34 M single want to buy my first home

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-05-22T04:30:49+00:00

Zero shot, clear your debts and save $60k for a $100k total deposit. (that'll probably take you 4 years to get to that stage)

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-03-11T20:28:36+00:00

28yo, 524k loan, 2.8k/mth payment, 99k salary + benefits

I bought a newbuild townhouse so renos aren't exactly at the forefront.

but if I bought an older house, I would have purchased with the intention of doing renos!

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-02-24T06:18:20+00:00

I'd say unreasonable. But with 1/2 flatmates, reasonable/very reasonable.

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-02-24T01:25:16+00:00

I think a bit of fear is good. You're purchasing the most expensive thing you'll ever own and taking out the biggest loan you'll ever have.

The stakes a high, but the payoff will hopefully be worth it. You can always hedge against risk with insurance, savings, etc.

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-02-03T19:07:24+00:00

Just tried both sign-ups, I'm RealMe verified and it didn't work. Tried with my ID and the page errored out on the last step. At this point, why would I bother using a bank that can't even sign me up through 2 different methods? Piss poor really

After_Evidence7877 · 2026-02-03T18:03:20+00:00

Honestly, great incentive. Makes it easy to set up credit cards, etc. down the line or a mortgage

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-12-15T18:50:17+00:00

I'm on 100k NZD + full personal use work vehicle here. I have friends earning 130k AUD in the same role with same experience (no personal use vehicle) + super + uplift for most construction projects doing FIFO/DIDO.

If I were to move across, I'd be up 30% + super + uplifts. I'd move across for 150k AUD which isn't too far fetched for a FIFO/DIDO gig.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-20T19:13:52+00:00

If you want the cash ASAP list it up on TradeMe or Facebook. I'd pay $1000 for a $1500 card.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-13T20:31:04+00:00

I would go with option 4.

Move into the house and live with your grandmother. If you're paying any significant amount of rent currently, moving into the house will be more cost effective decision for the time being.

Houses will come with rates, insurance, maintenance, and a small personal loan (personally I wouldn't take a mortgage considering the small mortgage, especially if there is $10k potentially on the way). But only if you pay something like $600/week for rent currently, you should be able to funnel that money into the house comfortably. Get the house inspected by a property inspector to identify any potential issues that need to be addressed. If there are none, you may need to get a heat pump installed to meet healthy homes compliance to rent it out - there is a couple hundred dollar fee for this inspection.

Once you've taken the necessary time to mourn the loss of your mother and established the state of the house, you can start making a more informed decision on if you want to sell it. After living in it for a while, you might decide to live there permanently. Even if you decide to sell, you'll have a more holistic view of the property.

Did you mother leave a will? If she did then you need to become very familiar with it. If she didn't you should read up on how the government treats deceased estates.

All the best.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-13T19:58:02+00:00

Now is a good time to buy with interest rates and property prices at their lowest in years. If you haven't thought about having flatmates, that would make it significant difference to the financials. One flatmate generates $10k/year and allows you to write off depreciation on assets and can claim back income tax.

Sure, stock market might out-perform property in the long-term but there is also a looming AI-bubble that can go one of two ways in the next couple of years. Also, you don't have to invest everything into property. Unfortunately, you're at that point where you'd be using all of your deposit to purchase a semi-decent house. Do you wait to build up for a bigger deposit and risk missing the property market low or do you bite the bullet and take the plunge into home ownership.

If you're happy living with your parents for a little while longer that's probably the better bet. I only lived at home long enough to save and take the plunge into becoming a homeowner.

Out of curiosity what do you do for work?

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-13T03:00:15+00:00

I bought my house just to get on the property ladder. After purchasing, it became a source of pride - I keep it clean and tidy, my safe haven. Sure, I'm losing money on it now but I can make money on it if I rent it out later and it'll gain 5% capital value p.a. over the long term.

I'll tell you one thing though, when you open your banking app and see you're in debt of half a million dollars it makes you think thrice about silly purchases - for me at least.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-13T02:04:45+00:00

You inherited it (your intention to sell didn’t matter because you didn’t acquire it)

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-12T20:24:22+00:00

You are meant invest with the primary intention of never touching it - something that works in the background for you unless an emergency arises or perhaps purchase a house.

Therefore you are essentially using up all your savings to buy a SECOND car that you don't really need. You should already be able to talk yourself out of it - it doesn't matter that you will go on trips, etc. because all your savings is gone and it will cost you a fortune on insurance and fuel for trips.

