Frances Cook: Building your own unique solution

They do say that necessity is the mother of all invention. And so, as first home buyers feel like they’re running out of options, some are getting inventive with their solutions.

While building a home may scare many, it’s a solution to several problems.

For one thing, there’s a very real financial incentive.

If you qualify for the KiwiSaver HomeStart grant, you get double the cash for building instead of buying an existing house, up to $10,000. If you’re in a couple, that could be $20,000 to add to your deposit.

But even though those are no small potatoes, the biggest bonus is still in the building itself.

When a deposit is hard to scrape together, the standard New Zealand three bedroom home could well be outside of your reach.

Meanwhile a smaller home, on a smaller parcel of land, is much more affordable.

Build it smart and you will have all the storage you need, without wasting money on extra bedrooms that you never use.

This is usually where people start worrying about “resale value” – because surely, a smaller home would have fewer potential buyers when you want to move on to a family home? Well, the data says you have nothing to worry about on that front.

OneRoof stats show the property market has flattened – except in the “affordable” end of the market. Read, smaller and cheaper houses.

That end of the market tends to stay healthy no matter what the rest of the property market is doing, as first home buyers and investors keep hunting for bargains.

First home buyers in particular tend to buy when they’re in the right stage of life, rather than being influenced by other market trends.

Building lets you think outside of the box, to get creative with what could work for you, and help you get that first difficult foot on the property ladder.

You’ll need to do homework to make sure you go into the project with eyes wide open, and a realistic chance of success.

But it’s a small price for ending up with a smaller price.