Own It - Your Property Partner

Free money, FOMO & First Homes: Cracking the Property Ladder in 2026

• Locale Property Group • Season 2 • Episode 1

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Waiting might be the most expensive mistake first-home buyers make in 2026.

In this episode of Own It: Your Property Partner, Adam sits down with Lori Pirozzi, new home advocate at Locale Homes, to unpack what’s really happening in the Western Australia property market — and what first home buyers need to understand right now.

With land shortages, strong migration, constrained builder pipelines, and rising prices across WA, this episode cuts through the noise and delivers practical, up-to-date advice for anyone trying to enter the property market.

If you’re wondering whether to wait for an interest rate cut or take action now, this conversation is essential listening.

Learn more at https://localehomes.com.au/

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more!

ABOUT LORI PIROZZI

Lori Pirozzi is a New Home Advocate at Locale Homes, where she helps first-home buyers navigate the journey of securing the right house and land package with clarity and confidence. With years of experience leading teams and mentoring others, Lori takes a people-first approach, building genuine relationships and delivering tailored solutions that align with her clients’ long-term goals.

In addition to her role in property, Lori is the Co-Founder of skincare brand Glow Culture. Outside of work, she describes herself as an “unenthusiastic dance mum” (her words), a paddleboard enthusiast, and a firm believer in balance, growth, and backing yourself.

See more from Lori:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-pirozzi-65050142/

ABOUT ADAM SCHAAL 

Adam Schaal is the Founder and Director of Locale Property Group, a leading name in Australia’s property and construction industry. With decades of experience and billions in property transactions, he’s known for his integrity, leadership, and commitment to transparent, client-focused service. Adam is passionate about helping people achieve their property goals through honesty, expertise, and long-term relationships.

See more from Adam: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-schaal

Website: https://localewealth.com.au/

               https://localehomes.com.au/

ABOUT OWN IT Your Property Partner

Real stories. Real lessons. Real talk. 

Buying your first home, upgrading, or investing? It’s a big move and you don’t have to go it alone. 

Hosted by Adam Schaal, the founder of Locale Property Group, Own It is where we discuss property journeys, wins, mistakes, mindset shifts, and everything in between. No jargon. Just honest, empowering conversations that shed light on all things property.  

To know more about Own It Your Property Partner, you can visit the links below:

Presented by: Locale Property Group

SPEAKER_00

You need a high salary, over 100k to get into the market, and you need a chocolate of savings.

SPEAKER_01

As a first home buyer, I think the biggest question is what can you do today?

SPEAKER_00

I think the first thing is work out what grants are suitable for you.

SPEAKER_01

One of the key stats pulled out by REA is that we're at a shortage of two million homes. Do you see a solution to that?

SPEAKER_00

Macro level solution would be. That's your words. Loves paddle boarding and beach days, is a self-care queen, works at Locale Home's a new home advocate, and absolutely killing it. Your clients love you. You help first-time buyers get into the market. And today we're cracking the property ladder with grants in 2026. So welcome.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks so much, Adam. Great to be here.

SPEAKER_00

So our first segment is Where's the Lie? There's going to be two truths and one lie, and my job is to try to unpack that. So I'm going to throw it over to you.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, here we go. So I've got three questions for you. I'm going to rattle them all off. Some buyers have been forced to repay grants due to simple paperwork errors. Number two, just over 20% of my clients are strong independent women building by themselves. And number three, once I had to stop presenting at a conference because someone died in the audience made presentation.

SPEAKER_00

Three. Last one.

SPEAKER_01

Is a lie.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my jeez, how did you get that so fast?

SPEAKER_00

The other two were correct. Yes, uh, yeah, 100%. You do have to pay a grant back if you um uh don't follow the rules essentially. And look, I've been guilty of that. I had a family tragedy and got the first home buyer's grant, couldn't live in the home, and had to pay it back. So I've experienced that. Um I see you sitting with a lot of your incredible customers, and um, you know, generally our our business has over 50% females, and we attract a lot of female buyers, so um that seems pretty true as well. So I'm like, Mira, sounds like a death in the uh in the audience.

