Housing affordability has been a hot topic for some time now. You may think you’ll never get to own your own property or move up the ladder, but by making some changes and with a little lateral thinking, there are ways.

Interest rates are still low, and if you are a first-time homebuyer, you apply for a grant and/or access your super

Now if you are really serious about buying a house or moving up the ladder, you may need to make a few changes in order to get there.

Change your expectations

First and foremost, lower your expectations to be more in line with your bank balance.

Begin with a small home and work your way to a bigger one with a small home with second hand furniture. The big house and new furniture can come later.

Change your lifestyle

Previous generations didn’t have the pressures on their disposable income such as mobile phones or other IT costs, but they did make sacrifices in order to buy their house.

We’re not saying you need to stop doing everything you do; look at your budget and work out how much you need to save in order to achieve your goal. There will be areas in which you can make savings if you change your lifestyle.

If there is no room in your budget, think creatively and look at other ways to save or make some money.

Change your lender

The mainstream lenders such as banks have standard criteria you have to reach, so look beyond the main financial lending houses. There are financial lenders willing to give mortgages to those who are self-employed or whose circumstances don’t quite fit the standard criteria for bank lending.

Using a good mortgage broker may help as they have access to many lenders, not just the banks.

Change your location

Yes, we’d all love that apartment in the city or house overlooking the beach, but realistically these are out of reach for many. However, looking beyond these and neighbouring suburbs, just 30 minutes out from Newcastle CBD to Cameron Park, Edgeworth, Minmi or Maryland.

You don’t have to live with a 30 minute commute forever. Once you’ve got your foot on the ladder, you have an asset you can work with and a few years down the line, reassess your finances.

Making some changes won’t happen overnight and you may be looking at a two or three year timeframe.

By making some changes in your lifestyle, the way you think and your expectations, you can get on the property ladder.

In our 40 plus years of experience, we’ve worked with heaps of people who thought they’d never make it onto the property ladders.

We go beyond buying and selling properties; we give people ideas and all the information to help it work for them.

Give us a call on 02 4954 8833, send us an email to mail@apnewcastle.com.au  or pop into our Cardiff office for an informal chat.

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