The joys and woes of buying a home

Buying a home in 2026 is exciting but more stressful than I remember it being in the 1990s and early 2000s, with joys and woes galore today.

Having been a renter since 2010, I didn’t really know what to expect when I started planning again to become a home owner.

There were joyful moments along the way, and many testing ones, and these continue, like breaking a rental lease. I’ll log them chronologically.

The journey started in September 2025 when I discovered that I was eligible for the Australian Government’s five per cent home deposit scheme because I hadn’t owned property for more than 10 years.

From 1 October 2025, the changes to the scheme meant no income caps, no wait lists, and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance.

This was a godsend for me because I barely had 10 per cent deposit in the price range I was looking at.

On 5 October, I emailed a mortgage broker to set up a meeting, thinking it would be February or March 2026 before I’d be able to start looking. That’s because I figured I would need six months’ employment history and a higher deposit to cover all costs.

I also wasn’t sure if the banks would consider lending to a 58-year-old, despite my superannuation balance being strong.

Joy #1: Finance pre-approval

I met the broker on 10 October, and he gave me good news. I could start looking straight away if I wanted to, up to a price limit of $350,000. If I wanted to go higher, I’d need to save for a greater deposit. There was no problem with my age or employment status; the banks would treat my super as an asset.

I decided to take the plunge and began applying for a home loan with NAB.

I had to sign a statutory declaration regarding my absence from the property market for more than 10 years, and then I had pre-approval to start home hunting.

Having scoured realestate.com.au for weeks, I had my eye on units and small homes in Bendigo, Ballarat and places in between and around my workplace in Maryborough.

I learnt that Bendigo and Castemaine are +10 per cent higher in price than other areas, which ruled me out of finding anything decent in those places.

I saw a nice little house in Avoca for around $250,000 but the owners couldn’t produce a building certificate when I asked for it, and the local council indicated there wasn’t one!

I got sucked into looking at a dump in Guildford on a flood-prone block. The photos were stunning; the property wasn’t.

Stress #1: Competition

I was drawn to a one-bedroom home in Creswick, advertised in the range of $340-360k. I was ready to offer $350k, my maximum, but the agent told me he received an offer above the advertised range. It sold a few weeks later for $380,000.

I went to an inspection in Bendigo, in the same block of units where my son James lives. It wasn’t very well maintained, had no character and sold for $350,000.

The agent confirmed my view that Bendigo is dearer than Ballarat, and said 80 per cent of sales at the lower end were to buyers’ advocates.

Stress #2: Buyers’ advocates

I had never heard of these people. I’ve researched them since, and there’s a growing trend for investors in particular, and many home buyers, to hire someone to do the work on their behalf, using data and connections to identify off-market properties and navigate the system.

A Ballarat agent told me that buyers’ advocates were active there as well.

I felt this was making my task even more difficult, as a lone ranger, and began to think I’d have to wait a few months, save up, and push myself into a higher price bracket in a rising market.

I looked at a few units in Ballarat that I could afford, but they had no character. One was in a complex of 20, and I worried that one bad neighbour could ruin the whole experience.

There was a funky place advertised in the inner suburb of Newington for $340-360k, which I thought would go higher based on my Creswick experience, but I decided to go for an inspection.

The range was revised downwards in the interim to $330-350k.

It was an odd situation. The agent called me while I was driving there and said he might have to call off the inspection because he hadn’t been able to obtain keys from the owner.

I kept driving, pulled up at the address, and saw the agent go in with a couple of people.

The agent was on the phone; he saw me and came over, and said the owner had asked the cleaner to let us in. The place was operating as an AirBNB, called “Retro Retreat”. It’s a 1950s, one-bedroom unit in a complex of five, in one of Ballarat’s best suburbs.

Joy #2: Offer accepted

I looked around and instantly liked it; on the way out, I offered $340,000. The agent called me back in less than an hour, and asked if I would go to $342,000, including the fridge and washing machine. I immediately agreed.

I had found a conveyancer already, a local solicitor working solo, and I let her know.