SPEAKER_01

Well, so that one was it was you right, is correct. Um, but it wasn't entirely untrue.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, totally.

SPEAKER_01

So um so I was presenting at a conference one year and there was about 400 people in the audience across suppliers and um retail owners, and someone had a medical episode right in front of me in the audience where we had to stop the presentation. Thankfully they were okay though.

SPEAKER_00

Good, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but obviously something that you don't ever wish to experience as a presenter.

SPEAKER_00

So talk about an icebreaker, 400 people, that sort of probably loosened the room up a bit.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well everyone was everyone was kind of and it was right at the crux of like just getting just finding my groove.

SPEAKER_00

You're getting the point to the pointy at all the good stuff.

SPEAKER_01

And then have to restart again.

SPEAKER_00

But thankfully they're just like I said, very uh glad that they're okay. So next segment, uh it's building without the bullshit. Is 2026 uh a good year to be building your first home or building a home in general? And we've got some articles here that we'd like to talk through, um, one from realestate.com, one from HIA, um, which sort of explain the market and tell us the good discussion points for us.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and obviously, Adam, there's so much happening in the market right now and the outlooks are quite positive. Um but what are we seeing from obviously this government's got goals as well to meet the meet these particular housing benchmarks.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

How what does the industry look like as it stands?

SPEAKER_00

The industry uh r realistically is pretty overheated. Um we've got stimuluses uh through deposit schemes, grants, uh low interest rates with a couple of we have a few rate cuts recently, um, and it's very, very hot, specifically in Western Australia. Um, and we also have a constrained pipeline. So constrained pipeline meaning um that developers just can't develop enough land, they can't procure enough land, and they also can't develop it fast enough, which means you know, getting it through civil contractors, through um relevant approvals, so that's constrained. And builders are also constrained as well. Um there's only a certain amount of labor that they have to be able to build homes, so that's putting a whole lot of pressure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

There's more buyers than there are established properties available, and there's more buyers than the industry can really develop and produce. So that's creating obviously this huge uptick and um you know driving a lot of price growth um in Western Australia. So yeah, it's it's really case of crazy. In the short term, all these stimuluses, are they going to create more houses? Um maybe over a long term, yes, of course they are. Um, but they're not fixing the problem today. Fundamentally, if someone wants to go buy a house today and they're building homes, it's still gonna be two to three years until we start to see those pressures ease. So um, yeah, we've we've got some pressures. Um, but I do see the 2026 market being hot. Um it's gonna continue to be hot. Um I do potentially anticipate there will be a rate increase um just to try to slow down some of the demand um because yeah, it's the pressure's really there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because that's interesting. The HIA is saying in this article that the momentum, the rate at which we'll pick up is determined will be determined by the the pace at which interest rates drop. And obviously what you've described is the complete opposite to that.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

So is it interest rates going to solve the problem? Is it supply? At what point do you think we're gonna actually catch up where all of those factors and all those barriers align to that kind of trajectory of solid growth?

SPEAKER_00

100%. There's the there's a bit of a chicken and egg, uh right, because you need uh migration to get more people to be able to build the homes. Um because we've got fundamentally a a labour shortage across all parts of the business. Our business has shortages across everywhere in every discipline, but specifically trades is a huge undersupply.

SPEAKER_01

Because that's a big one, right? Everyone's talking about migration and the impact it's having on prices.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

