CamBattVisUndeBon
New Member
Hey everyone,
I’m based in Victoria, stepping into this whole first home chapter with my wife and our four-month-old. Right now, I’m earning just over $110k, plus a little extra from a side hustle that brings in around $5–7k a year. My wife’s on maternity leave until April next year—she’s still got her permanent job, but once she’s back, we’re thinking she’ll shift to part-time to be there for our little one. Before all this, she was making close to $100k herself.
At the moment, she’s bringing in about $1500 a fortnight on half-pay, and soon we’ll start receiving a bit more through Centrelink.
We built our place here four years ago, and it’s been a heartfelt journey watching it grow in value—it’s gone up by around $400k since then. Our mortgage sits at $520k, and we’ve got about $70k in car loans. The house is probably worth near $900k now. We both still have HECS debts too, around $19k each.
Lately, we’ve been soul-searching about what comes next. One idea we’re holding close is renting out our home, maybe claiming some tax benefits, and renting somewhere closer to the beach—our dream spot. Buying there feels out of reach right now (places average $1–1.2 million), and we’re about an hour away at the moment. The thought is we could sell later and finally make that move.
But there are other paths on our hearts:
- We could buy a place a bit further from that ideal beach location, still near the water, even if it means our mortgage feels a little heavier—maybe around $50k more.
- Or, we sell this house, clear aall our debts, and rent in that dream area while we save to buy later.
- Honestly, part of us wonders if we just stay put, pay down what we owe, and revisit things down the track. Deep down, though, we don’t really want our child growing up here—it’s getting so crowded, and, without any hint of prejudice, we worry about him feeling out of place as maybe the only Aussie kid in school.
I’d truly value any heartfelt advice or thoughts from you all. It’s a lot to navigate, and I don’t have many friends who’ve walked this kind of path.
I’m based in Victoria, stepping into this whole first home chapter with my wife and our four-month-old. Right now, I’m earning just over $110k, plus a little extra from a side hustle that brings in around $5–7k a year. My wife’s on maternity leave until April next year—she’s still got her permanent job, but once she’s back, we’re thinking she’ll shift to part-time to be there for our little one. Before all this, she was making close to $100k herself.
At the moment, she’s bringing in about $1500 a fortnight on half-pay, and soon we’ll start receiving a bit more through Centrelink.
We built our place here four years ago, and it’s been a heartfelt journey watching it grow in value—it’s gone up by around $400k since then. Our mortgage sits at $520k, and we’ve got about $70k in car loans. The house is probably worth near $900k now. We both still have HECS debts too, around $19k each.
Lately, we’ve been soul-searching about what comes next. One idea we’re holding close is renting out our home, maybe claiming some tax benefits, and renting somewhere closer to the beach—our dream spot. Buying there feels out of reach right now (places average $1–1.2 million), and we’re about an hour away at the moment. The thought is we could sell later and finally make that move.
But there are other paths on our hearts:
- We could buy a place a bit further from that ideal beach location, still near the water, even if it means our mortgage feels a little heavier—maybe around $50k more.
- Or, we sell this house, clear aall our debts, and rent in that dream area while we save to buy later.
- Honestly, part of us wonders if we just stay put, pay down what we owe, and revisit things down the track. Deep down, though, we don’t really want our child growing up here—it’s getting so crowded, and, without any hint of prejudice, we worry about him feeling out of place as maybe the only Aussie kid in school.
I’d truly value any heartfelt advice or thoughts from you all. It’s a lot to navigate, and I don’t have many friends who’ve walked this kind of path.