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If, like me, you are sick of the winging about how un-affordable property is, especially for first home buyers, and that the fault for all this lies squarely at the feet of greedy investors and filthy capitalists who have invested in property and are reaping the rewards \u2026 then you will enjoy the comments by Todd Hunter<\/strong>,\u00a0\u00a0who is an author and also a founder of WHEREGROUP.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We hear it all the time \u2013 don\u2019t we \u2013 about how unaffordable property is, mainly coming from a number of people who either don\u2019t own property \u2013 obviously \u2013 or from the younger generation who are always complaining about the fact that the older generation seems to have made it more unaffordable for them to buy a property.<\/p>\n I\u2019m prompted to talk about this today on the show because of a blog article that was written by Todd Hunter, who is an author and also a founder of WHEREGROUP. I\u2019m going to read a portion of it just before I introduce Todd to you. This is straight from his blog:<\/p>\n \u201cAll I hear about lately is how first home buyers in Australia cannot afford to buy their first home due to house prices being so unaffordable. I have to say, I\u2019m sick of whining. This sense of self-entitlement is simply sickening. Apparently things are so much tougher than they were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. But are they really?\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s only just a portion of it. We\u2019ll talk about the reaction to that as well, but Todd joins me.<\/p>\n G\u2019day, Todd.<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Hey, how are you going?<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Good. I imagine from this, you\u2019re speaking from experience, are you?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, most definitely. I obviously already own property myself, but I\u2019m in the business as well of helping people invest and helping people get into their first home. So I\u2019ve seen it from both sides.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 In that portion that I just read there, you said that it\u2019s a privilege not a right. Just talk a little bit more about that. What\u2019s the attitude that you\u2019re hearing?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 For me, with property, it really is a privilege to own a property. It\u2019s not a given right that we actually have to have housing and we can afford to buy our own home. If you can afford to do it \u2013 and I\u2019ve shown that it can be done \u2013 then it is a privilege. It shouldn\u2019t be taken for granted.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen two sides of this, from the older generation and the younger generation, where some people are saying it\u2019s an absolute right to own a home \u2013 and I don\u2019t think it is.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 There\u2019s been a slow creep here. I\u2019ve done this show now for about 12 years, and I remember talking probably even 10 years ago about how the younger generation wanted everything quickly. In other words, that\u2019s when we were talking about the McMansions and those really big properties.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve often reflected back on the first property that Carolyn and I bought, which was a very modest three-bedroom, little brick home in Toowoomba. I sometimes wonder if our expectations are just too great and that\u2019s actually what\u2019s causing a lot of this, Todd.<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, I think it is. I\u2019ve seen some of the comments on the blog where their expectations are that they want the glamorous property five kilometers from the CBD. They\u2019re not willing to travel from Penrith or Campbelltown into Sydney or Milton in Melbourne down into the city. They want to be in that hub. It\u2019s that sense of entitlement I think.<\/b><\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked a lot, too, at the generational attitudes and I think wanting everything too quickly and almost not willing to take some sacrifices. I know we\u2019re generalizing a lot here because there are a number of people I\u2019ve spoken to in the show who have taken some great sacrifices to get into their first property. Is that one of the causes of this \u2013 it\u2019s this rite of passage and we\u2019re not prepared to sacrifice for it and we\u2019re looking to blame someone?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 I think it is, yes. And I think that given the social media that we have now, it\u2019s a very easy avenue to voice that, as well. Yes, most definitely.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 You said earlier in our conversation that you\u2019ve shown that anyone can own a property. Let\u2019s talk about that. For people who are finding it difficult to get into the market, what can they be doing now constructively to do that?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 I think certainly just cutting back on expenses that they think are necessities that really aren\u2019t \u2013 things like washing your car or having a coffee every day or all the apps that they download and pay for continuously. Things like that can be certainly cut back \u2013 and Foxtel \u2013 and just continue to keep saving, saving, saving.<\/p>\n It definitely can be done. We see that quite often with a lot of clients. They\u2019re out there and they\u2019re actually getting ahead and they\u2019re doing this. We are generalizing in this aspect here, but there are some out there who are actually getting goals.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 We\u2019ve heard a lot about rentvestors, too. These are people who are willing to rent right now where they want to live but then go and buy an investment property \u2013 not necessarily where they\u2019d want to live but one that\u2019s going to give them a fairly good return. We\u2019re hearing some shocking numbers about first-home buyers falling out of the market. Do you think they\u2019re just not looking creatively enough?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Most definitely, yes. I think it\u2019s that expectation thing again. Part of that blog is that I put down a whole bunch of suburbs that were key areas within Sydney and Melbourne that seem to be the two areas that most people are saying they can\u2019t afford. I said, \u201cWell, I can find a bunch of one-bedroom units that are all very, very affordable.