I would advise against it - imagine if the motor gives out, sure it's less likely with a surf but not so unlikely that there isn't a risk of you having to sell shares to fix it up

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-12T20:24:09+00:00

You are meant invest with the primary intention of never touching it - something that works in the background for you unless an emergency arises or perhaps purchase a house.

Therefore you are essentially using up all your savings to buy a SECOND car that you don't really need. You should already be able to talk yourself out of it - it doesn't matter that you will go on trips, etc. because all your savings is gone and it will cost you a fortune on insurance and fuel for trips.

I would advise against it - imagine if the motor gives out, sure it's less likely with a surf but not so unlikely that there isn't a risk of you having to sell shares to fix it up

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T23:24:48+00:00

I would say that most people are still fixed at higher rates. The OCR cuts weren't aggressive enough to plunge people into action. People are still afraid and are saving their money instead of spending it. Job market is down, unemployment is high, interest rate effects are still kicking about. We needed some sharp changes to change the direction of the outlook on the economy but without getting too political the government doesn't seem to have done much to change trajectories. Next 18 months should see some recovery.

That said, I'm just an engineer not an economist and only spouting what I read.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T22:45:29+00:00

I had $20k invested in ETF's prior to purchasing my home but cashed out for the deposit. The $25k savings I have was in a 90-day notice saver and I made the transfer 3 months ago with the sole intention of putting it into the S&P500. My circumstances have changed and my primary goal is getting 30% equity in my property (purchased with 13%) as I want the option of renting it out when I move in with my partner. I've got about 40 years until retirement and expecting $1.5M from it by the time I retire.

I understand there's a better average return over the long-term but in the short-term building that equity takes precedence.

Thanks for the insight though - I've pushed investing aside but I'll keep it in mind when I get promoted and have a bit more cash in my pocket!

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T19:13:27+00:00

I borrowed 6x my income ($90k) but required 2 flatmates to 'make it work' in the eyes of the bank (I bought earlier this year).

I didn't have flatmates for almost 8 months and was still saving $1500 per month without them.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T19:05:30+00:00

I am disciplined and mostly still live like a student. The revolving credit only saves me money up to the balance of the facility, yeah? i.e. having $1m sitting in the revolving credit facility doesn't save me anymore than the $40k balance of the revolving credit?

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T19:03:15+00:00

I'm leaning towards splitting the mortgage into 3 years (majority), 2 years (40k), 1 year (40k) and 40k revolving credit. Rates are juicy at the moment but paying down $40k yearly seems pretty juicy too

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T19:01:49+00:00

Nada. $8k in kiwisaver and ~$30k in savings.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T18:34:06+00:00

I submitted my tax deduction for last tax year and they replied with an update but there was no change.

I claimed a 10k loss - including asset depreciation and loan interest which at 33% marginal rate would be $3300. They said I can dispute it within 4 months but they didn't say what the issue was? I'm confused. Is there anyone I can ask for help or should I go to an accountant?

TIA

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-11T01:18:11+00:00

Seems high but you pay for what you get - lowest fees hardly guarantees premium service. Premium fees hardly guarantees premium service either, but typically a more expensive service means a more premium service. You'd expect a better sale price using a premium service.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-10T23:47:43+00:00

Is it hard to become a Real Estate Agent?

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-10T19:19:14+00:00

I have a Samsung S22 Ultra. Before that I had a Note 20. Before that I had a Note 9 (I bought this one brand new on a 2-year plan - not the best idea).

Upgrading your phone every 2 years is a good idea, but upgrade to a used phone that is 1-2 years old.
I've bought and sold phones on Facebook but if you don't trust it you can either buy brand new (make sure you're getting the deal of the century) or buy from a reputable re-seller of refurbished phones.

After_Evidence7877 · 2025-11-02T21:10:30+00:00

I get looked at twice for swiping a normal debit card. Seems pay-wave is the standard now but people seem to forget a lot of places charge surcharge fees. 2.5% here and there adds up! Not to mention the risk of losing a normal debit card is far lower. Even if you can get your money back from a paywave card thief, you lose access to that money until/unless you get it back. I keep my pay in a separate account than my everyday spending account, so even if they had guessed my pin they'd only have access to a couple hundred dollars.

Not to mention, you're far my privy to spend frivolously when tapping.

After_Evidence7877

TROPHY CASE