May 31, 2023 • 18 mins
Warm and fuzzy warning! It's time for another Property Diary and this week, it's one of the most wholesome home ownership stories we've heard so far. After a long and frustrating journey, today's diarist bought their first home off a friend through private sale. But it wasn't just any house… it was a previous share house and a place where they'd made some very special memories.
Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
The advice shared on The Property Playbook is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. The property Playbook exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and The Property Playbook are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Property Playbook would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians
of the lands of where this podcast is recorded. There
were wondry people of the cooler nations acknowledging the culture,
the history and the connection to the lands of what
we call home. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello and welcome back to the Property Playbook, the podcast
where we take you from A to V of all
things property. My name is Jessica Ricky, and one day
I would really like to buy my first home, but
along the way I want to hear some stories about
how other people did it. So today we're back with
another Property Diary and I've got Victoria Divine.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Hello, thanks for letting me on your pod, Jessicachi.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Goodness, welcome anytime. Today. I have a fun one all
about buying off Markere. Would you like to hear it?
Of course I would, alrighty, our diarist says, this is
a warm and fuzzy warning on this story. Fuzzy warning, Yeah,
I like that. That's the best kind of morning. Hundreds
of open homes, over eighteen months of non stop looking
and so many offers. Then in December last year, I
was having dinner with a friend who used to be
(01:10):
my housemate in a property she owned. We were talking
about the crazy COVID market and she mentioned in passing
that she can't decide if she wants to sell her
place or not. I immediately told her I would buy it
right here, right now, name your price. Long story short,
we came to a mutual agreement and we bought the
house using a guaranteur and private sale. The serendipitous part.
I moved into this once share house with a bunch
of strangers at a very low point in my life
(01:32):
and was starting my life over again, So this house
has always been sentimental to me. It's a It's also
the house where I met my now partner. I moved
out to start our life together, and we have since
made a beautiful life, including buying this house. The absolute
cutest part. We are trying to start a family and
our future baby's nursery will be the very room where
their dad told their mum that he loved her for
Oh my god, how cute you joking? I know we've
(01:56):
got our property. Diarist on the line, me right in
the field us with that one.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Yeah, it's cute. Made me krave when I realized it's
very serendipitous.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh my gosh, that's so a wholesome.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
That is actually the most wholesome thing in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I know, I have so many questions to ask you,
but let's start with the structured question.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, let's go there.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Can you tell me a little bit about your buying journey?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So it was quite long. We had to adapt and
overcome a few times, being buying in the peak of COVID.
Originally we wanted to build to take advantage of all
the grants they had going at the time, and then
the area we lived in just ran out of land.
So adapt and overcome we started looking at published properties.
We went from there. It took eighteen months of every
(02:41):
single Saturday going to open homes, many offers, and then yeah,
we eventually came to a private sale with a friend
in the end.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What a dream situation.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Exciting?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
When exactly and where did you purchase?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
So we purchased on the Gold Coast in February of
this year. We settled.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Incredible And did you purchase with anybody else?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I did? I purchased with my partner.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Oh, I love that. That story is just my heart.
Actually the most wholesome thing, It really is I can't
wait to ask you more question about that, but I'll.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Wait like it would never apply to me because, Yeah,
I used to live in a dank share house.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, one that you wouldn't want to buy, No chance,
no chance.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I had the smallest bedroom, like you had to climb
over basically everything to get to my bed. Like, I
feel like you've lucked out, Property Diarist.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Can you tell us, Property Diarist, how much do you
earn and what do you do for work?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
I earn fifty five thousand annually plus super doing admin
for a financial planning firm, and I purchased my partner.
He works in the media and his wage fluctuates, but
it's about ninety.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Thousand, beautiful. And how much did you guys spend combined?
Speaker 4 (03:49):
So we ended up spending four hundred and fifty five thousand.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's pretty good, especially because you're like, name your price,
I'll pay anything. I feel like four hundred and fifty
five is not too shabby at all for the goldie.
How much did you guys have in your deposit?
Speaker 4 (04:01):
So we actually had quite a small deposit. It was
thirty thousand, which only worked out to be about six
point six percent, But we were very lucky in that
we had a guarantur so we didn't have to pay al.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Ami amazing And did you use any additional government schemes
or grants with that one?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
No grants, but we were first home buyers, so we
did get the stamp duty concession.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Amazing When you were looking and it was quite a
process for you guys initially, what were your non negotiables?
