The friends investing in their future
23-year olds, Saxon, Matt and Ryan have been friends since their schooling days. With a shared drive for personal success and passion for competitive sport, they’ve stayed close and now flat together in Auckland.
It was Saxon who pitched the idea of the three mates purchasing a property together. “Let’s see what we can do,” he mused. “I think we can shake things up for our lives and sort out our futures.”
Despite some trepidation, the group quickly came around to the idea. “When Saxon first came up with the idea I was pretty damn worried,” said Matt. “But then I thought, actually there’s three incomes here. So, I went away and crunched the numbers and thought, oh actually I think this is doable.”
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Saxon, Matt and Ryan worked with Kiwibank Mobile Mortgage Manager, Chelsea Ladbrook. Get Chelsea's tips and insights on the home ownership journey.
As recommended for all co-ownership agreements, the friends have drawn up a property sharing agreement that includes a range of scenarios - from someone moving overseas temporarily to exit plans, for example if one person wanted to sell their share of the property.
Ultimately though, Saxon, Matt and Ryan want to remain pragmatic and focused on what’s really important. “I think at the end of the day we’ve all agreed our friendship is key, and we don’t want to lose that over a house,” said Ryan.
There’s a lot of learning experiences [we] can have now, so that when we do go our own ways with our own families, we can build our dream homes.Saxon on co-ownership with friends Matt and Ryan
The friends have agreed their purchase will be split evenly, even though they’re contributing different deposit amounts. Saxon and Ryan will contribute $50,000 each to the deposit, while Matt will contribute $15,000.
“We’ve been on online mortgage calculators,” said Matt, explaining how they’ve made the agreement fair. “Because my deposit is a bit lower, my repayments will be higher, so we end up at the same place at the end of it.”
Mobile Mortgage Manager, Chelsea Ladbrook, was able to confirm their conditional pre-approval. Elated, the three friends prepared themselves for the official house hunt. “That’s equal parts scary and fantastic,” laughed Matt.
Watch Saxon, Matt and Ryan's story: On the Ladder with Kiwibank is available on ThreeNow.
On the Ladder with Kiwibank is produced in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery.
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