First Home Buyers: Why Talitha Cummins felt her ‘70s brick home was ‘meant to be’

From location and financing, to renovations and regrets, First Home Buyers reflects on our biggest life purchase with the 20/20 vision only hindsight guarantees.

With big plans to be a hotshot property developer, Australian journalist and presenter, Talitha Cummins, was "desperate" to break into the housing market. But she quickly learned even future tycoons need to start somewhere.

Well if the retro carpet doesn’t grab you, the kitchen drapes will! With its green and brown colourings, this ‘renovators delight’ bears all the hallmarks of what 1970’s dreams were made of.

It was the year 2006, and I was trying to scrape enough cash together for a deposit on a home after a couple of years working as a journalist in television.

I was desperate to get into the property market – I pictured myself as some kind of budding property developer and had the language to match: "I’ll fund my property investments with the cash flow from my TV job," I declared.

I’d watched my dad purchase and turn over a few properties and was keen to get my start. Except, I lacked the full deposit. So dad coughed up twenty of the thirty thousand required for our ‘joint venture’.

He lived in Shepparton, Victoria at the time where most of my family remains, and because of its regional geography, prices were naturally lower.  

Shepparton is an agricultural and manufacturing town – and is home to the country’s largest processor of canned fruits, SPC Ardmona. It has hot summers and freezing winters – and is where I learnt the meaning of Chilblains.

After a few months of searching, we landed our dream. 

We paid $220,000 for the 716m2 site! Virtually a farm compared with Sydney’s house block offerings. 

The block was close to town, a strip of shops and schools. Even better – It was a corner block with a second entrance off ‘Cummins Lane’ – which was named after my grandfather. It was meant to be.

Our plan was to put tenants in, keep the house for a few years, subdivide the block, build a unit on the back half and sell it off while keeping the front house and using the cash to purchase another. 

This mini Trump (back when speaking positively about Trump was acceptable) had a plan and her first property. And it wasn’t long before I bought a second – a unit in Brisbane.

Then life happened.

I moved to Sydney, met my wonderful husband, had a baby and we bought a property here. So without further ado, my Dad was landed with the property. Good ol’ Dad comes to the rescue again.

Dad held onto the Collet Street property for a few more years and recently gained a planning permit. 

And guess what? IT’S ON THE MARKET! 

At this point, I live to regret not keeping my stake in the humble 'renovator's delight'. Do you think it’s too late to ask Dad if I can jump back in?

Watch more:

Listen to Talitha's incredible story, where she opens up about one of the most confronting confessions of her life on the 9Honey Mum's podcast:

Read more: Talitha Cummins on becoming a second-time mum

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