Can you buy a house on your own? Rachel has, and she's future-proofing it for the kids she plans on having one day

Cairns-based accountant Rachel Synott knew she had to enter the property market before it became more difficult, so she decided to build her “for-a-while home” as part of her property journey plan – one that involves not just her, but the family she hopes to have in the future.

As a single woman, Synott, 27, took about five years to save for a 20 per cent deposit, and it was only possible because she could live with her parents in that time.

Once she had the deposit, the biggest challenge was finding an established four-bedroom, two-bathroom home within her $500,000 price range. Finding a house that size was important because it was all part of her future planning, for the children she plans on having one day.

“The prices are so high even now, especially after COVID,” she says. “There is nothing out there.”

When she couldn’t find anything in the existing home market, she discovered that building the property she wanted – despite taking longer – was more affordable and wouldn’t put her under any mortgage stress.

Plus, using the Queensland government’s First Home Buyer Grant helped get her foot in the market faster.

“It’s easier to get off the plan,” she says. That way, the purchase would be eligible for first-home-buyer grants and stamp duty concessions, which an established house wouldn’t.  “The [price] cap was so low that it wasn’t going to be feasible.”

Once she had signed the contract and obtained the title deed, she had everything she needed to start construction. By November 2023, the first cement block was placed, and the next step of her long-term plans began.

“It’s a good little startup. It’s not where I see myself living forever,” she says. “I’m building mostly as a place for me to live in, but also partly with an eye towards its future resale value, as the house will appreciate as soon as it’s built.”

Synott has a five-year plan, which will be building equity in the home that will allow her to upgrade to a property with more space while keeping the current house as an investment property.

But in the longer term, she has far bigger plans for this house.

Synott hopes to keep it for her hypothetical children’s future. She doesn’t have kids yet, but already she’s worried about how they’ll ever own a property. So, she’s creating a legacy for her future children to use when it’s their turn to enter the property market. 

“I know a bunch of people who are 10 years younger than myself, and I don’t know how on earth they’re ever going to afford to get into the market,” she says. “I have no idea how kids of my own will ever be able to afford [property].

“It’s hard enough for people my age now. Who knows what will happen in another 10 to 20 years?”

Great Southern Bank head of products Barbara O’Connor Nash says single women are currently driving the increase in sole property buyers, with 49 per cent of single women owning their own home compared to just 38 per cent of single men.

“It’s really encouraging to see more women with the financial confidence and security to buy their own property,” she says. 

“There can be any number of reasons women may wish to buy a property by themselves, including a desire for financial independence, having additional income to invest, or a need for a new income stream.  

“But behind it all, I think there’s also a very healthy attitude of, ‘I’ve got this.’” 

O’Connor Nash says buying as a single person is more difficult because saving for a deposit on one income will take longer, but that hasn’t stopped people from achieving property ownership with government help.

The median house price in south Cairns is $477,000, according to the latest Domain First Home Buyer Report, which found it takes an average of four years and two months for a couple aged 25-34 to save a 20 per cent deposit for an entry-level house there. 

Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell says buying by yourself is a “tremendous feat”, and it is made possible by choosing more affordable locations and property types.

“It’s important that you think through what you are willing to bend on – what you are willing to compromise on – and what are the must-haves in the home you are getting or selecting,” she says.

Powell says getting on the property ladder is a journey, and it’s important to build equity so that, later on, it can be used to buy that dream home.

“The first dream is the dream of buying. It doesn’t mean it’s your dream home,” she adds.

For now, Synott continues to live with her parents as she surveys the building of her house. She hopes to have the keys by July 2024.