Stress #3: Unconditional finance approval

I contacted the mortgage broker, and he started the ball rolling with NAB to obtain full approval. This dragged on for longer than I wanted because the Government needed to sign off on my application under the five per cent deposit scheme. Why this wasn’t done earlier, I have no idea.

Stress #4: Gazumping

While waiting interminably for unconditional finance approval, I read about gazumping. Like buyers’ advocates, I didn’t know this was a thing either. It’s when a vendor takes a higher offer after accepting one already. It’s legal up until the signing of contracts.

My solicitor assured me it’s uncommon, but I think she was just trying to calm my anxiety; she was good at that, worth every cent that I paid her.

Eventually, I received full finance approval; there was then a long wait to receive the contract, and I still worried about being gazumped.

The contract was signed on 30 October, just 25 days after meeting the mortgage broker. That seems quick, but it was the longest 25 days of my life.

Originally, I didn’t care about the settlement date. I knew the place was an AirBNB and I was happy for the vendor to keep her existing bookings up to January 2026. We agreed to settle on 12 January.

Joy #3: Stamp duty concession

While preparing the paperwork, my calming solicitor asked if I had a concession card. It so happened that I had a Health Care Card, issued during a brief period on JobSeeker early in 2025 while I shifted from consulting to full-time employment.

I thought the concession would stop 12 weeks after I began work, but apparently the Australian Government changed this a while ago to 24 weeks.

The concession meant I would qualify for a Victorian Government stamp duty waiver worth $13,400. Happy days!

Stress #5: Stamp duty concession

Having received this unexpected windfall news, I researched everything I could about how long concession cards last when a former JobSeeker beneficiary enters what’s called the “nil-reporting period” while they’re working full time.

The system allows for six months, provided the person reports their income every fortnight. It’s in case they fall out of work again, they can instantly resume the JobSeeker program instead of starting a qualification period.

I did the maths and spoke to a Centrelink officer. My Health Care Card was due to expire on 13 January. Settlement was scheduled for 12 January. That was cutting it fine; if there was a delay to settlement of one or two days, I would lose $13,400.

I frantically tried to bring settlement forward to provide a buffer in case of unexpected delays. My saintly solicitor reiterated the infrequency of delays, and although she would be on holiday at the time, she agreed to an earlier settlement if the owner would as well.

The owner’s solicitors played hard ball and didn’t want to budge.

The real estate agent had given me the owner’s phone number in case I wanted to buy more of the furniture. I called her, and she was okay to bring the settlement forward by a week.

Her solicitors remained firmly against that because of their holiday shutdown, but reluctantly agreed to settle on Friday, 9 January.

I read more than I should have done about settlement delays.

Meanwhile, I found an interior decorator who offered to furnish my new home for $10,000, purchasing everything I needed and installing it.

This seemed like another godsend. Although I like buying things, I dreaded the thought of coordinating deliveries and assembly from potentially multiple retailers.

My decorator guy was embarking on his own business. He reached out later to say that he had under-quoted and the price would actually be $11,000. Okay, I trimmed the outdoor items and agreed to the extra thousand.

I ordered the outdoor furniture and an office chair myself.

I found out later the decorator bought most things from Temple & Webster, and KMart. Not premium quality except the mattress and the TV, which I directly requested. Was it worth $11,000? I’ll form a view on that after 6-24 months based on usage and durability.

It was certainly good not having to assemble flat packs or organise for someone to do that.

Before settlement, I booked a handyman to come around after I moved in to do a few jobs, and I booked an electrician. From the electrician, I wanted quotes to install a ceiling fan in the bedroom, add some power points, and quote on security cameras.

Living on my own, I want to feel safe.

Joy #4: Concession extended

I received unexpected mail from Centrelink before Christmas, advising that I was issued a Pensioner Concession Card, which would be valid until 2028.

Totally flummoxed, I researched this and found it’s automatically provided to people on the JobSeeker Allowance for more than six months (working or not), who are over 55.

It’s an upgrade to the Health Care Card, offering discounts on things like local government rates, water bills and vehicle registration.

