Having struggled for several years to save for a deposit, single mother Renee Maguire describes being able to buy her first home as a “life-changing” experience.
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“I’ve been wanting to buy my own place probably for at least five years, but battling to save that 20 per cent deposit that you need,” the 44-year-old teacher said.
“Being able to buy your own home today is almost impossible; saving for a deposit while paying rent and covering day-to-day living expenses doesn’t leave much left.
I was actually at the point at the age of 44 of moving in with my mum for two years to try and save for the deposit...
- Renee Maguire
“I was actually at the point at the age of 44 of moving in with my mum for two years to try and save for the deposit, because with renting, car expenses… I was about to move in with her. Then I found out about this scheme and I was successful, so I didn’t end up moving in with her.
Ms Maguire was able to buy the home with assistance from Illawarra-based construction company Hyperbuild’s partnership with BuyAssist Australia, a subsidiary of the National Affordable Housing Consortium.
Ms Maguire applied for the Illawarra-focused initiative in April and found out she successfully secured a Hyperbuild three-bedroom townhouse in Albion Park Rail this month. The unit in located within Hyperbuild’s Macquarie Place project.
Hyperbuild general manager Theo Pasialis said they set aside a percentage of some developments for the BuyAssist initiative.
“It enables people like Renee to get into a home where she wouldn’t have been able to (otherwise),” he said.
“What BuyAssist do is provide the initial deposit, or up to 25 per cent of the value of the townhouse to a person or couple who is in a position to afford the repayments.
“The person who buys the property doesn’t have to give any money back until they decide to sell the property… Then they give back the value. So if they borrow 20 or 25 per cent of the value initially, whatever the current market value is in two, five, ten or 20 years, they will then pay 20 or 25 per cent of that value back.
“They pay it back when they leave the premises basically.
“(In the meantime) they’re paying the mortgage every week, based on that 75 per cent that they’ve borrowed.”
Ms Maguire was previously renting in Kiama, as it was, “a good place, a safe place to bring my daughter up”.
“I knew that I had to get into the owning side of things, because rent’s just going up and up,” Ms Maguire said. “What I was paying in rent is more than what I’d be paying in a mortgage… That’s not a good thing.
“To be honest, Dapto, everywhere, is just as expensive as Kiama for rent now. Everywhere around here is crazy prices.”
Ms Maguire moved into her new place last Saturday, – just in time for Christmas - and her daughter Kristen has also moved in.
“This gives me a lot of security going forward, and my aim really is to try and pay the place off as quickly as I can,” Ms Maguire said. “But it also means that I have something that I can leave my daughter.”