\u201d How isn\u2019t it affordable?<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b> Our right to actually own a property, it\u2019s something that\u2019s been born into us, that we have to own property. Do you think we need to change that focus a little bit and say, \u201cOkay, we need to own property but not necessarily a home to live in. We need to build a portfolio.\u201d Are they two entirely different things, Todd?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, they are. We\u2019re seeing a lot of people who are doing this rent-and-invest strategy to get into the market and buying in more affordable places to do so. We\u2019re probably one of the only few countries in the world that has this great Australian dream of owning your own home. It\u2019s bred into us, and I don\u2019t see that coming out of us real quick.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 What can parents do to help their kids do this, and are you seeing a bit of that happening as well, Todd?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, we\u2019re definitely seeing that \u2013 and more and more so as it goes on. They\u2019re guarantoring loans or gifting some deposits to help them along. Especially when mom and dad have done fairly well out of the property market over the last few years, they\u2019re saying, \u201cI can obviously help the kids along.\u201d They can either do an equity loan against their home and gift them the cash or they can put one of their properties or home property up for security to help the children get into their first property.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I did an exercise a couple of weeks ago where we had a look at property prices back in 1975 and the number of differences then \u2013 interest rates were much higher than what they are today and the banks would only ever look at the income of one person. Even though you\u2019re a husband and wife and you\u2019re maybe both working, they would still only look at the husband\u2019s wage. There were a number of things against us in those days even though property prices were a lot less than what they are today, Todd.<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, definitely. There were shorter loan terms, like 25-year loan terms. There was the one-income scenario. You\u2019re talking about those high interest rates. There were a number of factors that made it difficult back then, as well. I think that\u2019s the key thing. I\u2019m not saying that it\u2019s easy to get into property now, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s any harder than what it was back in the early days when we were buying property.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I\u2019m going to read now one of the responses to your blog article that came from Andy. I\u2019m going to take out the first couple of sentences because he says some pretty uncomplimentary things about you and what you should be doing with your head. Anyway, he goes on to say:<\/p>\n \u201cJust look at the intelligent comments on this feed and you\u2019ll see that it\u2019s not<\/i> the same as it was when you were young. It\u2019s your<\/i> generation and the Baby Boomers who have ruined the whole world for future generations. It\u2019s going to take many generations to fix up this mess of a world that you\u2019ve made for them, and here you are acting all proud and high and mighty for it. You should be ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s your response to Andy about that?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 I\u2019m not acting all high and mighty; we\u2019re seeing a lot of these whinges and hence that\u2019s why the blog was written. Have we ruined it for them? No, I don\u2019t think we have ruined it for the Generation Y and the Millennials. No, I don\u2019t think that at all. I just think they just have to think differently. It\u2019s a totally different world out there, so they have opportunities that obviously we didn\u2019t have, as well. There are certainly opportunities for them to do it.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I think if they make some sacrifices like the ones that you\u2019ve mentioned in your blog article \u2013 and there were about six of them there, which you might cover very quickly \u2013 if they take some of those sacrifices and get into the market, sure, it is appreciating but they\u2019re going to be getting an appreciating asset. It\u2019s only a matter of getting your foot on the ladder, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Yes, it most definitely is. Part of that comment there is amusing that they have blamed us for all the property prices going up and that we\u2019ve ruined the world, yet they want to get into the property market and have their properties appreciate, which is exactly the argument that they\u2019re fighting against there. Counterintuitive, I think.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 I\u2019m just going to quickly summarize the points that you\u2019ve made here \u2013 stay at home and don\u2019t rent a place that you can\u2019t afford, spend a year or two saving, start having conversations with your mom and dad about how they can help, adjust your expectations, and get your mates involved, too, so you can hang out and socialize with people who are like-minded instead of going out and having a few drinks. It all comes down to sacrifice, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b> It does, most definitely.<\/p>\n Kevin:<\/b>\u00a0 Todd, thanks again for your time.<\/p>\n Todd:<\/b>\u00a0 Thanks for having me on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If, like me, you are sick of the winging about how un-affordable property is, especially for first home buyers, and that the fault for all this lies squarely at the feet of greedy investors and filthy capitalists who have invested in property and are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692473,"featured_media":8702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,34,10,11,13,17,22,27],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-25292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buying-a-property-topic","category-finance-topic","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-property-investment","category-research-topic","category-trends-topic","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/h4>\n
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