PHOTO: Sydney, Australia
The brutal property market has first homebuyers desperate, with one Sydneysider going to extreme lengths to secure a three-bedroom home.
A Sydney construction manager has outlined the extreme lengths he went to to buy a home in the midst of the city’s property boom.
Khalid Ismail, 28, lived with his parents for three years to save up a healthy $60,000 deposit, but still ended up house hunting for two years as house prices surged.
He viewed around 50 places both in person and virtually during lockdowns, becoming increasingly certain he would never be able to buy a place in which he might be able to raise a family one day.
“There was definitely a point where I though this is too much and I don’t have enough deposit and won’t be able to make the repayments,” he told news.com.au.
“I wanted something a bit closer to the city and a little bit closer to a train station but I thought about the fact those areas or some of those areas close to the CBD were way above my price point.”
Mr Ismail was so desperate to find a place that he lined up three virtual auctions in one day during Sydney’s last lockdown – only ever seeing photos and never having been physically inside any of them.
“I missed out on one, the second one was too above my price range and the final one fell in the bracket,” he said.
“I got lucky. The real estate agent did a ring around of all the people who signed up before and a few people were a bit nervous about doing a virtual auction so a few interested parties didn’t attend. So I was left with three other potential buyers and it was pretty much who was more hungry and determined to put their hand up and I guess I was the lucky one.”
He purchased the three-bedroom house in the western Sydney suburb of Doonside for $700,000 in September and by using the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme it meant he only needed to stump up $35,000 to secure the home.
READ MORE VIA NEWS.COM.AU
