Revealed: How a 20 year old secured his first home – realestate.com.au

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Mr Blackburn noted the realities for the first home buyers grant that buyers often don’t consider. Picture: David Clark

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For 20-year-old Jonah Blackburn, setting his sights high by breaking into the property market young early was an indispensable move for his future.

After being turned down from purchasing a pre-existing house, he took matters into his own hands and decided to buy a block in a new estate in Greenbank, ‘Covella’, for $300,200.

Mr Blackburn noted the realities for the first home buyers grant that buyers often don’t consider.

“When you purchase a house outright, as soon as you do the deal and deposit, they inject $30,000 into your loan. It isn’t for your buying power to come off your loan, and they essentially pay it at slab stage,” Mr Blackburn said.
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“When saving, most people only need around $30,000. I saved a bit more because, realistically, you’re going to need to do a bit extra to do anything else. There are usually extra costs, such as stamp duty on the land, registrar fees, etc.”

Mr Blackburn plans on building and moving into the home with his partner, Caitlin Bonsey.

“I was ready to purchase when I was 19. I went to open homes and auctions. I feel like if you’re younger and trying to break into the market, you can get shunned,” Mr Blackburn said.
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“Even though I had my pre-approval just off face value, they’ll just look at the more established investors there; there is no real way of saying it.

Mr Blackburn said the secret to his deposit success was being strict about his expenditures.

“I haven’t done anything overly that smart or majorly different. I’ve just worked a lot more than most peers my age. I had three jobs at one stage,” he said

“It is planning for the future, and having a property portfolio will make that easier. Getting extra loans or going into any business venture helps you gain assets if you’re an entrepreneur.

“Yes, you miss out on quite a lot, saving pretty much everything that you possibly can. I’m lucky to still live at home and work multiple jobs. I would say that is the biggest factor for me.”