What things were you just like, I need to have
this in this house or I'm just not prepared to
buy it.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Honestly, we didn't have many, just given the market at
the time. Yeah, the guys can't be choosers. But we
did originally want a standalone house and a double garage,
and we had a few suburbs that we were looking
in that we weren't really happy to change. We opened
up our search to townhouses just so that we could
(04:52):
stay within those suburbs. And yeah, we were pretty cruisy.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
How far along in that journey did you kind of go, Okay,
we're not finding anything that are ticking all of our boxes.
Maybe we've got a kind of compromise to be able
to find something.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I would tell you like halfway through, maybe like nine
or so months.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That makes a lot of sense, and the last thing
I wanted to ask, and I feel like I know
the answer to this, but I'm going to ask it anyway.
Looking back, is there anything that you would want to
change about your journey?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I would have loved a crystal ball to predict it.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I'd be like real trich, it would be a balller
by now.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Like if only i'd known when I made that very
first off five five just increased it that tiniest bit,
I would have saved myself so much money.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But oh well, yeah, but everything happens for a reason,
and now you're being in a sentimental home like that
is the best thing ever.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It all worked out exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I feel like so many times when we're on the journey,
and Jess, you are on this journey right now too,
where you just feel like you're missing out on everything
and it feels like you're hitting a brick wall and
you're like, this sucks. And obviously property direst you've been
through this, like going to so many open homes and
probably being heartbroken. I feel like you'd probably be a
little bit similar to me, that you got your heart
set on something, and even if I hadn't inspected it.
(06:05):
Yet I'm like, all right, so I'm going to style
it like this, and then I'm going to do this. Yeah,
it's just it's such an emotional journey that it can
feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel,
and then you hear stories like this and you're like,
that's why it happened that way.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, one thousand percent. Oh my goodness. Well, I want
to hear all about what that process looks like buying
from your friend, because I think that's super interesting. But
we're geting ahead to a really quick break and then
when we come back, I want to hear all about it.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
All Right, we are back, and property Diarist you said before, Look,
we're really lucky we got to buy with a guaranteur.
I want to know more about that process because a guaranteur,
as much as you know, it's a really privileged position
to be in money win. I definitely would lean on
it if it was available to me. However, how did
that conversation come up? Because I just feel like so
(06:51):
many people, especially in our property playbook community, feel really
awkward about going like, oh, I'd love to have a guaranteur,
and I think my parents could or I think my
partner's parents be like, how does that conversation come to
fruition when it can be a little bit orcs sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And was it your parents or your partner's parents.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, we want to know the deats.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Yeah, So obviously I've heard of guarantees before, having worked
in a bank previously, but my family isn't in a
position to do that for me. So it's not something
I ever thought I would be lucky enough to utilize myself.
But when we started our journey, me and my partner
to buying a house, we did go and see a broker,
and the broker did mention in the conversation, you know,
(07:29):
is there anybody that you could ask to be guarantee?
Is that something you would look into, Like for myself,
I said, no, that's not something that I can offer
from my side of the family. But my partner he said, look,
I can ask my dad. My dad owned his own property.
I can have that chat and we'll see what happens.
We didn't really expect to much out of it, so
(07:49):
we went home that evening and we called his dad.
We it was very awkward. As you said, Victoria, it's
not an easy conversation to have. It's a bit orkies.
It's a big commitment for somebody to take on. But
we did mention it to him and we said, look, no,
no expectations, obviously completely you can say no, totally fine.
And he immediately was like, yep, let's go, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Oh how good. So it was like a super easy
conversation that you probably like amped yourself up for to
be like okay, and then this and then this and
this is how I've prepared. And they were like, yeah, sweet,
no problems. What what a dream you had?
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Like a whole script. And I was so nervous, and
then he was just like, yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Oh my gosh, how sweet is that?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's so lovely. I want to ask about the process
of buying from a friend, because your friend was in
the situation where she hadn't even decided if she wanted
to put her property on the market. Yet it wasn't
as if you had seen her house listed and you'd gone,
oh I'm interested. You know, you said that you were
having a casual conversation, You're like, oh, buy it, I'll
take it. What do you need? How did that play out?
