FIFO worker’s shock over inheritance question as $620,000 mortgage reality laid bare: ‘Humbled’
5 Mins Read
A FIFO worker has been left “humbled” after meeting with a mortgage broker and discovering just how much she could borrow as a single applicant with no family help. The first-home buyer market has become increasingly split between those who have support from the Bank of Mum and Dad, and those like Anais Rawiri who are trying to do it alone.
The 23-year-old FIFO drill and blast worker has been saving up for her first home for the last year and is hoping to buy a house in Perth. She recently met with a mortgage broker for the first time and said she was taken aback by a recurring question: whether she was receiving any inheritance or family help.
“It just really threw me off. Not because it was a bad question, but because it made me realise how different the starting line is for everyone,” Rawiri told Yahoo Finance.
“I come from a family who have never owned property themselves, so there isn’t a roadmap being passed down to me. There isn’t someone sitting me down explaining deposits, borrowing capacity, guarantors, equity and all of that.”
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Rawiri earns a good salary for her FIFO job, where she works one week on and one week off, and has been working in the industry for nearly four years.
She’s also saved up a healthy deposit for her first home. However, despite this, she was surprised to learn she could only borrow $620,000.
While she understands this is a lot of money, she said it needs to be taken in context of the “insane” housing market in Perth where the median dwelling is valued at $1,046,551, up nearly 24 per cent on last year.
Rawiri said the mortgage broker even told her the best time to get in would have been a “couple of years ago” before things boomed, which is when Rawiri would have still been in school.
Rawiri would be the first person in her family to buy a home. ·Source: Supplied
“When I walked into that mortgage broker appointment, I thought I was doing the right thing. I’ve been working, trying to save, trying to be responsible, but also still enjoy my 20s. I just feel like there’s so much to juggle,” Rawiri said.
“I thought I would walk out with a clearer plan, but when I left there, it was more overwhelming than anything else.
“It was the first time that I really understood that buying a home as a single applicant without family help, inheritance or even a guarantor — it was just a completely different experience.
“I don’t say that for sympathy, I just say it because I know I’m not the only one trying to figure this out from scratch.”
Bank of Mum and Dad crucial for many Aussies
Recent research by Resolve Finance found 53 per cent of Aussie parents had already provided financial support, or planned to, to help their kids buy a home.
Giving cash for a deposit was the most common help at 48 per cent, followed by letting kids live at home rent-free at 43 per cent, acting as guarantors at 27 per cent and interest-free loans at 16 per cent.
Resolve Finance managing director Don Crellin said that for many first-home buyers, getting into the market wasn’t just about discipline and saving hard, but whether family can step in and support.
“What we are seeing is a structural shift. Family support is no longer a nice-to-have at the margins, but for many Australians, it’s becoming the bridge between renting and owning,” he said.
It comes as first-home buyer activity pulls back following the federal budget, according to broker networks Aussie Home Loans and Loan Market Group.
Lendi Group, which operates Aussie Home Loans, has seen first-home buyer lodgements decline more than 20 per cent, while investor demand has fallen more abruptly at 25 per cent.
Loan Market data shows first-home buyer applications fell by 16 per cent in June, compared to the four weeks before the budget announcement. Invest applications had dropped by 19 per cent over the same period.
‘Back to the drawing board’ after mortgage reality
Rawiri is now reassessing her options following the mortgage broker meeting, including whether she buys an investment property instead or waits until she’s saved up a bigger deposit.
Realistically, she thinks she would need a minimum of $750,000 to $800,000 to buy a decent-sized house in Perth.
Rawiri said she decided to share about her home buying and money journey online because she knows other people will be in similar situations to her.
“I had a few people message me directly and say, we appreciate you being honest about not having family inheritance or not having a guarantor, because that’s just like us,” she said.
“It can be quite disheartening. I know they have to ask that question because that’s their job, but it can throw some people off because there’s probably a reason why they don’t have the inheritance or the guarantor because they’re trying to break the cycle as well.”
Rawiri said she moved around a lot as a child and hopes that buying a home will create the stability she didn’t have growing up.
“The first house might not be your forever home, but the moment that it’s yours, it’s like, okay, I can breathe, I’m not going to have to worry about where I’m going to go next. It’s mine, I finally broke the cycle, and I’ve got a house on my own now,” she said.
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