First Home = First Investment

For you to qualify for finance you must satisfy the bank’s lending criteria. Income, deposit, rental history, credit history, the list goes on and on. If you are fortunate to have a BC (borrowing capacity) for a new home and land package, your budget MAY NOT represent what you pictured in your mind for your first home. The sprawling back yard, the high ceilings, masterchef kitchen, rooms big enough to play footy in.. you get the point. I have this conversation with all my clients, especially those with less than 20k deposit in the bank getting finance through rental reference policy and builder paid deposit. You get what your budget allows, AS
CLOSE to what and where you have in mind. This is only the first of many we will help you achieve over your lifetime, so for your first, put on your investor hat, stand back and look at the project with these points in mind:

• Smaller block size – Tenants actually don’t mind this, as less weekend maintenance, and unless it is your home, I don’t believe a tenant would provide the same TLC to your garden as you would, and based on my experience, unless a tenant has 3 or 4 kids this is not a pre-requirement.
• An investor friendly estate – You started out in one of these, for one reason. Location. Close to shops, transport, kids school, city etc. You are now doing what the person that owns your rental did, entering the market.
• Upgrades – Keep these to a reasonable minimum especially if you are entering the market with our unique 27k Grant. The valuers do not necessarily see value in upgraded floors, ceiling heights, appliances etc. There are a few little touches I would recommend absolutely that I myself would want for my first home, and I will discuss these with you. I have vast experience on what works and what doesn’t, and what makes a big difference when you are converting your first home into your first investment.
• House size – I will advise you what works better than others, and the happy medium that will satisfy you as a first home buyer and an investor, plus keep the valuer happy as he is the person that could put a serious wrinkle in your plans.

Many of my clients as well are well into the 6 figures income wise and paying far too much tax, with nothing to declare but the standard laundry and a smidgen of depreciation on the home computer. A first home-come-investment property will hit your tax for 6 and put more of your hard earned dollars back into your pocket. You only have to live in it for 12 months then bring on the tax return!

The important point to take away from this is: Get into the market, access all the freebies and finance systems put in place for you to leave the rental market quickly. Your budget will determine the proximity to what you have in your mind as ideal, which may be bang on or quite distant. Especially if the latter, look at it from an investor perspective. Your property will still rise in value according to the prevailing market, so you will still have equity to access at some stage in the property cycles, and be able to move up one step closer to your ideal.