(08:52):
Because I feel like it's a very big conversation to have, Like,
buying a house is not a small thing. It's not
like you're saying, oh, like, let's go away for the
weekend together. How did you find the process?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yeah, absolutely, it was a big conversation to have. So
we'd all long moved out of the house and it
was an investment a rental at the time, and she
was over for dinner. She was coming and airing about
whether or not to sell, just because she did have
a difficult tenant in at the time, so if she
did decide to advertise, it was going to be a
bit of a tricky process for her while she had
a tenant in this so it also suited her to
(09:26):
be able to do a private sale. So I said, okay,
Namy price, let's go right here, right now. But obviously
we had a big conversation about it. It wasn't that straightforward. Yeah,
and you're right, being a friend, you know, it is
a little bit orkies. This is a really serious discussion
and a serious thing to do, and you know, we
don't want to step on anyone's toes, so we were
very mindful of that throughout the whole process. We ended
(09:48):
up getting five valuations done on the property with five
quotes for sales commission. So we worked out the average
of the commission and the valuations, and we sort of
got that figure, and we had a discussion around that,
and then being a seller's market at the time, I
knew she obviously had the upper hand and she could
(10:09):
make more money if she went on market. So I
let her take that figure and then have a think
and name her price, because you know, she's my friend.
I don't want to come back and offend her by
low balling or anything like that. So then she came
back with the figure. It ended up being the figure
she had in her mind was the figure we had
in our mind, So we went from there.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That is a really fortunate alignment that you guys were
on the same page, and probably a testament to you
and your partner being like very realistic with your situation.
So she had a lot of valuations. Does that mean
that she ended up having an agent still process the sale?
She didn't sell it directly to you guys, you.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Know, there was no agent. She just got like quotes
I suppose, like what do you think that it's worth
and what would you charge? And then we just took
that from five agents and.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Oh, that's very clever to be honest, because then she
didn't have to pay the commission to anybody.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I feel like that's a really respectful process as well
from your side of things, because I think a lot
of people could have had less patience and just been like, oh,
we've got one, Like I'm happy with that kind of vibes.
And I just think that that's yeah, really patient and
kind of you and that process. Yeah, it doesn't sound
like it would have been easy because you were probably
chomping at the beat. You're like, does let me have
(11:19):
the house? Like I just want it? And then yeah,
I really respect that. I have a couple of questions
about your home deposit though, So I know you had
a guarant tourl loan, but a lot of us that
are using garant tour loans are not necessarily using one
hundred percent of a garrant toolan. You said you'd saved
thirty thousand dollars, which is an impressive feat in itself.
How'd you save thirty grand? My friend, we need the deats.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Yeah, so my partner and I we find we saved
best when we share finances, so we keep each other
accountable and we're able to achieve more. So what we
did and what we found work best for us is
we saved one income and lived off the other one,
so then there was just non negotiable savings. One wage
wasn't being tied at all, and then we lived off
the other one. But we still tried to live as
(12:04):
freely as we can so that we were never dipping
into our savings and when we could, we would deposit more,
but at a minimum, at least one wage was always
being saved.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, I love that. How did you guys get to
a point where you knew living off one income was feasible?
Because I know some people listening are going to be like,
not a chance, Like, we absolutely couldn't do that. Did
you have to do any rejigging of your budget or
changing anything?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Not particularly Like we worked out what we could save individually,
and then we found that we weren't, as you know,
committed to sticking to that because it was our own wages.
Nobody saw our cheeky little tap taps ound a little
spending on the weekend. So it just worked out to
be what we could have saved if we tried hard enough,
(12:47):
worked out to be one of our wages anyway. So
if we just had that one wage going straight into
a savings account, then there was that accountability there and
it just was we didn't really have to think about it.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, how did you structure things? So if you're living
off one wage and saving the other, and obviously there's
a little bit of a gap between, you know, the
salary that you and your partner are earning, did you
have to have a conversation about like the equity that
you're putting in or have you decided to just do
it all fifty to fifty?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
So it wasn't just straight fifty to fifty. We just
share everything equally, Like, we bring different things to the relationships.
So he does own a little bit more, but I'm
more financially minded, so we are able to save a
lot more when I'm looking after things as to if
he was to save on his own that sort of thing.
So we bring different things to the table in regards
to the finances, so we do work best when we
(13:35):
work together.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I really like that. I love that you guys have
found a way that works for you, and I think
it is so important to put an emphasis on things
outside of monetary contributions like the mental load and looking
after the finances, which is a really big job in
and of itself when you're doing it for a household.
So it's really awesome that you guys have put value
on that and considered that you're bringing that to the table.
(13:56):
You said that there was a tenant in the house
that your friend owned. How did that impact your process?
