There are moments in life that remind you that time isn’t slowing down for any of us. Watching my youngest daughter, Rachel, and her partner of five years, Danny, buy their first home this week was one of them. Anyone with adult kids or grandkids knows the feeling. That first property isn’t just a financial decision; it carries their hopes and dreams for the future. It’s exciting, but it can also be overwhelming and emotional. As a parent, your role shifts. You’re no longer steering the wheel; you’re there to guide them along the way.
What made me proud was how Rachel really owned the process. Paula and I were there for advice when they needed it, but they drove everything. They saved their deposit. They liaised with the mortgage broker and negotiated with the real estate agents. They worked with the conveyancer on the details and reviewed and signed the contracts.
There are always government incentives and schemes in the background, but none of them replace the need for discipline and a genuine deposit. Banks still assess serviceability the same way. You still need stable income. You still need to budget. Anything happening on the policy front might help around the edges, but it doesn’t replace the habits that build long-term financial confidence.
The journey really starts with saving the deposit. My parents always told me, “We won’t give you money, but you’ll always have a roof over your head if you need it.” I passed the same message on to my kids. You make your own way. For Rachel and Danny, that meant moving out of their rental and moving in with Danny’s mum for almost a year so they could save more quickly. Over 12 months they were able to save a sizeable deposit.
That’s what building wealth for the future looks like. It’s a collection of decisions and even sacrifices that might not be very “Instagrammable” but really matter for your future. Whether you’re saving 5% or 20%, the behaviour is the same. Live below your means and build through saving and investing.
As they saved over the 12 months they started to become familiar with the property market in the areas they liked. It’s critical to understand what fair prices are. During this time they met with a mortgage broker to understand their borrowing capacity and obtain pre-approval. Pre-approval is one of the most underrated parts of the process. It gives you clarity around what you can borrow, what your real price range is, and what bank policies apply to you. Without it, everything else is guesswork. With it, every home open inspection and negotiation becomes real. This was an important process for Rachel and Danny to go through. Once they had pre-approval they went from dreamers to serious buyers.
Understanding the market is important because the more you inspect, the clearer the patterns become. Recent comparable sales. How long properties sit on the market. The gap between guide price and reality. The more time you spend listening and watching, the easier it is to understand what an agent says, what they don’t say, and what they really mean.
Understanding the process is just as important. Once it’s explained clearly, it isn’t complicated: save the deposit, get pre-approval, inspect properties, request the contract and strata, engage a conveyancer, negotiate or bid, exchange, and settle. The overwhelm comes from not knowing what's next. A good mortgage broker and a good conveyancer turn that uncertainty into structure.
Negotiation is where most first-home buyers feel out of their depth. It’s emotional for them and methodical for agents. That imbalance is where people overpay. The rules are simple: know your walk-away number, don’t negotiate against yourself, ignore noise you can’t verify, and move quickly when the right property appears. Rachel and Danny negotiated on multiple occasions and did walk away from properties when it would have been easy to let emotion take over.
Watching them navigate the whole process reinforced something important for me. Buying your first home teaches you discipline and sacrifice in a way nothing else does. It is great to see kids today doing the hard yards. Working hard. Saving consistently. Going without. Rachel and Danny did all of that, and the lessons they learnt along the way might be more valuable than the keys they’ll collect on settlement day.
General Disclaimer: This information is of a general nature only and may not be relevant to your particular circumstances. The circumstances of each investor are different, and you should seek advice from an investment adviser who can consider if the strategies and products are right for you. Historical performance is often not a reliable indicator of future performance. You should not rely solely on historical performance to make investment decisions.