How a young couple established their first home in a premium coastal suburb.

Meg Meers and Ben Watkinson, both aged 23 years, have recently moved into their first home. It also happens to be their dream home. It features three bedrooms, two bathrooms and open plan living, and it sits on a 400sqm block located in the affluent city-beach suburb of Grange.

At a time when mortgage interest rates and the cost of living are high, Adelaide house prices are soaring, and median property values have increased monthly for the past two years to reach a par with Melbourne, this is quite an achievement.

How did they do it?

Ben completed a four-year electrician apprenticeship and has been working fulltime for the past two years. Meg is a marketing and business development executive for a sportswear company. Their strategy was to continue to live in their family homes and save their salaries until they had a deposit.

While staying at home made saving money easier, Meg and Ben had no hand-outs or private loans to boost the kitty. The price of the land also meant they weren’t eligible for any government grants, so Meg and Ben did the hard yards and saved the entire deposit themselves.

They approached first home buying with an open mind, happy to buy an established home, take on a fixer-upper, or build. Their one non-negotiable was that whatever they bought or built, it had to be in the western suburbs near family and friends.

After six months attending open inspections and auctions and exploring development projects, a vacant block of land finally popped up near the golf course in Grange.

“We knew we wanted to stay in the western suburbs but there wasn’t much in the market for vacant land so as soon as we found the block of land in Grange, we had it on hold within 24 hours,” Meg explains.

And do either of them play golf? “Yes, Ben does, but not at Grange,” laughs Meg. “But I hope to one day!” adds Ben.

Truth be told, building was probably always their first preference, so it was fortunate that land became available in their dream location. The ability to have everything they wanted in a home meant building was an easy decision for Ben and Meg, and building is also what Meg believes makes a house a home.

“At the end of the day, building a house is what makes a house a home.”

They chose Fairmont Homes as their builder and adapted the Bentley design to suit their needs. The flexibility to modify the floorplan enabled them to change the master bedroom walk-in robe to a walk-through robe to the ensuite, and incorporate the separate linen cupboard into the laundry to make one bigger space.

“We made the double garage a little bigger than normal too,” says Ben, while Meg loved being able to create exactly what they wanted in the kitchen. “The pantry was an enclosed space but we removed the doors to make it flow on from the kitchen so it became more of a butler’s pantry.”

Building was an experience they would both recommend. In choosing Fairmont Homes, Meg says it was a no-brainer. She describes their building journey as a really great experience, and says Fairmont’s Housing Consultant, Studio Design Consultant and everyone involved in their build were all awesome.

“Obviously Fairmont are a great builder with a great reputation, it was a no-brainer.”

“My experience was pretty easy because Meg took over most of it,” laughs Ben. “But I really enjoyed building with Fairmont.”

Now settled into to their beautiful new home, they reflect on the parts of it they each love the most. For Ben it is the feature tiling in the laundry. “It’s different, I really like it. And it’s not something that people usually do,” he says.

Meg loves the west-facing living area connected by stacking sliding doors to the alfresco space. “We can open it right up and enjoy late afternoon sunshine.”

To others who are thinking about building, Ben and Meg say to go for it. Meg would definitely recommend building, and comes back to the fact that building a house is what makes it a home.

Ben says it is worth the investment and is a great opportunity. “It was a different but good experience and you can design it to be what you want, make it your own really.”

If you’re thinking about building as a way to get into your first home, Fairmont Homes’ friendly team are ready to help with an exciting selection of high-quality customisable home designs. Take the first step to building your dream home and contact Fairmont Homes today!