A young entrepreneur shared how he bought two houses without having wealthy parents or a well-paying job.
Despite his disadvantaged position, Harry Doig, 25, now owns two properties in Queensland and has ambitious plans to build a property empire.
Mr Doig believes young Australians can afford to buy a home if they are willing to save money and are prepared to buy a cheaper home that they can renovate.
His advice to others looking to buy a home is to “not worry too much about credit and just live within your means.”
“It’s not that comfortable, but in the long run it’s definitely worth it,” he told the Courier post.
While saving for a low-wage savings account, Mr Doig had to limit his spending on luxuries that many Australians take for granted.
That meant canceling subscriptions like Netflix, avoiding buy-now-pay-later services like ZipPay and Afterpay, and stopping eating out.
Mining engineer Harry Doig (pictured) has revealed how he managed to buy his second home at the age of 25, while others his age were put off the housing market
‘I had to go through these difficult circumstances, living on a pittance, unpredictable housing and high living costs. I just had to deal with it no matter how hard it got.’
He sold most of his tools and eventually saved enough money for a 10 percent down payment on a house.
However, the young entrepreneur was faced with a new challenge: obtaining a loan.
Mr Doig said he was “laughed at” by a NAB employee when he applied for a mortgage, which he described as “quite demoralising”.
Another bank employee said he was denied a loan for being too “risky,” but on his third attempt he finally got the chance to achieve his goal.
The miner bought his first home in Allenstown, Rockhampton, for $170,000 in 2021 after spending every penny he could earn on a low wage.
After installing new doors and laying carpet, he now rents out his house and has his sights set on another property.
In January last year, he struck again, buying a $210,000 home on nearby Murray Street, planning to completely renovate it himself.
He said he was “inspired” to invest in real estate to build a better life for himself.
Mr Doig advises potential homeowners to set realistic goals by looking for affordable homes in the area, rather than buying in the big cities, where prices are skyrocketing.
Mr Doig said he had to make sacrifices while saving for a mortgage, even going so far as to sleep in his car to avoid Brisbane’s high rents (stock image)
Despite the Reserve Bank raising interest rates to control inflation, house prices in Australian capital cities have risen by a further 20 per cent over the past year.
Businessman and CEO of Freelancer.com Matt Barrie agreed, saying that economists consider a home to be “astronomically unaffordable” if it costs more than five times the average salary.
In Australia, the average house in the capital city is nine times more expensive than the average salary, while in Sydney it is a whopping 13 times more expensive.
“The root of all evil in this country is the astronomical price of housing. Once you understand all the implications of that – it really is the problem that is the root of all the problems,” Mr Barrie said.
According to Domain’s House Price Report for the March quarter 2024, the average home in Sydney costs around $1.6 million. The company predicts the average price could reach $2 million within the next three years.
It is the most expensive city in the world to buy a house after Hong Kong.
According to Mr Barrie, it is now mathematically impossible for a household on an average income to pay off a mortgage in Australia.
“The median salary is about $94,000 a year, which makes your net take-home income about $5,900 a month after taxes. On a $1.2 million mortgage at current rates, that’s almost $7,000 a month [in mortgage repayments].
“Wages are no longer enough to pay for housing in Sydney,” he said.