Making first homes happen: Gail’s story
For Gail, renting had been all her and her two children had known for over a decade! Battles with not so nice landlords and never feeling like they had a place to actually call home, Gail decided to start her home ownership journey.
“I’ve been renting for about a decade, maybe a bit longer,” Gail said. “It was very hard, I’ve had some not so nice landlords and some tough times with rental inspections and having to pay quite high rent due to COVID, it’s become quite financially hard for me”.
Gail knew it was time to start investigating her options and who would have thought that a Facebook advertisement would be the starting point for Gail and her family. “The reason I chose Homebuyers Centre was because a friend of mine had recently built her home in the Baldivis area and absolutely raved about Homebuyers Centre and I had a look online and found a sales consultant and had a chat with him and he very quickly got back to me and was very friendly.”
Little did Gail know that her life was about to change in the best way possible! Her New Homes Consultant let her know about our WIN $25,000 competition, she entered and WON!
“Being the winner of the $25k was just an incredible thing for me. Honestly, I’ve never won anything in my life. At the time I thought it wasn’t true. They had to get my new homes consultant to ring me to tell me it’s true I had won. The moment I realised I won was huge, to get that phone call it changed my life. Being a renter for so long it was just amazing. I was spinning out thinking it couldn’t be real. Once I signed for my block of land it all became real”
“Having my own home for me and the children is just surreal. I couldn’t hang pictures in the rental without asking, paint anything without asking. Always checking with the landlords making sure I could do what I wanted to do. I was really limited.
“When I got in here, I realized I can do what I want. My son Max wants to put a mural on his wall and he’s been wanting to do that for years, now were looking at colours and picking out what he wats to paint in his room. It’s things like that which you take for granted I suppose, but when you’ve been renting for so long it’s a big thing. To be able to move things around and pick furniture have that freedom of choice, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Not only is her home now her own and she can decorate as she likes, she’s also making savings when it comes to her mortgage.
“Since moving here, the amount I’m saving is huge. I was paying $900 a fortnight in rent, now in my own home I’m pay $667 a fortnight. I’m saving over $200 a fortnight which is now my money which was going to rent. That can go towards my food shopping or petrol or look at getting things for my house. Now I’m saving that, I finally feel like I’m getting ahead. Knowing that there’s extra money there that I didn’t have before.”
From Gail’s experience there really are no negatives about getting into her own home.
She’s saving money, there’s no answering to landlords. She can do what she wants in her own home, decorate and paint. It’s hers and the level of pride she has in her home in enormous. “When I was renting, in the back of my mind I knew it wasn’t my home. I never felt at home, now I come here and it’s my little sanctuary.”
Make sure to check out Gail’s story below!
We know that taking the first step can often be the hardest to take! So we’ve made it easy. Check out our Rent Convertor to see what you could own for what you’re paying in rent. Our team are always here to help you get into your own home!
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