So I'm assuming that given that they were difficult, she
just let them run out their lease. Is that right?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Yeah, so we were going to end up having to
be landlords for a little while. There was going to
be a little two month overlap. So but she did
end up just packing up and leaving. Really she wasn't
supposed to, and also I don't think she was allowed to,
but it was one of those situations where it's like
it's probably more trouble than it's worth to chase it up.
But yeah, we did luckily end up having vacant possession
(14:29):
that settlement, But she was a little bit did make
it a little bit tricky having a tenant in there
when we were trying to do all of our inspections
in the building and pest and things like that. She
wouldn't let us take photos or anything like that. Even
if there was like damage in the property, we couldn't
take any photos, which is another reason why she didn't
want to have to go to market with her in there,
because there's no way she would have been able to
photograph the property. But we got there in the end,
(14:50):
it's all good.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, how stressful. That's just one of
the things that you don't really think about when it
comes to, you know, buying property. If there's a tenant
in there that's a bit of a pest. Yeah, like
that can get in the way. Whereas you know, I
remember when we were moving out of our rental property.
We weren't even having the property sold, we were just
moving and our agent was like, oh, can we inspect it.
(15:12):
I was like, yeah, bab, come over, like we want
you to get the lease. Like, I don't want you
to be out anything. I just can't imagine other people
being as pesty, ye, but it totally happens, like you
hear horror stories. So I'm glad it worked out the
way it worked out for you.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I have another question about buying with a partner because
I feel like a lot of people in our community
that will probably be the way that they purchased property.
How did you and your partner get on the same
page about the type of property and the location and
the area that you wanted to buy. I know when
I was talking to my partner about how to buy
property and what we should be buying, there were a
(15:48):
few friction points, and you know, there were a few
non negotiables for me that didn't match his non negotiables,
Like how did you navigate that conversation?
Speaker 4 (15:56):
As I said before, we didn't have too many non
negotiables just because we are our first home buyers. We
knew this house wasn't going to be our forever home.
We just wanted something that would suit us for the
next day five years, and then we wanted it to
serve as an investment, a decent investment after that, because
we did want to keep a hold of the asset,
but we just wanted something that would serve us as
(16:17):
a family home for the meantime. That was our main goal,
and we share that goal, so there wasn't really too
many points of conflict because we had the same end
goal anyway.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
So that's amazing. I'm so excited for you guys. I
love the serendipitous nature of it, like it feels like
you came full circle like you started. You said, at
this point in your life where you didn't know what
was going on, and then you met your partner while
you're in this house, and now hopefully one day you'll
have babies in this house, and it just is such
a special story. Do you have plans and it's probably
(16:45):
a little bit far down in the future to know
exactly what's going to happen, but you said that it's
a five year kind of home for now for you guys.
Do you think you would try and hold onto it
when you did move to another home or would you
probably look to sell it.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
We would love to keep it. Think it would be
a good investment. It's very close to all of the
schools in the area and shopping centers and things like that,
and it's being a townhouse, it's one of the cheaper
options near the schools, so I don't think we'll have
much trouble in the future keeping it as a rental.
So we would like to keep it for our retirement
one day.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Incredible property. Diarist, Thank you so much for sharing your story.
You really like pulled at my heartstrings. I'm feeling emotional.
This is such a cute one. And yeah, I just
can't tell you how much we appreciate you taking the time.
As someone who's going through the process right now, it
is really encouraging to hear someone say I looked at
hundreds of homes, because that's what I feel like i'm doing.
I feel like I'm looking at millions of homes and
(17:38):
making no headway. So thank you for sharing that. You've
made me feel so much better.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Thank you for your time today, and best of luck
with your own homeboying journey.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
But I think that's all we've got time for today.
Just before we head off, let's quickly wrap up the
boring but important stuff. Don't forget that the advice shared
on the Property Playbook is generally nature and does not
consider your individual circumstances. The Property Playbook exists purely for
educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make
an investment or a financial decision. And we'd love it
if you joined our Facebook group. We have our community
(18:08):
sharing and asking questions every single day, tips and tricks glore.
Search the Property Playbook on Facebook to join, and we're
also over on Instagram. You can search us at property
playbook a US. Lastly, if you think I'm doing a
good job, guys, can you leave me.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
With you on the podcast you've found so Desperado?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I know, I really do. I want people to tell
me I'm doing a good job because I'm trying.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
My ill tell you you're doing a good job every day.
