How the self-proclaimed ‘petrolhead’ saved for his first home and got a bargain



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Olaf Flesch, owner of the first home, works in IT in Waikanae. On a good day, your commute takes 25 to 40 minutes, but if there are accidents on SH1, it can take up to two hours.

“There are frequent crashes on the road. It is very dangerous, ”he says. “I have improved my car so I have something heavier with more airbags to protect me from others who seem to think that (having) their drivers’ wheels on the center line is acceptable.”

The trip, which is particularly bad on a Friday afternoon, is possibly the only downside to Flesch’s first home purchase. He lived five minutes from work when he rented, but bought his first house in Levin, further up the road.

The house that Flesch bought for $ 285,000 18 months ago has increased in value by 20 to 30 percent.

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The house that Flesch bought for $ 285,000 18 months ago has increased in value by 20 to 30 percent.

The big draw was the price and the opportunity to climb the property ladder: 18 months ago he paid just $ 285,000 for his two-bedroom brick and plank home, one three in a row, with a garage wall. shared. .

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He made an offer on the first house he liked and says he was probably in the “right place at the right time.”

“I think I was lucky: the house was a property sale and the previous owner had died in the house, which may have put some people off, but there were other budget houses available in the area.”

Flesch, a self-proclaimed oil hobbyist, is president of the MR2 Owners Club of New Zealand.

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A self-proclaimed petrolhead, Flesch is president of the MR2 Owners Club of New Zealand.

Flesch especially liked the fact that it had a garage: “I’m a fan of oil,” he says. He is president of the MR2 Owners Club of New Zealand and has a Toyota MR2 in the garage.

“It is not my home forever. I would love to have a bigger garage and possibly go back to Waikanae and have a bigger yard. But I can’t do that if (prices) keep going up. The same type of house in Waikanae is 200-300K more than mine would be worth. You can see why I travel to work. “

Flesch says a desk valuation showed his home has gone up $ 65,000 (more than 20 percent) since he bought it. But other two-bedroom homes in Levin have sales prices of around $ 400,000, which could indicate an increase of as much as 30 percent.

The MR2 Owners Club organizes activities regularly.

TAVITA STEWART / DRIVEN REALITY

The MR2 Owners Club organizes activities regularly.

HOW HE SAVED

To get a joint deposit, Flesch saved for more than seven years, and says it was quite difficult to rent, which is why it took so long. And even then, he said that his mother helped him sometimes and helped him collect the deposit.

When asked if there was anything he had to do without, he said, “I really wasn’t with anything. No takeout, no vacation. My best advice is to compile a COMPLETE list of EVERYTHING you spend money on.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the insurance you pay or if it’s $ 2 for ice cream. Track everything. Neatly. I track mine based on annual costs and biweekly costs (pay cycle). So I can see if I can save money, let’s say changing trash providers or spending less on fuel or something, (and I can see) if I’m losing money being an idiot somewhere.

“I don’t drink and I don’t like bars – all you do is go there to have your eardrums explode, you throw up and then someone tries to fight you when you leave.

Virtual racing with his clubmates is another favorite pastime: Flesch says his work recently sponsored a 30-man league.

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Virtual racing with his clubmates is another favorite pastime: Flesch says his job recently sponsored a 30-man league.

Flesch says it’s about being frugal: “I think the problem is not achieving the goal, but thinking you can’t. You need to know that you can and aim high, and you will achieve it. Patience is another virtue. The market looks screwed up, but you’ll get in if that’s what you really want.

“But if (others) just want to keep sneaking into bars and waking up without remembering what they did last night, it will be more difficult. And yes, be prepared to give in on what you want. But buying something small in an hour is better than renting all your savings. “

Flesch also advises using a mortgage broker, as he did.

“They are very helpful. They cost you nothing and they want you at the door (to be paid at the bank) “.

And he acknowledges that he was lucky to be able to shop at a cheap place that was still within reach of his work.

“I don’t like where the housing market is going. I was lucky enough to be able to shop at a cheap place that wasn’t too much of a trip. My sister and her partner are saving, but they work in Wellington and the prices are stupid. “

THINGS

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern talks about rising house prices and reacts to calls for the government to intervene in the decision-making of the Reserve Bank.

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