Courtney, 26 and Max, 28, love living at home with their parents. But it’s time for them to spread their wings and make their first property purchase — together. Here’s what the siblings did to get into their first home faster.
Saving for a house deposit is hard work, and it can take many years of stashing away your hard-earned money to reach the minimum deposit needed to purchase a home. It’s why Courtney and Max have decided to cut their saving time in half and join forces to buy a house together. But they want to do so without jeopardising their relationship.
Courtney and Max saw a lawyer at the start of the process to get advice on protecting both sides’ interests. After discussing how the siblings would deal with any tricky situations, the lawyer drew up a co-ownership agreement setting out how the arrangement would work. It included:
As part of their research, Courtney and Max explored a range of different home loan options. They settled on a principal-and-interest owner-occupier loan and chose the Health Wealth Happiness Home Loan Package because it allowed them to borrow up to 90 percent of the property price. The package also included an offset account, allowing Courtney and Max to reduce the amount of interest they paid. To make their home loan repayments, Courtney and Max each arranged for a fortnightly direct debit to go from their individual Freedom Saver accounts into the home loan offset account.
Courtney and Max found a great apartment in the same suburb as their parents. Sharing a mortgage is a new experience, but it helps them to spread the load — and their wings.
Whether you want to buy a home as a couple or a single, with friends or with family, the below list covers some things to look out for as you step on to the property ladder for the first time.
