Buying your first home? How to reach the summit.

Written by Meighan Hetherington

It takes a lot of effort to climb a mountain

Actually buying your first home can feel like reaching the peak of a mountain top. 

It is the pinnacle of a long, focused and exhausting climb.  It is the culmination of months of research and training.   It is making daily judgements about which way to go so that you don’t end up taking the wrong path.

No-one sets out on a mountain climb with the intention of failing.  Similarly, when you set out to buy a new home or investment property you have every intention of doing so.  But many things can go wrong along the way.

A lot of people get stuck in the ‘research and preparation’ phase of the climb.  They lack to confidence to step out and start the climb.  ‘Analysis Paralysis’ affects a lot of property buyers and stops them from taking the real steps towards ownership.

Some stand at the bottom of the mountain, start on the right path and become confused then overwhelmed by the amount of ‘advice’ given by well meaning ‘experts’.  If you have ever been to a BBQ and mentioned that you are thinking of buying your first home, you will have experienced the phenomenon of the ‘instant expert’.  They are well meaning family, friends, work colleagues and even the taxi driver who just love to share their stories and experience. Unfortunately, these well-meaning people have no idea what you are trying to achieve, your goals or your needs so most of what they tell you is not going to help you. 

A lot start the climb, spend a lot of time carefully navigating the mountain, only to get delayed or taken off course because they have so many other competing priorities. Daily life often gets in the way when you are buying your first home.  Work, family, school sports on a Saturday, travel even pregnancy!

A few make it close to the pinnacle.  So close but not close enough to make that final step to the pinnacle, the top of the mountain. The actual successful purchase of a house is tough to do and hard to get right.

To reach the pinnacle of the property mountain climb you need to commit around 200 hours over 4 months. 

Every mountain climber knows that once you reach the pinnacle that is not the end.  You must then follow a carefully planned pathway back to everyday life and start planning for the next climb. 

In property this is the pathway to managing, maintaining and improving your property then building your equity to fund the next mountain climb.

As buyers agents, we have been to the Pinnacle with our clients over 1,000 times. That gives us a lot of collective experience to be your trusted climbing guide to get you to the pinnacle in less time. We know the right pathway and we will keep you on track with our First Home Buyer Guide.

Author: Meighan Hetherington
Meighan Hetherington is a licensed real estate agent who exclusively helps buyers.
Meighan is the multi award winning principal of Brisbane based Property Pursuit, chairperson of the REIQ Buyers Agent Chapter & regular media commentator.
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