Is that not enough?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I appreciate you, and I appreciate everyone who's left us review.
But that's all. We'll see you, guys,
The Property Playbook would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians
of the lands of where this podcast is recorded. There
were wondry people of the cooler nations acknowledging the culture,
the history and the connection to the lands of what
we call home. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello and welcome back to the Property Playbook, the podcast
where we take you from A to V of all
things property. My name is Jessica Ricky, and one day
I would really like to buy my first home, but
along the way I want to hear some stories about
how other people did it. So today we're back with
another Property Diary and I've got Victoria Divine.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Hello, thanks for letting me on your pod, Jessicachi.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Goodness, welcome anytime. Today. I have a fun one all
about buying off Markere. Would you like to hear it?
Of course I would, alrighty, our diarist says, this is
a warm and fuzzy warning on this story. Fuzzy warning, Yeah,
I like that. That's the best kind of morning. Hundreds
of open homes, over eighteen months of non stop looking
and so many offers. Then in December last year, I
was having dinner with a friend who used to be
(01:10):
my housemate in a property she owned. We were talking
about the crazy COVID market and she mentioned in passing
that she can't decide if she wants to sell her
place or not. I immediately told her I would buy it
right here, right now, name your price. Long story short,
we came to a mutual agreement and we bought the
house using a guaranteur and private sale. The serendipitous part.
I moved into this once share house with a bunch
of strangers at a very low point in my life
(01:32):
and was starting my life over again, So this house
has always been sentimental to me. It's a It's also
the house where I met my now partner. I moved
out to start our life together, and we have since
made a beautiful life, including buying this house. The absolute
cutest part. We are trying to start a family and
our future baby's nursery will be the very room where
their dad told their mum that he loved her for
Oh my god, how cute you joking? I know we've
(01:56):
got our property. Diarist on the line, me right in
the field us with that one.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Yeah, it's cute. Made me krave when I realized it's
very serendipitous.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Oh my gosh, that's so a wholesome.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
That is actually the most wholesome thing in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I know, I have so many questions to ask you,
but let's start with the structured question.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, let's go there.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Can you tell me a little bit about your buying journey?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So it was quite long. We had to adapt and
overcome a few times, being buying in the peak of COVID.
Originally we wanted to build to take advantage of all
the grants they had going at the time, and then
the area we lived in just ran out of land.
So adapt and overcome we started looking at published properties.
We went from there. It took eighteen months of every
(02:41):
single Saturday going to open homes, many offers, and then yeah,
we eventually came to a private sale with a friend
in the end.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What a dream situation.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Exciting?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
When exactly and where did you purchase?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
So we purchased on the Gold Coast in February of
this year. We settled.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Incredible And did you purchase with anybody else?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I did? I purchased with my partner.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Oh, I love that. That story is just my heart.
Actually the most wholesome thing, It really is I can't
wait to ask you more question about that, but I'll.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Wait like it would never apply to me because, Yeah,
I used to live in a dank share house.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, one that you wouldn't want to buy, No chance,
no chance.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I had the smallest bedroom, like you had to climb
over basically everything to get to my bed. Like, I
feel like you've lucked out, Property Diarist.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Can you tell us, Property Diarist, how much do you
earn and what do you do for work?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
I earn fifty five thousand annually plus super doing admin
for a financial planning firm, and I purchased my partner.
He works in the media and his wage fluctuates, but
it's about ninety.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Thousand, beautiful. And how much did you guys spend combined?
Speaker 4 (03:49):
So we ended up spending four hundred and fifty five thousand.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
That's pretty good, especially because you're like, name your price,
I'll pay anything. I feel like four hundred and fifty
five is not too shabby at all for the goldie.
How much did you guys have in your deposit?
Speaker 4 (04:01):
So we actually had quite a small deposit. It was
thirty thousand, which only worked out to be about six
point six percent, But we were very lucky in that
we had a guarantur so we didn't have to pay al.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Ami amazing And did you use any additional government schemes
or grants with that one?
Speaker 4 (04:15):
No grants, but we were first home buyers, so we
did get the stamp duty concession.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Amazing When you were looking and it was quite a
process for you guys initially, what were your non negotiables?