But we need that for labour.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. So it's a bit of a vicious cycle, essentially. Um we need to trade ourselves out of as an industry and as a as a as a state. Um, we do need more people. Um, and there's a positive uh migration from interstate, but also internationally wanting to move to West Australia because it provides incredible lifestyle, job opportunities. So we need to create more housing. So more housing means obviously trying to stimulate more housing through incentives, which the government's doing. The HI and MBI are doing incredible job championing, you know, uh deregulation and trying to, you know, get houses through the process as quick as possible. But again, we're constrained on what the reality is on what we can actually build as an industry. So really interesting times. Um, we are seeing it every single year it's improving. Um build times, whilst we're developing more homes every year, build times are sort of inc decreasing, which is a sign that there is more labour, and we've come back to really like quite realistic time frames in the Western Australia market. You know, through COVID, they blew out um up to two years to build a home. You know, we're seeing most homes built within 10 months quite comfortably or below these days. So that's positive signs. Um the market is improving from a supplier point of view, but there's still gonna be a whole lot of heat in the market, and we will see property prices increase this year.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And what that really means for first home buyers is don't wait for that interest rate cut because A, it's probably not going to come. Right. And B, if you do wait, you're just gonna price yourself out of the market again.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Look, I'm a mortgage holder, and uh I would love an interest rate cut, but it really in reality, an interest rate cut is not what we need. Um, we should at least stay flat because there's too much demand, there's too much inflation, there's too much uh craziness in the market right now. So stability is what we need because when you overcook something, you know, there's a deficit on the other side. So I do anticipate there will be probably some rate increases this year, um, which is tough for first-home buyers. Um, but that also highlights they should probably get into the market right now because their borrowing capacity is going to decrease if they have an interest rate rise. And also property prices are increasing. So with a interest rate uh increase, their borrowing capacity drops, and the property prices are going up, they're just getting it's it's making it harder and less achievable. So yeah, the time is now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. One of the key stats pulled out by REA is that we're at a shortage of two million homes.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

So what does that mean?

SPEAKER_00

We just can't get enough homes on the ground to um keep up with the demand. So what's causing that? Uh obviously we've got stimulation in the market through rate cuts um and incentives, which is drying driving further demand. We have migration uh moving into Australia, uh, West Australia specifically, from interstate and international because it's a great place to live. And we also just need more people to actually build homes and and fill jobs. We've got a constrained land pipeline. We can't develop enough land, we can't the developers can't procure enough land, they can't develop enough land, they've got constraints with civil contractors, getting things through approvals and getting them to site. We also have a really constrained builders' pipeline. So the builders' pipeline, specifically in West Australia, was really, really, you know, low. The capability was really low post or pre-COVID. And then obviously we had the stimulus, and we slowly have seen the builders' pipeline, or we've slowly seen the builder's capability increase over the last few years based on them just building up trades and suppliers. And um we are seeing every year an improvement in improvals, but it's still not keeping up with demand. So essentially that's creating a deficit of housing, which is putting pressure on prices. Um, and you know, we're that's why we're seeing these crazy situations where people are counting, camping out for blocks of land, and it's hundreds of people sort of putting in applications for five blocks of land. So it's um it's a really, really crazy time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And with those approvals, we're seeing WA lead the way with that. But typically we are the most undersupplied state, followed shortly by Queensland and South Australia. So we're in kind of a little bit of a more heated market than the rest of the states, would you say?

SPEAKER_00

We are, yeah. Look, uh West Australia and Queensland, to be fair, is um is is is hot. And there's a whole, like I said, a whole lot of demand. Obviously, we've come from a very uh affordable median house price. That's now, you know, up there with the comparable with a lot of other states. So we're no longer the most affordable, but we're an incredible place to uh live. We're an absolute engine room, so people are moving here uh internationally and um from interstate, and yeah, people are just wanting to get into the market. And like I said, the WA pipeline is quite constrained from land supply and a builder supply point of view, so it's creating that upward pressure.

SPEAKER_01

So, Adam, you mentioned something really relevant there earlier around land shortages. Obviously, that's something I experience personally every single day with my clients. The process has changed even from the last six months, the amount of land that's available. I mean, we're seeing totally different processes where we've got bidding.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Um, you know, places like Treby, Bentley, and Hammy Hill are bidding $50,000 to $80,000 over the starting price. So prices have just gone through the roof. Do you see a short-term solution to that?

SPEAKER_00

So, short-term, it's hard to have a short-term solution really with land because it takes time to get it out of the ground. But from a state government level, um, probably deregulating and getting things through approval faster would be really, really great for developers. Um, obviously there's a lot of red tape, and things take often years to get them rezoned and bring them to the market as a rezoned development site.

SPEAKER_01

And why is that? Sorry, Adam, why does it take so long?

