Beau has certainly had his fair share of experiences when it comes to the Australian property market. With the help of an Aussie Broker and his parents, Beau has been able to get his foot in the door with an investment property, then refinance further down the line to become a fully-fledged home owner, without needing his parents in a guarantor capacity. Here, Beau shares a little of his experience.

Getting his foot in the door

As many property investors will attest, it can be a challenge to snag that first foothold but Beau was devoted to achieving his goal. And, in this time he was able to get a feel for the market: “I was looking at properties for around two years before buying,” says Beau. “Not that I had the money to buy that early, but I was always interested in house prices, and seeing what I could get for the money that I had to spend. It meant that when I was ready to buy I had a fairly good idea of the market and an understanding of what type of property would deliver good value.”

Beau then secured his first investment property with his parents in a guarantor role. “I have a great relationship with my parents, and I couldn’t get to where I am now without them,” says Beau. “We made sure that if I had any money left over, or saved up, it would go to paying off their portion of the loan. The deal was that I paid their section off as quick as possible.”

Time to refinance

Refinancing gave Beau the opportunity to take the reins of his loan – no longer needing his parents in the role of guarantors. “The effort spent refinancing (two years after I bought my home) was definitely worth the end result,” says Beau. “My broker did a lot of the hard yards and the process was made so easy through all of the work from Aussie. It allowed me to get my parents off the loan, and achieve what I felt as independence, pride and achievement. In terms of money, I am now in a better position as I refinanced to a loan with better rates and lower repayments.”

What’s the step in the property journey?

Not one to remain stagnant, Beau is already scoping out the next fork in the road. “The next part of the plan is to buy somewhere that I can move in to. I’m ready to get out and do things on my own. I will definitely look at investing in property again, and when I do, my Aussie Broker will be the first person I will call – he was recommended to me by a friend and I am so glad he was! He is a mobile Broker, so it made everything so easy. We organised times that would suit the both of us, in an area that was convenient. Every meeting we had was in a coffee shop. It was always relaxed, friendly, and really easy.”

Everyone’s property journey is unique, but what isn’t unique is your broker’s ability to help you at every – and any- step of the way. Think about scheduling in some time for a home loan health check every year so you can reassess your situation and be sure you still have the right loan.

What lessons have you learnt as you’ve progressed on your property journey? Feel free to share in the comments section.