READY TO RENOVATE
How can young buyers get a foot in the door of a rising market? For some, buying a fixer-upper could be the way onto the property ladder, writes Jarrad Bevan.
FIRST-HOME buyer Robert Jurasovic is about to put his strong work ethic to the test with a renovation of his recently purchased property.
Robert says he has always wanted to buy a house and after working full-time since he was a teenager, the 21-year-old made the move to buy in Blackmans Bay in April.
“I looked everywhere for the right property for me, from Kingborough to Hobart,” he said.
“Price was an important factor. I found a few places that could have used some love, but many of them were already ready to live in rather than renovate.”
The young chef said he did not have a huge list of “must haves” but the ability to put his one stamp on it via renovation was appealing.
With the home he bought, a few things stand out as needing Robert’s attention first.
“Definitely the kitchen, it is a bit dated. “And I’d like to install floorboards.
“My brother-in-law is interested in helping me out, which is great.” Robert said while he wasn’t necessarily daydreaming of a renovation project when he put in an offer on his Blackmans Bay home with Raine & Horne Kingston director Samantha Scarlett, it did seem like a good option that he kept in the back of his mind.
“A renovation did seem more realistic and feasible, and a way to keep the price lower while finding something in the right area,” he said.
Robert is among the majority of firsttime buyers that are keen to renovate their home, per research from comparison website Finder.
Finder’s First Home Buyers Report 2021 reveals 79 per cent are already planning to renovate their new home.
The research found one in five (22 per cent) plan to renovate immediately after buying, while 30 per cent will do so within the first 12 months.
A further 23 per cent will undertake a home makeover within the first five years, followed by 5 per cent who intend to renovate six or more years down the line.
Finder home loans expert Sarah Megginson said that the property boom had instilled a fear of missing out among prospective first-home buyers.
She said with property prices showing no signs of slowing down and interest rates at an all-time low, first-home buyers were getting creative with different tactics to get into the market.
“In a hot market, it’s not always possible to buy your ideal home let alone your dream home,” she said.
“What some first-home buyers are finding is that their best chance to get on the property ladder is by purchasing a ‘fixer-upper’ in a suitable suburb.” Overall, Ms Megginson said first-home buyers were starting to see that they have to be creative and flexible about what their first home might look like.
She said her first home was not her dream home by any stretch.
“It was a two-bedroom apartment and the walls were made of besser block,” Ms Megginson said.
“The fixtures and fittings were cheap and flimsy, and the back courtyard was so tiny you could almost touch both sides if you stood in the middle.
“But it was affordable and it got me on the property ladder.”
Finder has found that on average Australians spent $63,118 per renovation project last year, with kitchens, bathrooms and outdoor areas being the top projects of choice.