SPEAKER_00

Often it it's not rezoned appropriately. So often it could be zoned rural and it needs to be rezoned into urban development, and that can take time. So it needs to go through a lot of town planning and there could be requirements that are needed. And I understand it's not necessarily a tick and flick from a develop uh from a government point of view, but that does slow things down. There is just not enough parcels of land available for the developers to procure. I know every single major developer right now is looking for land. I was speaking to one only a couple of days ago that they were sitting across a table for four months with this land seller. They were almost ready to get this deal over the line after many, many months of negotiations. And then someone came in over the top and bidd five million more and basically killed the deal. And this developer's like, well, we actually can't make it stack or get a return on this piece of land at our price. So they've had to walk away from it. And then they're starting again. So they're spending countless, countless days and hours and years trying to procure land and not being able to find any. So the same thing that our buyers are dealing with, the developers are dealing with, and the of course the farmers or whoever are selling the land, they're going to try to maximize their sale price, and then that gets passed on to the end user, which is the buyer. Additionally, civil pressures, that's going up, the costs are going up, labor costs are going up in their businesses, the developers' businesses. So all that gets passed on to the end user. So answer your question, there isn't really a solution at any point in time right now. It's it just is what it is.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So eventually supply and demand have to meet in the middle for this to kind of be a success.

SPEAKER_00

So that that's where the government uh obviously they've stimulated the market. It's quite hot right now. There may be a point where they use the um interest rate stick and you know, try to slow down the heat in the market, which I do anticipate will happen this year, but there's still the fundamentals are there that we've got a whole lot of migration coming in. There's still people that are going to want to live here because of their lifestyle and their job opportunities, um, and there's not enough houses. So I don't see it slowing down in Humpsum. Additionally, over the last few months, we've seen camp outs, we've seen um the ballot is just melting down essentially. Uh, like often developers are releasing five to ten blocks at a time, and often there's hundreds of people going for those lots. So every release, people are missing out, and that's creating a compounding effect because then those people go to the next release, and then there's new buyers jumping in that line. So the line's kind of increasing every single month. I think a little bit of a silver lining is there. A lot of the developers kind of shut down over the Christmas break, and post-Christmas break, we'll start to see them obviously wanting to release more land as fast as they physically can because it obviously helps their cash flows, and we will see blocks starting to ease. It's definitely not going to be like it was 12 to 18 months ago. They're still gonna be very tight, but at the moment it's just this really, really crazy pinch point. Um, and yeah, I assume it will either that time.

SPEAKER_01

So we will get through it, which is a positive sign.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So one of the stats in the REA article, Adam, indicated that housing approvals are we need to be approving 20,000 a month. And currently we're sitting at 14,000, but that is on the way up, right?

SPEAKER_00

That is, yeah. So 20,000 nationally is what we need per month, uh, which is a pretty big number, 14,000 currently are you said increasing. So we're there is a silver lining, it's improving, um, but we've still got a way to go.

SPEAKER_01

Circling back to the HIA article, Adam, we talked about interest rate increases on one hand and interest rates decrease on the other hand to try and stimulate the market. What do interest rates actually do to borrowing capacity?

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, really rudimentary terms, uh 0.25% rate card is fifteen thousand dollars on someone's borrowing capacity. So essentially it just brings more money into buyers' pockets. Often that then uh brings more people into the market and that can then stimulate a market. Uh often that's why they do interest rate cuts to stimulate markets. So uh we've had three consecutive, um, which essentially put 45 grand into people's pockets from a borrowing power point of view, and that's fueled demand. HIO saying that we need rate cuts to uh stimulate uh more housing approvals. We're pretty darn stimulated right now.

SPEAKER_01

Um demand's not the issue, right?

SPEAKER_00

No, it's uh it's the constraint pipelines which is holding things back land uh and getting the homes built. So there's there's plenty of demand there. Uh there's a literally a line of people wanting a home. Um it's a severe constraint pipeline. I get what they're saying long term. You're having a competitive interest rate always keeps the housing market on, and that then creates uh more supply. Looking back, you know, 10 years ago, we just completely created a deficit. We weren't building enough homes. West Australia specifically, we went through a really tough time post-sort of 2015 to 2020. We had a really big deficit in housing supply, and that has now created the pain that we're experiencing today. So I get what they're saying, they probably should have stimulated the market more then and kept the housing uh supplies stimulated, and then we wouldn't have this huge deficit right now. So essentially it's a whole peaks and troughs that we need to kind of manage and make it more linear.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, eight cents. So people are waiting for a rate cut, Adam. Should we be waiting?