What things were you just like, I need to have
this in this house or I'm just not prepared to
buy it.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Honestly, we didn't have many, just given the market at
the time. Yeah, the guys can't be choosers. But we
did originally want a standalone house and a double garage,
and we had a few suburbs that we were looking
in that we weren't really happy to change. We opened
up our search to townhouses just so that we could
(04:52):
stay within those suburbs. And yeah, we were pretty cruisy.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
How far along in that journey did you kind of go, Okay,
we're not finding anything that are ticking all of our boxes.
Maybe we've got a kind of compromise to be able
to find something.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I would tell you like halfway through, maybe like nine
or so months.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That makes a lot of sense, and the last thing
I wanted to ask, and I feel like I know
the answer to this, but I'm going to ask it anyway.
Looking back, is there anything that you would want to
change about your journey?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I would have loved a crystal ball to predict it.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
I'd be like real trich, it would be a balller
by now.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Like if only i'd known when I made that very
first off five five just increased it that tiniest bit,
I would have saved myself so much money.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
But oh well, yeah, but everything happens for a reason,
and now you're being in a sentimental home like that
is the best thing ever.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
It all worked out exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
I feel like so many times when we're on the journey,
and Jess, you are on this journey right now too,
where you just feel like you're missing out on everything
and it feels like you're hitting a brick wall and
you're like, this sucks. And obviously property direst you've been
through this, like going to so many open homes and
probably being heartbroken. I feel like you'd probably be a
little bit similar to me, that you got your heart
set on something, and even if I hadn't inspected it.
(06:05):
Yet I'm like, all right, so I'm going to style
it like this, and then I'm going to do this. Yeah,
it's just it's such an emotional journey that it can
feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel,
and then you hear stories like this and you're like,
that's why it happened that way.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, one thousand percent. Oh my goodness. Well, I want
to hear all about what that process looks like buying
from your friend, because I think that's super interesting. But
we're geting ahead to a really quick break and then
when we come back, I want to hear all about it.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
All Right, we are back, and property Diarist you said before, Look,
we're really lucky we got to buy with a guaranteur.
I want to know more about that process because a guaranteur,
as much as you know, it's a really privileged position
to be in money win. I definitely would lean on
it if it was available to me. However, how did
that conversation come up? Because I just feel like so
(06:51):
many people, especially in our property playbook community, feel really
awkward about going like, oh, I'd love to have a guaranteur,
and I think my parents could or I think my
partner's parents be like, how does that conversation come to
fruition when it can be a little bit orcs sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And was it your parents or your partner's parents.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, we want to know the deats.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Yeah, So obviously I've heard of guarantees before, having worked
in a bank previously, but my family isn't in a
position to do that for me. So it's not something
I ever thought I would be lucky enough to utilize myself.
But when we started our journey, me and my partner
to buying a house, we did go and see a broker,
and the broker did mention in the conversation, you know,
(07:29):
is there anybody that you could ask to be guarantee?
Is that something you would look into, Like for myself,
I said, no, that's not something that I can offer
from my side of the family. But my partner he said, look,
I can ask my dad. My dad owned his own property.
I can have that chat and we'll see what happens.
We didn't really expect to much out of it, so
(07:49):
we went home that evening and we called his dad.
We it was very awkward. As you said, Victoria, it's
not an easy conversation to have. It's a bit orkies.
It's a big commitment for somebody to take on. But
we did mention it to him and we said, look, no,
no expectations, obviously completely you can say no, totally fine.
And he immediately was like, yep, let's go, let's do it.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Oh how good. So it was like a super easy
conversation that you probably like amped yourself up for to
be like okay, and then this and then this and
this is how I've prepared. And they were like, yeah, sweet,
no problems. What what a dream you had?
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Like a whole script. And I was so nervous, and
then he was just like, yeah, let's go.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Oh my gosh, how sweet is that?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's so lovely. I want to ask about the process
of buying from a friend, because your friend was in
the situation where she hadn't even decided if she wanted
to put her property on the market. Yet it wasn't
as if you had seen her house listed and you'd gone,
oh I'm interested. You know, you said that you were
having a casual conversation, You're like, oh, buy it, I'll
take it. What do you need? How did that play out?
(08:52):
Because I feel like it's a very big conversation to have, Like,
buying a house is not a small thing. It's not
like you're saying, oh, like, let's go away for the
weekend together. How did you find the process?
