Property Point

He was an older bloke, in his late 60s, and after being through a divorce that left him with virtually nothing, he was living in a campervan with his two little dogs in the backyard of a mate’s place.

I met him at a private inspection at a property he was looking at on behalf of his sister, who was not in Mackay, and we got talking.

His name was John and he said that because he had a small deposit and was now on a pension and supplemented it with a bit of cash from lawn mowing jobs, the banks had told him he could only buy a property up to the value of $200,000. He said he had accepted he would be living in his campervan for the rest of his life.

I knew I didn’t have any houses for $200,000 but told him I had a little cottage that would probably sell for around $230,000. The market was lower then and, while on a big block and tidy inside, the house was on a busy road.

“You’re not far off but you’ll need to cobble together another 30 grand to get it,” I told him.

He rang back and we went to the property later that day and John loved it. He had spoken with his mate who was letting him park in the back yard and the mate, Brian, had offered to loan him $30,000 out of his super. “I’ll pay him back over the next few years out of my lawn mowing jobs,” John said.

It took a few weeks to get everything sorted but John bought the property. The day of settlement I dropped the keys around to John and joined him, Brian and the little dogs for a couple of beers in Brian’s backyard next to the campervan.

It was a celebration for us all for different reasons.

John was celebrating because life had delivered him an opportunity he wasn’t expecting. He had a tidy little house with space for his van and the dogs and the security of owning his own home.

Brian had the glow you get when you’ve been able to help out a mate, make a difference in his life.

The dogs hadn’t thought it all through but they felt the joy and were about to discover they were moving to a property with lots of adventurous walks nearby.

And I was celebrating because I’d connected with some good people and been able to do my little bit in helping someone change their life.

I dropped in and saw John the other day. He loves the house, loves his dogs and loves his life. I reckon he loves Brian as well but he probably wouldn’t put it that way.

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