Two Sydney women rolled the dice on their friendship in the 90s and did something braver than the troops — they bought a house together. Surprisingly it didn’t absolutely torch their relationship. They’re even still friends some 30-odd years later.
Monique Farmer recently wrote about her experience buying her first property with her friend Pettina when they were both fresh out of uni and in their 20s. They had known each other since they were around 14 years old and had the same amount of savings in the bank at the time.
Monique had flown the nest of the family home while Pettina was still living with her parents, working full time and realising owning property was a pipe dream in Sydney in the 90s. So they decided to go in together on a house, which would have been the perfect fodder for a 90s sitcom if anything.
“Somehow, probably over a few Baileys on ice, we came up with the idea of combining our savings and buying a house together,” Monique wrote.
“We’d known each other since Year 8, which felt like forever at that age, we’d holidayed together [and] we both seemed good with budgeting and saving. Our deposit amounts were similar. Plus it seemed like a novel idea to buy a place with a pal, if for no other reason than parties with our friends.”
Monique and Pettina wound up with a two-bedroom home in Penshurst for just over $200k — a damn bargain you’d never see again after 1995 — and they spent the next three and a half years living and paying off a mortgage together.
“We had the house valued by three real estate agents and were pleased to discover it had increased in value, which would give us each a boost for our next steps. We went with the average valuation — $310,000,” Monique said.
“Pettina could see the potential in our house and refinanced to buy out my half, giving me enough funds to buy a house on my own nearby that cost $355,000.”
Apparently, Pettina still lives in the same Penshurst house all these years later and Monique still visits. It’s now roughly worth 700 times more than what they bought it for, which places it at around $1.4 million.
But after a couple of decades of renovations, facelifts and putting a pool in the backyard, Monique said she still recognises the flowers she planted in their front garden when they owned it together.
Not sure if it’s something I could ever do but hell, it’s an option.
