Where can sheer determination lead us?

Two years ago this week marks the date which a family bought a house for $406,000 at auction in East Geelong.

There was nothing ordinary about this adventure though… not for us, nor for them.

The journey has been noteworthy from the conception of their idea to build wealth, to the finished product that they inhabit today. We’ve stayed in touch over the 22 month journey as they have painstakingly renovated, saved, restored furnishings, juggled work, raised children and made the best of every single opportunity. The late night emails and stories regaled of bargain tile buys and second hand kitchen assembling have kept me riveted on their progress.

It was with pleasure that I drove down to Geelong with my camera on the passenger seat for a house reveal and a coffee catch up this week.

Our energetic couple met us through their broker team and we give this team credit where credit is due. After a seven year stint on voluntary projects, this delightful duo came home with just $150 in their savings account. Four years following their return, our couple were armed with a tight pool of savings, loads of enthusiasm, the promise of stamp duty concession savings for a home purchase and a highly geared loan preapproval. Their purchase was contingent on them living in the property, but their total borrowing capacity was $480,000 and they needed a family home for themselves and their two young boys.

I knew I had my work cut out for me.

Her energy seemed boundless and I loved her friendly spirit so we met up to talk ‘strategy’. Her husband’s work was in Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs. He worked in construction and had trade qualifications. Her willingness to be hands-on had me wondering whether she could take on a renovation project or manage the trades. Either way, their budget certainly required them to be prepared to take on some hard work. It was her subtle mention of future work in Geelong which opened the possibilities. I asked her if they’d consider Geelong as an option to live and raise a family in.

“Yes! I love Geelong! Do you think we could get a period house in Geelong?”

I had just set myself up for a fabulous challenge. Now to where in Geelong. At the time, period houses in the inner ring suburbs (West, Newtown, South Geelong and East Geelong) were selling well in excess of the budget I had at hand; even the renovation projects. I wondered if our duo would consider middle-ring areas in the affordable locales.

Our couple were committed to the inspections and were well-equipped for the weekly itinerary drive with two young children in the back, but their desire to be within walking distance of the city was stronger than their willingness to compromise on inner-urban living. I explained the levers that can be pulled to make their dream a reality. Compromising on the landsize, dwelling type or being prepared to compromise on the location (ie. Introducing an element which discounts the property – main road, train line, proximity to commercial aspects etc) were the only avenues we had left.

But they didn’t want a townhouse, nor did they want a property without a yard.

They wanted a period home.

We found a beautiful double-fronted Edwardian on a busy road in East Geelong but understanding the impact of a busy road on tenant desirability and resale, we carefully explained the impact of any decision to buy. Intuitively, I knew she’d love the home. That excited phone call on a busy Saturday afternoon was of no surprise and we quickly arranged a voyage down the Westgate Freeway in the following days to see what our searching had uncovered.

I was mildly horrified and completely concerned.

The house smelled bad. The floors had dropped significantly around the perimeter. The bathroom was blue, the toilet was outside and the wallpaper was hideous. I genuinely felt that this would prove to be too great a project for two eager first home buyers with a toddler and a pre-schooler in tow.

But her enthusiasm was palpable and he remained the ever pragmatic husband throughout the whole ordeal. They coordinated a thorough building inspection and asked every trade question they could. Whatever words of caution I could put up, their planning and clear determination shone through and I had to support their decision to go to auction.

The glorious big front rooms, commanding facade and delightful north facing rear yard were a perfect recipe for an incredible renovation, but the broader question was how could they fund it?

Little did we appreciate just how committed they were to the task.

The property was secured on the day of auction for $406,000. A long settlement enabled them to carve a plan and save every penny. The re-stumping was the significant cost they had to bear upfront in order to create the right canvas for their transformation. It just about wiped them out, but true to form they turned their hand to everything which they could do themselves and continued saving hard. His daily commute to Burwood was tough on the entire family but their spirits remained high.  Interestingly, it was during our coffee catch up this week that our gorgeous client let me in on some of her most pivotal days.

“You know Cate… I used to wait for him to come home and I’d have it all planned. But it was so slow. I had the kids in the Air BnB around the corner and I was arranging everything, but he was working so hard and getting in so late… one day I realized I had to get onto it myself too. I had to just do it….”

“I remember when I first pulled out the dining room window to restore it. I was like – I can do this…  it was the moment things changed.”

She found a fantastic local builder who was happy to have her working on site alongside him. This was no mean feat. Finding a builder who could handle the demands of a dynamic job alongside a busy Mum was only the first challenge. One who came to quote was so sensitive to the smell, his weak constitution couldn’t enable him to stay inside.

It was when she was in the sub floor, hammering in nails to rafters and shouting back to the carpenter on the other side that she accepted this was no dull project and every effort got them closer to their goal. Her chippy laughed when he told her he hadn’t worked with a female labourer on a site before. Her mother moved across the state on a regular basis to stay with the children for days on end and her husband used every spare opportunity to work on their home. They moved in as soon as plaster sheet was up, and true to their commitment to save, they managed to live in their project as they transformed it. A convenient local kinder, great little school within easy walk and a friendly neighbourhood made the burden of renovation with a young family all the more achievable.

Twenty months down, their youngest child having commenced kindergarten and a finished product on hand, they invited me to come and see their home. What surprised me the most was the soul of the home. Her attention to detail, placement of restored old beautiful Federation style furnishings, and stunning crackling fires warming each room gripped me.

We shared a coffee and chatted through some of their adventures. Surprisingly, the total transformation was done on a shoestring budget and aside from moving out the bathroom wall, removing the kitchen wall to open up a kitchen dining area, and arranging re-stumping at the start, very little structural changes had been made.

They had saved for a trailer and relentlessly shopped online for recycled items, checked in at bargain warehouses all over Victoria, and painstakingly restored pieces that could have otherwise gone to landfill.

“In addition to the trailer, I bought him a Milwaukee cordless drill set for our 16^th wedding anniversary, but who do you think used them the most? Me!”

Their double bathroom basins underneath the glorious marble bench were reclaimed and utilized.

The kitchen benchtops told their own story again… some originating from waste, some from upgraded kitchens in Brighton and Camberwell. The stunning island bench was borne from a massive piece of marble breaking cleanly in half at another client’s install.

The fireplaces had been stripped back and colour-matched beautifully, but it was their own efforts in double glazing the original sash windows which really impressed me. Meticulous care had created their beautiful home.

What others hadn’t seen past, these two had.

Their beautiful 1914 diamond-in-the-rough with high ceilings, enormous rooms, fireplaces begging for attention and boasting beautiful period features behind the years of mid-century alterations had been waiting patiently for a family like this who could restore it.

Their journey started as a keen initiative to start building their own personal wealth. What they ended up with was a beautiful home on the edge of Geelong’s city, and a wonderful family lifestyle where he can now walk to work.

Their personal wealth creation is well under way. A recent bank valuation of $635,000 means that they can take on their next restoration project locally.

This story has been one of a few which I’ve been thrilled to play a small part in, and humbled to be invited back to see such a spectacular reveal.