Family’s savvy ‘Plan B’ ends years of renting

The smart moves that helped a young family secure their home and end their years of renting. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

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Bernard Baird along with his wife Laura Adams and their two young children Harlow (3) and Jax (7 months) have recently purchased a home they “fell in love with,” after years of renting.

Having experienced increased rental prices, as well as welcoming a new baby at the start of the year, they decided to start the search to purchase a home.

“We needed more space, we started the process shortly after the baby came,” Mr Baird said.

“After trawling through the listings online, we spent a good six or seven weeks going to viewings every Saturday which was fun for a while … then not so fun”

Mr Baird said the amount of homes on the market was encouraging.

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“There is a lot out there, it might not always suit your needs, we live around Maroubra and there was stuff there but out of our price range, so we found the availability of properties wasn’t the issue, it was just catering to what we wanted,” he said.

“There were no negative viewings, everyone was nice and they were there to help … sometimes you didn’t mind the follow up because you got more information on the property.”

He said broadening their scope made the process of finding the right property for them easier.

“We would have loved to stay in the eastern suburbs but the quality for the price you weren’t getting much. We started broadening out to the inner west and around Wolli Creek … everything was close so it didn’t make a massive difference.”

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Laura Adams and Bernard Baird, with their children have recently purchased a property they “fell in love with.” Picture: Justin Lloyd.

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After missing out on a property in Wolli Creek, they then decided they would jump straight on the next property they wanted.

“Both my wife and I didn’t realise but we had both reached out to the agent and were talking to the same guy … but we had fallen in love with this property as soon as we walked in.

“Now we are happy that the first one didn’t go through.”

Making sure they had their finance approved, deposit ready in the right account and the legal sorted, so they could make a swift offer was integral.

Mr Baird had their finance approved prior through James Algar at Mortgage Choice Dee Why.

Mr Baird shares his tips on how to nail the sale. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

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“We pretty much jumped on it straight away and submitted an offer, and then we pushed, and then followed up,” Mr Baird said.

He said the key to nailing the sale was really doing your research

“Look at the strata which can be expensive, look at the areas for basic things like parking and proximity to parks and for my wife, the coffee shops,” he said.

“It even works both ways, you might love the property and not love the area … you gotta get out there and do it, the properties are not going to come to you, you need to go to the viewings and make the phone calls.”

He said it was a relief that the search was over and they have the security of their home now.

“It was a testing process … but it was also quite enjoyable.”

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