19yo first-home buyer: you can do it
less popular area, but that was fine by me.’’
There were options on the market, but Sefonte found the process to be daunting, and became exasperated by people’s disbelief that she could be doing it alone.
She approached a couple of mortgage brokers for help, she said.
‘‘One didn’t give me the time of day, and the other started out quite helpful, but then fell off the face of the earth.
‘‘So I encountered a fair bit of resistance before I even had a chance to explain my situation, or before anyone looked at my bank account and finances.’’
It meant she had to do the research, and the rounds of the banks by herself. That took a while, and she had a few tries with various banks before one took her seriously.
There were times when she felt she had hit a wall, and should give up, she says.
‘‘It was stressful, but I am stubborn, and it made me more determined to do it. My parents encouraged me, and I knew I qualified for a 5% deposit loan and could make it work, so I kept going.’’
Eventually, she found a house in her price range in Rotherham, and when she went to SBS Bank to put her case forward, she struck a helpful, and understanding, account manager.
She worked through her loan application with him, and her finances stood up to the scrutiny of the lending rules, although the level of disclosure required did take her by surprise.
‘‘That assessment was the point where I thought I wouldn’t be able to go ahead. I race cars at speedway in my spare time, own my own race car, and pay for everything myself.
‘‘I had made a couple of big purchases for it within that three-month period the bank looks at. I could show I had specifically saved for them, but some extra involved.’’
Once she was given a mortgage, with a fixed one-year rate of 5%, things moved quickly. She bought the Rotherham house for $250,000 and, as it was sold vacant, she was able to take possession promptly.
It is an older house and needs some cosmetic work, such as a good paint job, Sefonte said.
‘‘But it is decent, liveable, and insured, and it is mine.
‘‘It has a quarter-acre section, and the neighbours have a checking was double property with a garden at the front, so I look out at their garden, and there are paddocks behind me. It’s lovely.’’
Her mortgage repayments are about $270 a week, but she had been paying $200 a week to rent a tiny, one-bedroom studio in Christchurch.
That means it was not a vast difference in costs, she said. ‘‘And given I now have heaps more space for me and my cat, it is worth it.’’
Some changes were necessary. The hour-plus drive to
Christchurch for work each day ate up too much time, so she switched jobs to drive trucks for a local company.
But she is ‘‘100% happy’’ with her purchase, and her move to the small rural town. The community had been welcoming and friendly, she said.
‘‘And my neighbours have been incredible. They have dropped by with fruit, and baking, and the like. It’s been much easier settling in here than it would be in a big city.’’
Sefonte said she experienced lots of pushback from people when she told them she has recently bought her first home.
‘‘Most people ask who helped me, and it is almost like people do not want to believe I was able to do it. It is unusual at my age, but that’s why I wanted to tell my story – to inspire other people looking to buy.’’
She recommends being realistic about what is possible, even though it is hard to look past the lovely $800,000 houses on property websites.
‘‘You have to start small, like I have. If it is a unit or something, it doesn’t matter; it is a start; so if you can knuckle down and do it, then do it.
‘‘If you are paying hundreds of dollars a week on rent, and you can pay a similar amount on a mortgage, it is worth it.
‘‘That is because even if it doesn’t work out, and you have to sell, you get something back from what you have put in, and that is not the case if you rent.’’