Moving from renting to owning a house is one of the greatest leaps Australians will make in their lives, but anyone daunted by the challenge can take some tips from a young Queensland nurse who chose Stockland to help make her dreams come true.
Ashleigh Coombs is only 23 years old, but she already lives in a new four-bedroom house she built on the Sunshine Coast and is now planning a property investment portfolio to achieve even more of her goals.
Although nurses have notoriously low wages and Ashleigh didn’t have rich parents or a partner helping with finances, she doesn’t believe she had to make any major sacrifices to buy a house. “You just have to be honest with yourself and your budgeting,” she says.
“During uni I lived with my parents and that helped to reduce costs, and I only rented for about 14 months. I’d already bought one car while I was in high school, then another a couple of years ago and I’ve travelled a lot overseas.
“You just have to put yourself on a budget and really stick to it. I would go out with my friends and things like that, but I might not spend $300 on a night out like others did. I’d be honest with myself and say I only have a certain amount to spend.”
After four years of careful saving Ashleigh had $22,000, and after talking to a financial planner last year, she found she had more than enough for a bank loan.
“I only needed $15,000 for a deposit because I was eligible for the First Home Owners’ Grant, which was also $15,000,” she says. “I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to buy a house or a unit, but after a while a house became more appealing.
“Then I came across Stockland and they had some pretty good deals, so I bought land from them at Bells Reach in Caloundra West on the Sunshine Coast, which is a great community and close to a health precinct where I can work.”
“It’s very close to other new communities that are developing on the Sunshine Coast and will hopefully be very appealing to buyers when I’m looking to sell at a profit.”
Because Ashleigh was young and single, she believed she would only be able to borrow enough to build a three-bedroom house, however one of the major banks was willing to lend her enough for a four-bedroom one. “I borrowed $390,000, which with the $30,000 deposit was enough pay for the land and house,” she says.
Being realistic about building costs was another of Ashleigh’s clever strategies. Rather than choose expensive fittings and finishes such as marble benchtops, she selected cheaper alternatives and plans to upgrade them later.
“I found a great builder that was more up and coming, and they were awesome in working with me to achieve what I wanted,” she says. “I plan to stay here for two or three years, then sell and buy another house and more than likely an investment property too. Then I’ll just keep building my portfolio like that.”
“I’ve always been a good saver, and at one point I was working three jobs. My first was after school in a kebab shop when I was 13, then I moved part time to a retail company, and after university and a nursing assistant job I became a registered nurse.
Ashleigh hopes to have achieved her full financial goals by the age of 40. “I don’t know whether I’ll be mortgage free by then, because I’ll have investment properties, but hopefully I’ll be a lot further down the track,” she says.
For more information on building a home with Stockland visit www.stockland.com.au/residential.