Bayside Finance and Property founder Alan Heenan with workshop guests Katie Murdoch and Debbie Latter.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Guests gathered at Echuca Neighbourhood House on Tuesday night for a first home buyer's workshop.
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The workshop was led by Melbourne-based Bayside Finance and Property founder Alan Heenan.
Mr Heenan is passionate about getting people into their first home after seeing his own mum struggle to achieve the same thing in regional Victoria when he was a child.
Now he has set himself a goal of helping 30 people get into their first home before the year is out.
The free workshops are the first step in achieving this goal and have seen him travel to communities across regional Victoria to share his knowledge.
Alan Heenan spoke to guests about what’s currently available for first home buyers.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Echuca local Katie Murdoch was one of the attendees at the Echuca workshop who had come along to learn more about the home buying process.
Ms Murdoch said although her and her partner weren’t ready to buy a home just yet, they wanted to know where to start when the time did come.
“I feel like, I'm 33, I should know how to buy a house, but I don't,” she said.
“We're kind of at a point now in our careers that we're finally stable, we've got two little kids, we want that stability in the next few years.
“We're not in a position to buy it tomorrow, but we're starting to plan and gather the information that we need (for) when we are ready.”
During the workshop, Mr Heenan encouraged attendees to envision their dream home, the location and when they would like to purchase.
He then discussed what was possible with their circumstances and what might be needed to achieve their dream home.
With Echuca-Moama being border towns, he also spoke about the differences when purchasing in either town.
Mr Heenan also encouraged guests to consider different avenues of achieving their dream, such as buying land to build or buying an already built home.
Alan Heenan traveled from Melbourne to lead the workshop.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Another guest, Helen Wilson, attended the night on behalf of her son who was looking to buy a house.
Mrs Wilson said she didn’t know what to expect from the workshop, but she had learnt a lot from it.
“I was not 100 per cent sure what was going to happen, but I came in open-minded and ready to learn as much as I could so I could help him... get the house that he wants,” she said.
“It was really good, very informative and just to learn about the fees like the first home buyer's grant, what you get and what you don’t get, that’s really interesting.”
Guests attended the session for varying reasons and got a lot out of the workshop.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Mrs Wilson added that helping her son could also help her and her husband as they were struggling with the rising cost of rent.
“We’re renting, and we found out today that our rent went up $40 a week,” she said.
“We’re on a pension and my husband is actually disabled... we’re in a unit paying $400 a week.
“So our son just said, ‘Mum, I want to buy a house and I want you and dad to move in... so instead of you paying somebody else rent, you can pay me the rent which will then help me pay off the mortgage’.”
So far, Mr Heenan has taken his workshops to Ballarat, Geelong, Yarra Junction and Echuca.
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