Meet First Home Buyers Alyssa and Matt!

You may recall Matt and Alyssa who featured on TV3’s The Nation back in May of last year. At that time Matt and Alyssa were still saving and working hard to find a way into their first home!  Click here for original article

Since last May Matt and Alyssa have been busy, not only did they move into their beautiful new home in Auckland’s Pukekohe but they also got married just before Christmas. What a year 2014 was for them!

Back in May last year Matt and Alyssa had got together a good deposit which they had saved by increasing their KiwiSaver contributions to the maximum allowable. Matt and Alyssa chose to do this, as way of forcing them to save. Having the funds locked into KiwiSaver also meant that they couldn’t access them until they purchased their first home. This strategy worked well for Alyssa and Matt who were also saving for their wedding at the same time.

Matt’s Mum and Dad wanted to also help and looked at acting as guarantors for Alyssa and Matt. Initially going guarantor was what they planned to do – but fate had other ideas! Alyssa and Matt happened upon a as new large brick and tile 5 bedroom 3 living are home in Auckland’s Pukekohe which was large enough to very comfortably accommodate 2 families. Matt’s Mum and Dad then amazingly offered to help Alyssa and Matt purchase the property and they all moved in together. Matt’s parents have rented out their existing property and plan to stay living with Matt and Alyssa for 5 years at which time Matt and Alyssa will be able to take on the additional mortgage required to buy out Matt’s parents share of the property. Way to go Mum and Dad!

When we caught up with Alyssa and Matt recently things were going really well with their new living arrangements and they are super happy with their new home!

We asked Matt and Alyssa what advice they have for other first home buyers – here’s what they had to share;

• Increase your minimum KiwiSaver contributions as this forces you to save and you can’t access the funds until you buy your first home!
• Give your self as much time as possible to get your due diligence done – it can be a really stressful time and if your under pressure for time it can get really stressful! Alyssa’s advice is – if possible to take some time off work as she found trying to sort things out when your at work can be very difficult!
• Make sure you are across all the extra costs involved and check out what your solicitors fees cover and what they don’t cover! (ie some will charge extra for Kiwisaver)
• Have someone you can call on anytime for advice and guidance (Alyssa and Matt used The First Home Buyers Club)

Alyssa had these kind words to say about her experience with The First Home Buyers Club

We’ve been  dealing with Karen from the first home buyers club and have to say she is just fantastic. There is a lot to learn when going through the process and plenty of people willing to take advantage of you but Karen has been really informative, patient and genuine in her dealings with us. I would highly recommend her to anyone thinking about buying their first home.

 

Thanks Alyssa for the kind words – it was such a pleasure to help you and Matt and your lovely family into your first home! We wish you loads of happiness!