SPEAKER_00

Uh no, because uh the 15 grand that you may pick up from a serviceability point of view is not necessarily money in your pocket. You're losing month on month with land prices going up and bill prices going up. So uh waiting is just costing you money. And you're gonna be waiting a while, I think, for a rate cut. Um, I don't anticipate a rate cut really this year, um, just with how hot the market is. Look, I'm not an economist and I could be wrong, but all sentiments are kind of looking towards a maybe rate increase. Yeah. Circling back to the approvals that we're speaking about for Western Australia specifically, we've got such a constrained pipeline. Obviously, we're talking about land, that's very much constrained. But builders can only build so many homes, they've all got a capability uh capacity, and putting too many builds in at once is just going to create a disaster. We saw some, you know, pretty serious pressures that happened through COVID. So builders need more labour, they need more supply. We're seeing upward pressure on trade prices, and that's just based on demand. So we do need more people moving to Western Australia from interstate and internationally to be able to build these homes. But then that's the whole chicken and egg thing. We're creating, we're needing more people to move here to build the homes, but we need more homes for them to live in. So there's pretty extreme measures happening. Um I know some building companies are now providing temporary accommodation and buying essentially big commercial properties and decking them out as housing facilities for people to live in while they're while they're seeking homes in Perth because there isn't any homes available, and they can get to work and build homes. So that's what the state has gotten to. It's pretty extreme.

SPEAKER_01

So realistically, supply just needs to kind of marry up with that demand before we can see a way forward.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. And it's that whole chicken and egg. We need people here to build, we need houses. So it's just a really, you know, incremental wriggling piece that we have until we eventually get it right.

SPEAKER_01

Do you see a timeline on that?

SPEAKER_00

Look, I do anticipate probably next year we'll start to see things ease a little bit. Obviously, we've got some really heavy wind in the sales right now. I anticipate there will be probably some rate cuts, sorry, rate increases, which may try to cool things a little bit. But cooling things is not a bad thing, in my opinion. It's good we all want a market that's, you know, safe, linear, going in the right direction and still increasing, but increasing in a in a realistic, safe manner. When you over-stimulate stimulate a market, you just create a lot of pressure on the pipeline, drive up prices, inflationary prices. So yeah, we want um things to cool down a little bit um realistically, so then people can get into a home and we don't create, you know, knock on effects for the future.

SPEAKER_01

And obviously we're seeing those high prices, and that leads into what we manage daily around buyer expectations. Absolutely. So how do you get into the market with these increasing prices? And it really is. I I speak to my clients a lot about that. Around do you do you take the opportunity to put in aircon in later or do you do flooring later and just get into the market and and get in at these prices at what you can afford?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Uh I think there's a little bit of like bruised ego as well. Of um, and I know I've experienced that where you don't want to get in because you're like, oh, I'm now paying $50,000 to $100,000 more than what it was, and you're like, should I really be buying? But that goes away pretty quickly because we're seeing people buy and then within two months their proper block price has gone up twenty, thirty, forty, fifty thousand dollars, and like, okay, wow, that was the right decision. So managing expectations is key, getting into the market is key, compromising, you know, back in the old days, like my family when they moved into their house, no flooring, they walked on the concrete slab for 12 months, they had um newspaper in the in the windows. I'm not suggesting people do that, but that's just sometimes a compromise we need to consider to get into the market. Because the key is get into the market because your life gets a lot easier once you have a property. You know, you build some equity in that property and you can then use that property to create freedom, however that looks, whether you buy an investment property or upsize, whichever way you, whichever path you decide to take. But the key part is just get in as soon as you physically can.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Look, that's a great segue for us to talk about the grants that are available because 2026 is going to be a good year for first-time buyers to get into the market. So let's run through what's available currently. Uh, first off, uh the first-time buyers grant.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So the first-time bonus grant is probably the one that most people are familiar with. It has been around for a long time. It acts as a boost, as a one-off payment for people getting into their first homes, regardless whether it's established or a new build. The amount varies by state. Currently, here in Western Australia, it's 10k and in Queensland it's 30,000. Um, and it acts as a great boost to help you get into the market, no doubt about that. From my perspective, there are some limitations as we look at this grant. That $10,000 has been around for a while. So it really hasn't changed to catch up with increasing prices. Um, but also that the cap and the purchase value cap of $750,000, albeit that that's changed relatively recently, I think it probably needs to change again, and there needs to be a different way of looking at that.

