Selwyn_Times: October 19, 2022

• By Nikki Preston
A COUPLE who has managed
to snag their first home at the
young ages of 19 and 21 say even
they are surprised at how quickly
it happened.
Emily Walker, 19, and Bradyn
Taylor, 21, only started saving
for their first home at the start of
this year and were not expecting
to be in a position to have a 10
per cent deposit needed to buy a
house until 2023.
But four weeks ago, a threebedroom
home in Rolleston
caught Walker’s eye while she
was scrolling through a property
website one night.
They did a quick search on
OneRoof to check the property
estimate and when it looked like
it could be within reach, they
quickly arranged a private viewing.
Two days later they submitted
their offer with just two hours to
spare before the deadline closed
and were shocked to hear their
conditional offer of $550,000 had
been accepted. The offer is also
the maximum amount they can
spend in Christchurch to
be eligible for the First Home
Grant.
“It was mental,” Walker said.
Walker, who works on a service
desk for an IT company, and
Taylor, a landscape gardener, had
been looking at suburbs all over
Christchurch and had initially
thought Rolleston was over their
budget.
The 1980s home on Byron St
had been a rental property so
had some minor paint chips,
but Walker didn’t expect the
cosmetic work to cost too much
to fix.
“It’s a bit of an older home. It’s
definitely not the nicest one in
Rolleston, but it’s hopefully going
to look amazing by the time
we are done with it.
“We thought it would be an
amazing opportunity because of
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
how much Rolleston is growing
and I think it’s going to just continue
climbing from there.”
After their conditional offer
was accepted, the couple then
worked with their mortgage
brokers at Loan Market and by
gaining approval for Kāinga
Ora’s First Home Grant and First
Home Loan they were able to
secure their first home with just
a five per cent deposit.
The property went unconditional
two weeks ago and Walker
said she’s still in shock.
“It was incredible. Honestly,
we thought we were not going to
get it because of how hard it has
been for lots of buyers.”
Walker said they saved their
$32,000 contribution by being
really careful with their spending
this year. Their deposit was
further bolstered by the $20,00
in their KiwiSaver accounts and
the First Home Grant.
“We had been saving non-stop
and spending as little money as
possible, but also we wouldn’t be
missing out on things.”
Their only bills were rent, utilities
and groceries so they didn’t
have any major debts other than
a couple of credit cards which
they have now paid off. On the
budget they set themselves, they
were still able to save $600 a
week.
They also got in a flatmate to
help pay the rent on their twobedroom
inner-city apartment
so they could save more money.
“We tried not to spend too
much, but at the same time we
didn’t feel like we were always
trapped by the boundaries of
which we had set ourselves.
“Something that’s also quite
amazing is that we had no financial
help from parents or anyone,
it was just the banks and Kāinga
Ora.”
While moving about 30 minutes
out of the central city would
mean Walker would have to
endure a longer commute on the
NEWS 3
Young couple save home deposit in a year
STOKED: Bradyn Taylor, 21, and Emily Walker, 19, outside
their new three-bedroom home in Rolleston.
PHOTO: NZ HERALD
Wednesday October 19 2022 Selwyn Times
days she went into the office, she
said it was worth it to be paying
off their own mortgage and not
someone else’s.
A lot of people their age
thought home ownership was a
pipe dream, she said, but they
were proof that it is achievable.
She urged first home buyers
to also keep any eye out on what
was for sale as the right property
could pop up when they least
expected it. The Government
increasing the cap on how much
could be spent on properties
and still be eligible for the First
Home Grant had also worked in
their favour.
Loan Market mortgage adviser
Angela Wanoa, who helped
Taylor and Walker, said it is absolutely
achievable for first home
buyers to get in the market now
as long as they have prepared
themselves.
“I seriously think at school
there’s a real missing piece for
young people and as soon as kids
get their first job they should
start contributing as much as
they can into KiwiSaver to start
building your deposit.”
Keeping short-term debts low
– or even better not having them
– and making sure the accounts
stay within their limits will also
help people when they apply to
the bank for their first mortgage,
she said.
– NZ Herald
2022
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