Peter Pashos lost count of the number of lawns he mowed to save enough for a deposit on a $300,000 home in inner-city Brisbane more than two decades ago.
Pashos bought the property, which then contained a single two-bedroom workers’ cottage, in 2004 at the age of 23.
He saved the deposit while working up to seven days a week in a lawn mowing job and living with his parents.
“I saw the way to get yourself financially stable is to own your own house,” says Pashos, the son of Greek immigrants.
“I was saving more than 80 per cent, probably 90 per cent, of my wage for that deposit. I was eating cans of beans and all sorts of rubbish. I was just so keen to get into something.”
Earning about $40,000 a year, he says he had help from his parents, who let him live at home without paying board.
“My parents worked hard all their lives for the house that they lived in, so I figured that’s the base of what I needed to move forward,” Pashos says.
“It seemed like you get the land for free, you’ve just got to pay for the house. Of course you can do it, but you’ve got to work your arse off.”
To afford the mortgage, Pashos rented out the bedrooms and lived in the storeroom underneath the house.
After marrying and having children, he and his wife chose to stay in the area they loved and built a second house at the rear of the block rather than move.
His brother now lives in the original cottage while saving for his own first home.
His advice to the younger generation seeking a step onto the property ladder is start early, work hard and be disciplined.
“Don’t wait for something to happen before you start saving,” he says.
“Step one shouldn’t be your deposit. Step one should be, ‘let’s get a bit of money behind me and get into a rhythm’.”
Now 45, and working as a Brisbane City Council bus driver, Pashos is preparing to sell and move into a smaller property.
He says the goal is to cash in some of the gains from his 22-year ownership of the property, buy something smaller, and spend more time with his two sons aged 12 and 14.
“We’re just looking to move on with our lives and spend more time with the kids,” he says.
Place Woolloongabba’s Ben Smith, who is marketing the property with Melanie Swindells, says the property’s two separate houses offered something a conventional family home could not.
“You can bring the family together without everyone having to live under the same roof,” Mr Smith said.
“Each household has its own front door, kitchen and living space. You can be close enough to help each other while still having privacy.”
The two homes occupy one 405-square-metre title with dual-street access, offering five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The front two-bedroom cottage has a modern kitchen, verandah and private porch. The rear three-bedroom home includes two bathrooms, a balcony and a main bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and en suite.
Smith says the separate homes gave buyers options as their circumstances changed.
“You might live in one and rent out the other, accommodate ageing parents, or give adult children a place of their own,” he says.
“The second house can serve a different purpose at different stages of your life. Peter’s family has already put that into practice.”
The property will be auctioned on Thursday, November 12.
Glen Norris is an experienced journalist and editor with a career spanning four decades across Asia, Australia and Europe. His roles have included stints at Bloomberg News and Asian Wall Street Journal.
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