SPEAKER_00

Agreed. I personally think it needs to be uh pegged potentially with a median house price, review quarterly. And what we see is huge drawn out pro points of time where it's not relevant, and then they rapidly increase other cap amount. So I think, yeah, that does need to be indexed or or pegged to the median house price. Um, that'd certainly help buyers get in. So the next one is the first home super savor scheme, which is a bit of a tongue twister. Uh, but that one is you can essentially contribute fifteen thousand dollars a year of your income uh into your super, and you can have a total amount of fifty thousand dollars. Um that'll only be taxed at the fifteen percent uh for super contributions. Yeah. You can't use the super that your employers ready tipped in. It's the super that you're putting over and above. So essentially it's like a savings account and it's taxed at a lower rate, which is really cool. Instead of getting taxed at your normal tax uh rate based on whatever your income is, it's a lower amount. So essentially it's giving you a bit of a leg up to be able to save more money quicker. Um and you can release those funds and then purchase a property, whether it's an established property or a house and loan package.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Another one I love is Keystart, which is a government-backed lender. Um so they've been around for you know decades and done an incredible job and got a lot of Aussies into home ownership. What they do really well is have a 2% deposit, um, which is a lot lower than most lenders. They have no lender's mortgage insurance, which could save you anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 on your property. You can pay a minimum amount during construction. So they have a $400 a week, sorry, a month minimum payment amount. Um so that means you can rent a property, but you can also build a property and you're not sort of drowning in repayments from a uh bill point of view and trying to uh rent a property.

SPEAKER_01

So that's really not that. And a lot of our clients have are using Keystart more and more. For sure. So that is such a big leg up for them and relieves so much stress for them during construction.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. I think it's close to about 12% of our clients are now using Keystart. We saw that drop right back when their caps were low. Previously, their caps were 730. They've recently increased them to 800k, which is great. So it's sort of in the market right now. They also increase their income caps. So the income caps have been increased to 148,000 for a single and it's 218,000 for a uh couple, which is really great. Additionally, we've seen Keystart sort of flex on those caps. They've been very generous in allowing people slightly higher income and creep over the uh the purchase price cap a little bit because they just genuinely want to see West Ozzy's in into a home and they know that the market's moving really quickly. So they've been really, really flexible and supportive. Uh another real benefit is people that may have had, you know, um some chuck troubles in the past financially, if you've got a bit of bad credit, or you've even been bankrupt for you know some time ago and times past, they'll actually let you get a uh home loan as well. So very supportive of the uh West Aussie community.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it it is showing in the uptake on on clients using Keystart.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm gonna talk about the 5% deposit scheme that came out all October 2025. And this helps first home buyers get into the market with just 5% versus the 20% that was originally in place for anything over $750,000. Um obviously single parents get in at a little bit cheaper at 2%, which is in line with the Keystart, um, without paying any LMI. Um the only real question mark I have over this, probably more long term because it stacks up now, is that $850,000 uh purchase value cap. Um it works, certainly works on today's prices, but as we move forward in this heated market, I do wonder where this needs to be reassessed to.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Another one is help to buy, which uh used to be called like a shared equity scheme, um, which is essentially the government going in as a co-applicant on the property. So they will go up to 40% of the purchase price on a new build, so they'll own 40% of the property, but essentially help with 40% of the funding, which is really, really cool.

SPEAKER_01

So you own 40% of the rooms?

