As a student, dentist-cum-comedian Sam Smith knew government hand-outs weren’t to be brushed aside.
He and his then-girlfriend, now-wife Meg bought a three-bedroom home in Johnsonville together in December 2010, after at least five years’ concentrated saving. At the time, they were 25 and 24.
They told me it was a good idea to save up for it, and it turns out it was good advice.
Sam started saving for a deposit on his first home while studying towards his dentistry degree at Otago University. He’d been encouraged by his parents and older brother to set his sights on home ownership early on, he says.
“They told me it was a good idea to save up for it, and it turns out it was good advice. By having it as a plan early on, it meant we just had to keep doing what we were doing until we found a place we liked.”
Sam was “lucky enough” to live rent-free in a property his parents owned in Dunedin for the six years he spent as a student, and working the occasional odd job was enough to cover his living expenses.
As a result, Sam was able to save his weekly student loan payments, and collect interest on them, with view to using that amount as a down payment on his first home after finishing uni.
Student loans became interest-free in April 2006, when he was mid-way through his degree – “so that worked out great for not having to pay back the amount quickly”.
The couple moved to Wellington in December 2009, and spent the following 12 months working and saving. While Sam juggled a Master of Arts at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters and four days’ work a week as a dentist in private practice, Meg worked full-time as a policy analyst.
At first we ruled out a couple of suburbs, yet when we actually went to have a look there, the houses were all really nice.
In the meantime, they researched the property market. Sam suggests house hunters start early, and don’t limit their options. “At first we ruled out a couple of suburbs, yet when we actually went to have a look there, the houses were all really nice.”
The better you know what houses sell for in an area, the better you can spot a bargain, too. “You’ve got to get an idea of the market, and what you can expect to pay for certain properties,” he says. “Trade Me Property was really helpful for that.”
In December 2010, the couple bought a three-bedroom house in Johnsonville – “really close to my work, and right on the train line for Meg to pop into town for hers,” he says.
The couple recently restructured their mortgage repayments with the help of a broker at Mike Pero Mortgages. “They’ve managed to save us heaps in our weekly mortgage payments,” he says. “We’re now actually paying less for our mortgage than what we were on rent before we moved in.”
Sam would recommend that other prospective home owners consult with a mortgage broker from the start. “It’s free! The banks pay them, or something. I don’t quite understand it, but we were happy to get free, good advice.”
Meg is now a planner for a consultancy firm, and Sam works three days a week as a dentist, and two as a writer for 7 Days, Jono and Ben at Ten, and Sunny Skies. Soon, the couple will relocate to Auckland, and rent the house out – but Sam has no regrets.
“Knowing that the money you’re paying goes towards something you get to keep at the end is a really cool feeling,” he says. “It also means you can bang a hole in a wall, if you want to – not that we’ve done that, but you can really make the home your own.”
So far, his renovations have been limited to some minor painting. “But even being able to put nails into the wall for picture frames and wall-mounted TV brackets make things easier.”
When asked what he’s had to change or give up in order to own his own home, Sam draws a blank. “I don’t think we’ve really sacrificed anything,” he says. “When you own the place, you take pride in it, and I guess that means spending more time doing odd jobs around the house, but that’s not really that bad.”
Relatedly, though, Sam has a piece of advice for prospective homeowners: “Make sure you’re okay with mowing lawns before buying a house with lawns.”
Cover image by Flickr user Brantley Davidson
