My Story: My First Property Purchase
I want to share with you about my first property purchase. For us, it was an incredibly exciting step. We were young, hopeful, soon to be married, and thrilled to buy our first property and start our own lives.
We purchased a quiet 1.5 acres in the country, close to where we both grew up. I had savings of $30,000, enough to purchase the land with cash outright and we went to the bank my family had banked with for my entire life and borrowed the $130,000 required to build our first home. It felt like we’d achieved something big, our own little piece of Australia.
A couple of years later, the market took a downturn, and the land value alone dropped to around $14,000, less than half of what we’d originally paid! That was a hard pill to swallow, and yes, we started to worry that our property might never grow in value. Around that same time, the owner of the neighbouring vacant block came to our door, offering to sell us his land for the current market price of $14,000. It was an incredible opportunity, one we later realized could have set us up nicely for the future. But at that point, we just couldn’t make it work. I was pregnant with our first child, my husband was on an apprentice wage of $500 a week, and I was about to step back from work. Looking back, we wish we’d been able to afford it, but at the time, we had to pass up what, in hindsight, would have been a brilliant investment.
Fast forward to today, and property prices across the country have risen, as they do over time. That same land alone is now valued around $500,000 as a vacant block. Our property’s value has grown in ways we couldn’t have imagined back then. Sure, we’ve made improvements, adding a pool, sheds, and landscaping, but the key takeaway here is that property rewards those who have the patience to hold on through the market’s ups and downs. Waiting for time to make a difference in price is what property is all about.
This experience is something I always keep in mind when working with clients. Real estate isn’t always a smooth or straightforward path. There are peaks and troughs, and sometimes the market feels unpredictable. But making the best decisions you can at each moment and focusing on the long-term are what ultimately pay off.
For anyone starting on the property ladder, remember: it’s not about quick wins. It’s about steady, long-term growth that builds value over time. Our first property taught me that if you’re willing to stay the course, property will often reward you in ways you didn’t expect.