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Uh yeah, put some uh state workers in there. No, you you completely inhabit the property yourself, it's your property, essentially, they're just a co-applicant from a funding point of view, and you do have the ability to buy them out at a period of time. Um, and you also can pay down the portion over a period of time as well. So when you decide to buy that out at that point in time, they will use an independent uh evaluation company which will value the property, and then you have to essentially buy out that 40% at the market rate.

SPEAKER_01

So do you have to buy them out?

SPEAKER_00

No, you can continue on and um yeah, absolutely, just live on uh because essentially people the whole thing is affordability. So some people might not be able to afford the additional 40%, so you can just continue on as normal. As an example, so on an $800,000 purchase, the buyer would approximately have to come up with about 16 grand. So the remaining loan would be about $544,000 for the person that's purchasing the property, and the government contribution would be $240,000. So that makes up that total $800,000 package price. So it's a fair chunk that the government's contributing. Um it's it's a huge leg up for people to get into the market. And how we're seeing property prices move so quickly. Um, yes, whilst the government might own 40% of the property, you know, uh a bit of something's better than a lot of nothing. So um you know, only 60% of property in this market is bloody good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I always say, would you like the 100% of an orange or 50% of a watermelon?

SPEAKER_00

For sure.

SPEAKER_01

So, Adam, with these schemes, we've talked a lot about the schemes. Can some of them be stacked? Can we use multiple ones at one time?

SPEAKER_00

You can, uh it all depends on your criteria, eligibility criteria. But Keystart and the first-time buyers grant can be used together. So you're getting the saving of lender's mortgage insurance, which could be $20,000 to $30,000, plus you're getting the first-time buyers grant, and you're also getting stamp duty concessions as well, which could be anywhere from you know $15,000 to $20,000. So there are a lot of benefits that are stacked. So the government is really doing their best to stimulate the market, but also help first-time buyers get into the market. This one is where we get rapid-fire questions, throwing them at me this time, um, and we have to answer them. So throw them at me.

SPEAKER_01

Here we go. Now these are mainly from our socials and um feedback from our clients. So are the government grants just adding more fuel to an already undersupplied market?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, they are, 100%. But they are also helping people get into the market that couldn't. That's why it's being fueled. A lot of these people probably didn't have the opportunity to get into the market, they couldn't have saved the money, they didn't have the deposit, there's too many associated costs, but then there's mortgage insurance, et cetera. We've just spoken about that. So yes, it's fueling the market, but it's fueling it because, you know, first-hand buyers now have the uh capability to get in.

SPEAKER_01

Number two, is migration just adding more demand to the market and pushing prices up?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it's pushing the prices up. Yes, it's creating more demand in the market, but it is essential. We need people to fill the jobs that WA has. Um, we need more people to build homes, we need more people to develop land, we need more people in the resources industry. So it's kind of chicken and egg, um, but we need more people in West Australia because we're a booming growing state. But yeah, the housing supply is a challenge. So yeah, we've just got to manage that.

SPEAKER_01

All right, Adam, final one. What's the catch? Isn't there always a catch to these government grants?

SPEAKER_00

Uh the catch is they're trying to build more homes. Uh look, we just spoke about that. There's not enough houses getting built. So we need to build more homes. That's why they're throwing it out there to stimulate the market. But the end user, the buyer, they're winning, they're picking up grants, they're getting funding to be able to get in a home and they're getting capital growth. So it's a win-win. Now it's my turn. I'm gonna ask you some, Laura. Isn't the 5% deposit scheme just making the banks richer?

SPEAKER_01

Look, essentially, banks are always gonna win because the more lending that goes on, that's their business. Um, undoubtedly. So, yes, they will win long term. I think there's an important note here in that the banks aren't actually getting the LMI. The government will be paying that to the insurance company. So, again, like you said before, everyone's winning. The banks are winning, the government's winning because they're able to build more houses, and first-time buyers are winning because time is on their side to get into the market.

SPEAKER_00

Is there so much paperwork? Is it even worth a headache with these grants?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, paperwork's always a headache, right? But um des paperwork, sure. But that's what the brokers are there, the settlement agents and people like ourselves are there to do. So we're here to guide you the way through. Is the paperwork worth it? Absolutely. You're getting a home. So I think you know, you've got to pick your pain there.

