.

A recent Reserve Bank of Australia discussion paper revealed that if a first home buyer bought an investment property and rented / lived somewhere else, they may come out in a better financial position than if they bought their own home straight away.

According to the ABS approximately 27% of Gen Y’s have the luxury of being able to live at home during much of their 20’s and whilst many are contributing to the costs of the family home by way of rent to their parents, it is often less than what they would pay if they lived out of home.

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