My research suggested the Pensioner Concession would remain valid for six months longer than the Health Care Card, and it also qualified for the stamp duty waiver. Happy days again!

Stress #6: Settlement

Despite the uplifting concession news, I wasn’t convinced that everything would go to plan, and I retained some anxiety leading up to settlement.

The actual day was the hottest one of the summer so far, with fires raging across Victoria.

I read everything that I could about the online settlement system, using Pexa. They have an outage checker tool on their website, and I watched it every 15 minutes for three hours, worried a heat-related power cut might shut things down.

Settlement was scheduled for 2pm and my solicitor said to expect a call between 2.30 and 3pm if everything went well, or shortly afterwards if there was a delay.

Joy #5: Settlement

My solicitor, who I’ve never met but regard highly, called about 3pm, and I could tell by her tone of voice that it was good news. I’m a home owner again!

Stress #7: Getting the keys

The vendor’s real estate agent had asked me to call him after settlement, and I did, but there was no answer to several calls and messages.

He called me back after a while to say he didn’t have the keys and he was going on holiday, but the vendor had dropped the keys inside the house and the front door would be open for me to retrieve them.

I went there, and the front door was locked. I tried to call the vendor, but no answer.

Messages followed from her agent and my solicitor to say the keys were in a lock box, and giving me the code.

Joy #6: First day of owning a new home

It was a hot day on 12 January, but I enjoyed checking out my new digs. My brain was active with plans to renovate and upgrade, using some of the unexpected stamp duty windfall.

I went back to the rental and drank a bottle of Jansz Tasmanian sparkling to celebrate.

Stress #8: Exiting the rental lease

I have a 12-month lease on a furnished home in Wendouree, expiring on 26 June 2026. I fully expected to stay the year, but the early home-loan approval gave me a ticket out.

As of January 2026, the rental vacancy rate in Ballarat is approximately 1.1 per cent. While the national vacancy rate saw a very slight seasonal increase to 1.6 per cent in December 2025, Ballarat remains significantly tighter than the national average.

This figure indicates a market under “moderate to high pressure,” as a balanced market is typically considered to be around 3 per cent.

My property manager from Barry Plant Real Estate confirmed receipt of my notice to vacate on 14 November 2025. Two months later, and after seven or eight open inspections, she hasn’t found a new tenant.

This remains a source of anxiety for me, as I’m potentially liable for compensation to cover lost rental income after handing back the keys on Monday, 19 January.

The bond is more than $1900, and I’ve spent about $1350 on professional cleaning and gardening to exit the property.

It’s furnished, which is a niche I suppose, but in such a tight rental market, I can’t understand why it hasn’t been snapped up. Watch this space.

Stress #9: Moving

Moving is always stressful. I read somewhere that it’s one of the most difficult things a person has to experience, along with the death of a loved one and ending a relationship.

I’ve moved countless times in my life, and it never gets easier.

Luckily I’m a Planmeister, and I scheduled leave from work and hired a van to get the job done.

Joy #7: Family support

My son Michael, 29, decided to make a brief visit to Australia after landing his first full-time job in Seoul, South Korea, and before starting work.

It was a 10-day trip for him, and he spent three of those days with me, helping to load and unload at each end.

It was such a blessing, and shows that maybe it’s worth raising children after all!

Stress #9: Furniture

As mentioned, a decorator purchased furniture on my behalf. During installation, his team found the TV cabinet had a massive hole in it, and the bed was missing parts.

At one stage, it looked like I’d be spending the first few nights in my new home on a mattress on the floor. Not happy.

Move-in day was my birthday, 16 January. Fortunately, the bed parts arrived just in time, and the bed was assembled that evening.

I slept very well, and woke up disoriented but happy.

I’m still waiting for the TV cabinet to arrive. The handyman has a couple more small jobs to do. The electrician is coming on 3 February, and I’m getting quotes soon on new curtains for the bedroom.

Today I went to Bunnings and bought some chilli plants, basil and rosemary for the courtyard garden.

It feels like home already, and I’m very happy with my decisions.

The joys and woes of buying a property are something I don’t really want to experience again.

• Earlier post: House sitting in Australia