Buying your first home

November 17, 2018by Jasnish Gujral
I need to think 10X, which is 10x bigger than I am.

I often get asked advice on buying a first home as this is the first biggest investment.

Most people I have noticed have a maximum budget but generally the expectation for that money is quite high.

My general advice:

Spend at least 3 months or so looking at properties online, researching about different areas, and most importantly visit open homes.

I am a firm believer in being close to the centre of Auckland City, it’s a personal preference and so I advise anyone interested in buying to look as close to Central City as the budget allows. Nothing worse than working in the CBD, driving to work and living in 45-50km away. Think how much quality time would you get with your family?

Don’t let your emotions get the best of you, control them. Treat the first home as a stepping stone and or transaction. This is very difficult but when you are young you don’t want to make a mistake with your first home where you emotionally pay too much.

Always looks for what can add value, today I advised a friend of adding a toilet/bathroom, creating a room by shifting a couple of walls.

The path I went down was I bought several rental properties and continued to rent before I purchased my own home. Our home was a leaky and was bought with the intent of recladding.

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