Ben and Laura Mackenzie withdrew from a ‘manic’ property market during the pandemic but have now found their dream home in Brisbane.
Tell us about yourself
I’m Ben, a 33-year-old co-owner of a recruitment firm in Brisbane and my wife Laura, 32, is a nurse. We’ve been looking to buy a family home for the last few years but decided to pause those plans when prices skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.We then got more serious about the process four to five months ago. Being at the mercy of the rental market was becoming frustrating, and we were keen to start the next phase of our lives outside of apartment living.
Then in around April this year, prices were a bit more stable, and we were able to nail down the parameters of exactly what we were looking for. The best decision we made was engaging Andrew Fried from AllenWargent Property as our buyer’s agent, who was a godsend for us in giving valuation opinions and dealing with real estate agents.The absolute limit of our budget was $1.4 million.
It is also on a 810 square metre block with a 20-metre frontage, so we will be able to split the block further down the track if we want.It has been chaotic at times over the last three years in Brisbane with a lot of people moving to South-East Queensland. Although prices have significantly increased over that time period, I still think Brisbane represents fair value compared to some other capital cities.
Low stock levels and the increased cost of new builds mixed in with migration would probably suggest prices will be maintained for the forseeable future. We were in a very lucky position that we don’t have any dependants, and we weren’t under any time pressure as we still had a lease for 11 months at our apartment, so we could work through the process with Andrew at our own pace.
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