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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
First home buyers might be better off foregoing the various grants on offer and making their first property purchase an investment property, a Smartline property adviser has claimed.
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According to Miriam Castilla, this strategy could work well for young professionals and others who have the scope to earn significant incomes in coming years but want the benefits of property ownership now.
“First home buyers are often stretched in terms of their savings and borrowing capacity, trying to get a foot in the door of the property market while only at the beginning of their lives and careers,” she said.
"The reality is, for most first home buyers their first property isn’t their long-term home, but rather a stepping stone.
"Some of them aren’t even keen to move out of mum and dad’s house or their current rented property; they simply want to make a start on getting into the property market.”
In these situations, purchasing an investment property the first time around, and becoming a renter-investor (someone who rents the property they live in, but has an investment property), could be the solution.
For those looking to buy an investment property, when savings are good but borrowing capacity is tight, the first home owner grant is usually not a necessity to make the home purchase a possibility.
“Most people also don’t realise that by not claiming the first home grant when they buy a property, they’re not forfeiting it altogether,” Ms Castilla said.