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yeah, absolutely, it was a big conversation to have. So
we'd all long moved out of the house and it
was an investment a rental at the time, and she
was over for dinner. She was coming and airing about
whether or not to sell, just because she did have
a difficult tenant in at the time, so if she
did decide to advertise, it was going to be a
bit of a tricky process for her while she had
a tenant in this so it also suited her to
(09:26):
be able to do a private sale. So I said, okay,
Namy price, let's go right here, right now. But obviously
we had a big conversation about it. It wasn't that straightforward. Yeah,
and you're right, being a friend, you know, it is
a little bit orkies. This is a really serious discussion
and a serious thing to do, and you know, we
don't want to step on anyone's toes, so we were
very mindful of that throughout the whole process. We ended
(09:48):
up getting five valuations done on the property with five
quotes for sales commission. So we worked out the average
of the commission and the valuations, and we sort of
got that figure, and we had a discussion around that,
and then being a seller's market at the time, I
knew she obviously had the upper hand and she could
(10:09):
make more money if she went on market. So I
let her take that figure and then have a think
and name her price, because you know, she's my friend.
I don't want to come back and offend her by
low balling or anything like that. So then she came
back with the figure. It ended up being the figure
she had in her mind was the figure we had
in our mind, So we went from there.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That is a really fortunate alignment that you guys were
on the same page, and probably a testament to you
and your partner being like very realistic with your situation.
So she had a lot of valuations. Does that mean
that she ended up having an agent still process the sale?
She didn't sell it directly to you guys, you.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Know, there was no agent. She just got like quotes
I suppose, like what do you think that it's worth
and what would you charge? And then we just took
that from five agents and.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Oh, that's very clever to be honest, because then she
didn't have to pay the commission to anybody.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
I feel like that's a really respectful process as well
from your side of things, because I think a lot
of people could have had less patience and just been like, oh,
we've got one, Like I'm happy with that kind of vibes.
And I just think that that's yeah, really patient and
kind of you and that process. Yeah, it doesn't sound
like it would have been easy because you were probably
chomping at the beat. You're like, does let me have
(11:19):
the house? Like I just want it? And then yeah,
I really respect that. I have a couple of questions
about your home deposit though, So I know you had
a guarant tourl loan, but a lot of us that
are using garant tour loans are not necessarily using one
hundred percent of a garrant toolan. You said you'd saved
thirty thousand dollars, which is an impressive feat in itself.
How'd you save thirty grand? My friend, we need the deats.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Yeah, so my partner and I we find we saved
best when we share finances, so we keep each other
accountable and we're able to achieve more. So what we
did and what we found work best for us is
we saved one income and lived off the other one,
so then there was just non negotiable savings. One wage
wasn't being tied at all, and then we lived off
the other one. But we still tried to live as
(12:04):
freely as we can so that we were never dipping
into our savings and when we could, we would deposit more,
but at a minimum, at least one wage was always
being saved.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, I love that. How did you guys get to
a point where you knew living off one income was feasible?
Because I know some people listening are going to be like,
not a chance, Like, we absolutely couldn't do that. Did
you have to do any rejigging of your budget or
changing anything?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Not particularly Like we worked out what we could save individually,
and then we found that we weren't, as you know,
committed to sticking to that because it was our own wages.
Nobody saw our cheeky little tap taps ound a little
spending on the weekend. So it just worked out to
be what we could have saved if we tried hard enough,
(12:47):
worked out to be one of our wages anyway. So
if we just had that one wage going straight into
a savings account, then there was that accountability there and
it just was we didn't really have to think about it.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, how did you structure things? So if you're living
off one wage and saving the other, and obviously there's
a little bit of a gap between, you know, the
salary that you and your partner are earning, did you
have to have a conversation about like the equity that
you're putting in or have you decided to just do
it all fifty to fifty?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
So it wasn't just straight fifty to fifty. We just
share everything equally, Like, we bring different things to the relationships.
So he does own a little bit more, but I'm
more financially minded, so we are able to save a
lot more when I'm looking after things as to if
he was to save on his own that sort of thing.
So we bring different things to the table in regards
to the finances, so we do work best when we
(13:35):
work together.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I really like that. I love that you guys have
found a way that works for you, and I think
it is so important to put an emphasis on things
outside of monetary contributions like the mental load and looking
after the finances, which is a really big job in
and of itself when you're doing it for a household.
So it's really awesome that you guys have put value
on that and considered that you're bringing that to the table.
(13:56):
You said that there was a tenant in the house
that your friend owned. How did that impact your process?
