Susanna Freymark
Ed Boyd wants to see everyone under 50 own their own home.
The Casino resident (pictured above) has drawn up a 10-point plan to make this dream a reality.
He knows there will be knockers who think he’s crazy but Ed believes it is possible for 80-90% of the population to own a house by the age of 25.
Ed bought his first house when he was 28 years old. He had $1040 in the bank. The man who was selling the two-bedroom house in Greta wanted $1500. Ed managed to score his first home for $1000.
Throughout his life, Ed has owned 16 properties. Currently he has six.
Ed grew up in Casino, left school at 15 and headed south. At one point he was living in a caravan next to the Hexham Bridge. He was paying $10 a week to stay at the caravan park.
Buying that first house for $1000 in 1972 was his first step toward property ownership.
“I sold the house seven years later for $7000,” Ed said.
“At the time, I thought I made a killing.”
Today, the same property is worth about $300,000.
He wants others to have the choices and certainty that come with home ownership.
“People go on about how difficult it is to get a house,” he said.
“My view is that it isn’t.”
One issue was that “people start off too big”, he said.
Ed said property prices at the moment were “ridiculous”.
To make owning a home a reality, “we need everybody to give up a little bit,” he said.
“We wouldn’t have the problem of struggle street on the North Coast if people owned their own home.”
His plan requires local and federal governments to offer concessions, real estate agents and conveyancers to waive fees and thus create client loyalty and for the community to pitch in as well.
“It’s about scratching each other’s back, he said.
His 10-point plan is for first time home buyers only. It doesn’t matter if the home is to live in or for an investment. It is about helping others take the first step to property ownership.
Ed wants to get a conversation started about looking at home ownership in a different way.
He’d like it to become a Casino thing with the emphasis on long-term residents of Casino.
“This is for future homeowners,” Ed said.
Here’s Ed’s Home Buyers Scheme for first-time home or unit buyers.
1. Encourage and support 80–90% of the population to purchase a property by age 25.
2. Local government can assist by giving free land and water rates for the first three to five years.
3. Federal government can assist by allowing interest payments to be tax deductible for 10 years.
4. State government ensures there are no state costs or charges for any reason in purchasing the property,
5. Each solicitor or conveyancer to give free conveyancing.
6. Each real estate agent to sell the property without charge by reducing the purchase price by the commission.
7. All building surveyors to give first time home buyers 10–25% discount or home seller provides a building inspection report at time of listing (as is the case in ACT).
8. Each community area set up a fund to accept donations to enable that fund to lend 25–50% of deposit interest-free for 10 years.
9. Renters be allowed to retain Centrelink rent assistance for five years.
10. Parents and family members be encouraged to consider using equity in their property as deposit guarantor.
Give your feedback to Ed by emailing eddieboyd30@hotmail.com
