7 out of 10 investors made sacrifices to buy property

July 21, 2016

Almost 70% of all property investors were forced to make sacrifices to their lifestyle in order to buy their investment property, new data has revealed.

According to Mortgage Choice's annual Investor Survey, 69.4% of investors admitted to making sacrifices in order to buy property – up from 68% in 2015.

Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said with property prices rising across most markets, he wasn't surprised to hear a greater percentage of investors were forced to make lifestyle sacrifices in order to buy property.

“Data from CoreLogic found property values climbed 8.3% across the combined capital cities over the last 12 months,” he said.

“While some capital cities performed better than others in terms of property price growth, it is fair to say that most markets have enjoyed an upswing in values over the last few years.

“With that in mind, I am hardly surprised to hear investors are having to make sacrifices in order to achieve their property investment goals.”

When asked what sacrifices they had made to afford their property purchase, 57.9% of respondents said they had cut back on their day to day spending.

“While it is never easy to cut back on day to day spending, there are a few ways most people can easily reduce their spending and increase their level of savings,” Mr Flavell said.

For those looking to cut back on their spending in order to achieve their property ambitions or savings goal faster, Mr Flavell said there are five easy steps people can take.

Tip 1: Pack a lunch

Taking leftovers or a homemade lunch to work every day can help people save more money than they think. A bought lunch can cost as much as $15 a day. That's $75 a week or $3,900 a year. If that money was invested into a high interest savings account for example, a person could be over $4,000 wealthier each year.

Tip 2: Live off cash

A great way for people to avoid overspending is to set themselves a cash budget. The key is to plan exactly how much you need to spend each week to cover all expenses and then withdraw that amount in cash at the beginning of each week. By living off cash, people will be less likely to charge unnecessary costs to their eftpos or credit cards. Further, they can avoid incurring costly ATM fees by using the wrong bank teller. According to data from RateCity, 40% of all ATM transactions are being done at `foreign' ATMs, costing Australians approximately $548 million in avoidable fees a year.

Tip 3: Ask for discounts

While asking for discounts can feel like an uncomfortable task, it is worth doing. For those people who have been with the same gym for some time, it may be worth calling head office and asking if they can reduce the regular payments. This simple task could end up saving you $5 a week, or $260 a year. While it may not sound like a lot, when it comes to saving, every penny counts.

Tip 4: Shop around

Many people will choose a health insurance or car insurance provider and then stick with them year after year. While there is nothing wrong with being loyal to the one company, there is also nothing wrong with shopping around for a better deal. Get online and see what companies are on the market that can offer better priced and better suited solutions.

Tip 5: Pay all bills on time

One of the best ways to save money is to pay all bills on time. Today, a lot of companies – including banks, telecommunication businesses, electricity suppliers etc - will charge late payment fees if bills are not paid on time. For those who struggle to remember when bills are due, the trick is to put a reminder in your calendar. This will make sure you pay every bill on time and do not incur a costly late payment fee.