So I'm assuming that given that they were difficult, she
just let them run out their lease. Is that right?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Yeah, so we were going to end up having to
be landlords for a little while. There was going to
be a little two month overlap. So but she did
end up just packing up and leaving. Really she wasn't
supposed to, and also I don't think she was allowed to,
but it was one of those situations where it's like
it's probably more trouble than it's worth to chase it up.
But yeah, we did luckily end up having vacant possession
(14:29):
that settlement, But she was a little bit did make
it a little bit tricky having a tenant in there
when we were trying to do all of our inspections
in the building and pest and things like that. She
wouldn't let us take photos or anything like that. Even
if there was like damage in the property, we couldn't
take any photos, which is another reason why she didn't
want to have to go to market with her in there,
because there's no way she would have been able to
photograph the property. But we got there in the end,
(14:50):
it's all good.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, how stressful. That's just one of
the things that you don't really think about when it
comes to, you know, buying property. If there's a tenant
in there that's a bit of a pest. Yeah, like
that can get in the way. Whereas you know, I
remember when we were moving out of our rental property.
We weren't even having the property sold, we were just
moving and our agent was like, oh, can we inspect it.
(15:12):
I was like, yeah, bab, come over, like we want
you to get the lease. Like, I don't want you
to be out anything. I just can't imagine other people
being as pesty, ye, but it totally happens, like you
hear horror stories. So I'm glad it worked out the
way it worked out for you.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I have another question about buying with a partner because
I feel like a lot of people in our community
that will probably be the way that they purchased property.
How did you and your partner get on the same
page about the type of property and the location and
the area that you wanted to buy. I know when
I was talking to my partner about how to buy
property and what we should be buying, there were a
(15:48):
few friction points, and you know, there were a few
non negotiables for me that didn't match his non negotiables,
Like how did you navigate that conversation?
Speaker 4 (15:56):
As I said before, we didn't have too many non
negotiables just because we are our first home buyers. We
knew this house wasn't going to be our forever home.
We just wanted something that would suit us for the
next day five years, and then we wanted it to
serve as an investment, a decent investment after that, because
we did want to keep a hold of the asset,
but we just wanted something that would serve us as
(16:17):
a family home for the meantime. That was our main goal,
and we share that goal, so there wasn't really too
many points of conflict because we had the same end
goal anyway.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
So that's amazing. I'm so excited for you guys. I
love the serendipitous nature of it, like it feels like
you came full circle like you started. You said, at
this point in your life where you didn't know what
was going on, and then you met your partner while
you're in this house, and now hopefully one day you'll
have babies in this house, and it just is such
a special story. Do you have plans and it's probably
(16:45):
a little bit far down in the future to know
exactly what's going to happen, but you said that it's
a five year kind of home for now for you guys.
Do you think you would try and hold onto it
when you did move to another home or would you
probably look to sell it.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
We would love to keep it. Think it would be
a good investment. It's very close to all of the
schools in the area and shopping centers and things like that,
and it's being a townhouse, it's one of the cheaper
options near the schools, so I don't think we'll have
much trouble in the future keeping it as a rental.
So we would like to keep it for our retirement
one day.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Incredible property. Diarist, Thank you so much for sharing your story.
You really like pulled at my heartstrings. I'm feeling emotional.
This is such a cute one. And yeah, I just
can't tell you how much we appreciate you taking the time.
As someone who's going through the process right now, it
is really encouraging to hear someone say I looked at
hundreds of homes, because that's what I feel like i'm doing.
I feel like I'm looking at millions of homes and
(17:38):
making no headway. So thank you for sharing that. You've
made me feel so much better.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Thank you for your time today, and best of luck
with your own homeboying journey.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
But I think that's all we've got time for today.
Just before we head off, let's quickly wrap up the
boring but important stuff. Don't forget that the advice shared
on the Property Playbook is generally nature and does not
consider your individual circumstances. The Property Playbook exists purely for
educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make
an investment or a financial decision. And we'd love it
if you joined our Facebook group. We have our community
(18:08):
sharing and asking questions every single day, tips and tricks glore.
Search the Property Playbook on Facebook to join, and we're
also over on Instagram. You can search us at property
playbook a US. Lastly, if you think I'm doing a
good job, guys, can you leave me.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
With you on the podcast you've found so Desperado?
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I know, I really do. I want people to tell
me I'm doing a good job because I'm trying.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
My ill tell you you're doing a good job every day.
Is that not enough?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
I appreciate you, and I appreciate everyone who's left us review.
But that's all. We'll see you, guys,
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