First home purchase made possible with DISS

Reece Flawn and his partner purchased their first home last year with the help from DISS, after receiving notice from their landlord that the rental lease will be concluding.

Although Reece had been considering the possibility of home ownership for many years, it wasn’t until early 2018 when the landlord decided to move back to Dunedin and take the house off the market, that he started looking seriously at getting on the property ladder himself.

Reece already knew about the first home withdrawal option from DISS, and emailed the administration team to enquire about how much he may be eligible to withdraw. Being a diligent saver, and contributing the maximum 6% to the Scheme for over 10 years, Reece was quickly able to work with DISS and a mortgage broker to source finance pre-approval.

“Everything fell into place. The application process couldn’t have been easier for us. While there are a lot of moving parts in sourcing pre-approval, and throughout the negotiation of the sale, the help and support from DISS and our solicitor made the process stress-free” says Reece.

Equipped with their pre-approval, Reece began looking at open homes. One property stood out to them in the middle of last year, however was soon after taken off the market because the basement had flooded as the property had no power to service the pump. The owners quickly fixed the issue and relisted.

“Our heart was set on one house in particular. When it came back on the market, we knew we wanted it. Thankfully as DISS helped us save so much we were able to actively bid on the house when it went to auction, and we won.”

“The house is two-story, and overlooks a council reserve so has a great view. It’s got everything we were looking for, with room for family, and doesn’t need any work done to it so we could just settle in and enjoy the house”.

“Without the long-term saving and membership of DISS, we would not have been able to even consider buying a house as our deposit wouldn’t have been in the price range. If we weren’t members, we would have needed to work our way up the property ladder, so having the option to withdraw our funds for the first home short-circuited the process and got us into our dream home much sooner.”

“Moving day in October 2018 felt great. The whole buying and moving process came together nicely and was stress-free. Without the help from DISS we wouldn’t be in our own place today”.

More information about home purchase withdrawals from the Scheme is available in the ‘FAQs about Home Purchase Withdrawals’ fact sheet. If you’ve thought about potentially buying a home, and are unsure about your eligibility, please contact the Helpline on 0800 355 900.