Steppingstone strategy: how to buy your dream home

If the recent property price growth predictions become reality over the next couple of years, more homeowners may become ‘priced out’ of their desired location. What might be affordable today, could quickly become unaffordable, as prices can rise quickly.Sometimes it’s not possible to buy your dream home in one fell swoop. But do not despair. A steppingstone strategy could be the solution.Buying a dream home has always been a struggle, embrace itProperty has always seemed expensive. I bought my first property 23 years ago for $150,000 and it was a big deal. It was a stretch, financially. It was a dump that needed renovating.Getting onto the property ladder and buying your dream home will take work. Some sacrifices. A little bit of hustling. But that has always been the case. Focus on the solutions, not the problems.Focus on building your deposit/equityIf you are income-rich but asset poor, you need to build equity to extend your purchasing power. That equity could come in the form of cash savings/deposit or equity in an existing property.If your income earning capacity is limited, then accumulating more equity reduces the amount you need to borrow and as such, you are closer to being able to buy your dream home.Either way, your sole goal should be to build equity.How to implement a steppingstone strategyA steppingstone strategy involves buying an owner-occupier property with the sole aim of accumulating as much equity as possible, as fast as possible. Then, selling that property and using the equity to upgrade to a superior property. And continuing to do that until you have attained your dream home.There are three key steps to this strategy.Step 1: Pick a location that has attractive short term growth prospectsBuying a property in a location that is popular and is enjoying rising property price momentum can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.The goal is to create equity as soon as possible. Therefore, it’s not as important to form a view about a given location’s long term growth prospects, unlike when buying a pure investment property. You just want to form a view about whether the price momentum will continue in the short term.Typically, locations that are gentrifying will exhibit above average growth rates. Gentrifying suburbs tend to have similar themes such as a changing demographic, increased renovation activity, new infrastructure and/or amenities that enhance the community feel (liveability) of the location and so on.Whilst it’s important to not buy at the peak of the market i.e. after prices have risen as much as they will, it is equally too risky to try to pick the next growth suburb, because you could be wrong. Essentially, you want recent evidence that the rising demand for the location is generating price growth. And that prices still have some future upside.Step 2: Buy an older house with scope to manufacture equityOften, but not always, it is best to buy a house instead of a townhouse, villa unit or apartment. Firstly, houses tend to have proportionately more land value. Secondly, houses tend to offer more scope to improve their overall value e.g. renovation of bathrooms and kitchens, landscaping, adding a room/living area and so on. This is called manufacturing equity when the property’s value appreciates by more than the cost of the improvements made.Older houses (e.g. built pre-1970’s) offer better opportunities than newer ones, because there tends to be greater scope to maMy new book is available for pre-order now: Pre-ordering the book will help me get it into bookstores. So please do me a favour - please consider pre-ordering now - links and pre-order bonus are available here: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at [email protected]. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.