SPEAKER_00

You need a high salary, over 100k to get into the market, and you need a truckload of savings.

SPEAKER_01

So, look, I think there's two parts to that question. As a single, yeah, absolutely, you need over 100, but as a couple, not necessarily. Don't need a truckload of money. Obviously, we've spoken a lot about the grants that are available to help reduce that. And between Keystart, the 5% deposit, it's not necessarily the biggest barrier. You just need to understand your position, and that's that comes with a conversation.

SPEAKER_00

Our next segment is bringing to the table where our guest, Lori, uh, brings something special um that you would love to talk about.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, Adam. I'm gonna do this for the people. So I have bought my sleeves from my last post to the table today because I think it's worthy of a discussion.

SPEAKER_00

Love it. Talk me through it.

SPEAKER_01

So the Facebook community clearly thought that my sleeves were a hotter topic than the first home buyer's guide, which was a valuable piece of information. So I'm gonna throw it out there because my outfit divided our can our client base.

SPEAKER_00

And I can understand that as a bloke that wears a black t-shirt every day. Um the sleeves uh serve no purpose, but I'm sure they're very fashion forward.

SPEAKER_01

That they are, and I I just wish it'd gone viral like that whole six, seven thing, because then we could have been on a totally different um planet, really. But um what I loved, and there were obviously some big lovers, and thank you. Um I love the fact that something that's 10 years old and almost vintages come back to life, um, as all fashion does, but there were also some haters. One hater, I absolutely loved his comments. John, I'm calling you out, and I'm gonna read this because this is probably the thing that gave me most satisfaction. So John wrote an entire paragraph explaining that being offended by a piece of fabric isn't a real thing, it has no purpose and shouldn't be respected as a phrase. Now I'm not quite sure where he was going with that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it sounds like John had a few shardies when he wrote that. It might have been later on in the night, but good on him, he's passionate. And I encourage John and all the others to keep doing whatever they do and comment on your sleeves because it's helping us get our brand out there. So thanks for helping the algorithm, John, and thanks for the uh interesting comment.

SPEAKER_01

But um, seriously, for clarity, my sleeves were not offended by any comments, and I could continue to keep this fashion item in my wardrobe for later use. And if you do want to actually revisit that post, please take the time to download the first home buyer's guide because it's actually a very valuable tool.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. No feelings and no sleeves will hurt in this segment.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_00

So our last segment, lock it up. This is where we uh summarise what we've discussed and also give actionable items for our listeners. Um, Laurie, where do we start?

SPEAKER_01

So I think the biggest question is should we buy in 2026?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. The market's still moving, it's hot, um, and so yeah, we don't anticipate it's slowing down based on how many buyers there are. So, yes, you should be buying.

SPEAKER_01

As a first home buyer, Adam, what can you do today?

SPEAKER_00

I think the first thing is work out what grants are suitable for you. Uh, obviously we discussed that, but there's a lot of products in the market that will help you. I think the biggest barrier for most people is just finding out where they stand. So just start exploring, chat to people, um, so you can speak to a finance broker. Um, they can sort of give you an understanding of what you're eligible for and what you can borrow. Um, another one is download our first-hand buyer's guide, um, the one that we're talking about with the controversial sleeves. Um, that will provide you a whole lot of information and it's a really good starting point for people to get their head around where they need to be. Speak to an advocate like yourself. Um, we're all here to help. We all love what we do, and we genuinely want to see clients into home ownership. And if you're not ready now, we'll at least give you a bit of a path on how to get there in a short period of time. And I think that the key is action. Like literally just you make a decision in your head mentally and go, I'm gonna make this happen. We've seen people in really challenging uh situations and circumstances, and we've worked with them for months to get them to where they need to be to achieve home ownership. So if you check out our Google reviews, you'll see hundreds of those. Um, people, you know, we're there to help people. 100%. So thank you, Laurie. Uh, really enjoyed our chat today, and thanks for sharing your insights.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks, Adam.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for listening to Own It, Your Property Partner. If you found today's chat helpful, share it with a mate, subscribe, and leave us a review. Today we're recording on the land of the Wujak Nga people. See you next time.