Pene and Jono: Their First Home Buyer Journey

Written by Money Empire

August 24, 2021

Pene and Jono are first home buyers and Lisa, our first home buyer guru, wanted to share their journey. “This dream team has taken on board all of the advice I have given and made their own personal sacrifices to get onto the property ladder.” It’s a huge ask, a big task, but nothing is unachievable with the right people in your corner. 

However, like most first home buyers understand, their property journey has taken a lot of willpower and determination.

Pene and Jono came to Lisa in early 2020, trying to figure out where they were at financially and what they needed to do to get into their first home. At the time, Lisa and the team at Money Empire did manage to get a pre-approval for them, but it still wasn’t quite enough to beat the market. 

During the period of the 90 day approval they missed out on a couple of properties, which of course would be so defeating. Lisa extended the approval for a further 90 days, where they still didn’t find anything. 

Between their initial contact in early 2020 to July 2021, Pene and Jono have gone to many open homes, made several offers on properties, been to auctions and have been unsuccessful. 

It can be so gutting to put your all out there, only to get rejected every time. You can only imagine their emotional state during these times, with all of this and the addition of COVID-19 hurtling its way around the world and our country. Pene and Jono were still determined to buy their own home. 

During this chaos, these two legends managed to: 

  • Clear all of their short term debt – approx $30,000
  • Save more of a deposit
  • Build a budget that worked for them
  • Remained positive and focus on their task: to buy a home

As we all know, moving back in with the parents can be a tough one, but Pene and Jono made the decision to do this in order to cut down on living costs. Jono also changed employers a couple of times, within the same industry, and Pene found a new role which put them in a better financial position come July 2021. It was a tough but ultimately beneficial year for the both of them. 

Pene and Jono have been recognised for their hard work and efforts, we were able to get them a higher level of lending. With the help of a few folks in their corner, they were fighting fit and an active contender in the housing market.

Buying a home is an expensive one, not only because you have to buy the physical property, but because you have to spend your hard-earned money on building reports and valuations. These two were no exception to this process. They spent their own money on these building reports and valuations they were keen on. 

While you might not necessarily get the first couple of homes you make an offer on, spending this money now on the required reports will help safeguard you. These reports make sure you’re purchasing a home that is sound and up to standard – which is a relief if you do manage to go unconditional!

Check out Lisa’s social post with Pene & Jono on some questions around their experience of their property journey. Everyone’s journey is different, but it might help other first home buyers going through the same process.

On a separate note from Lisa and the team at Money Empire: 

Pene and Jono, congratulations on everything you have achieved. We finally made it and I wish you all the best with your new property that you get to call your own!

Get in touch with us if you’re going through the motions of your home buying journey.

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