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The thought of owning a stable home for a blended family of seven seemed like a distant dream for Palawa couple Brianna and James. That was until a family member introduced them to IBA.
With their goal in mind and the support of IBA, they started their journey to home ownership. Now they are proof that anything is possible with the right plan.
When Brianna left her previous relationship, she ended up with mountains of debt and a bad credit rating. James had owned a home in the past, but the couple thought owning a home together was out of reach.
After hearing about IBA, they took the first step in their home ownership journey. They jumped onto the IBA website to start exploring the requirements. They were able to identify what areas they needed to improve on before applying for a home loan and worked out achievable steps to get there.
Brianna and James attended IBA’s workshops on budgeting and preparing for home ownership which encouraged them to create a two-year plan. Cutting their expenses and sticking to a budget were top priorities. They also started paying down their smaller debts and then moved on to tackling their bigger debts.
“We buckled down and started saving money and cutting costs everywhere we could,” says Brianna.
“We would call our utility providers regularly to make sure we were getting the best rate. We’d do up and sell old furniture; wherever we could make or save money we would.”
After two years of getting their finances back on track, their dream of owning their own home was becoming a reality, and they reached back out to IBA and applied for a home loan.
“The day we were approved, we found the perfect block of land. We rang the agent to enquire the next day and we bought. Everything just fell into place perfectly.”
Brianna says that cutting costs and living on a strict budget has all been worth it.
“Owning our own home brings a new chapter. It provides a stable roof over our kids’ heads and somewhere they know they can always call home. It also teaches them that anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” says Brianna.
“With everything that has happened in our past, we never thought this would be possible. We thought we’d be renting for the next six years. We wouldn’t be here without the help of IBA.”
June couldn’t come quick enough for the family of seven as they get the keys to their brand new, freshly built home that has room for the whole family.
Find out more about IBA’s regional construction loan package to build your perfect family home like Brianna and James did!
Keep an eye out on our website for our upcoming home ownership workshops, (info session, budgeting and understanding credit) and register to find out more.
