At just 23, Maddie Walton bought into the great Australian dream, purchasing a three-bedroom house on the Gold Coast.

She put down a $70,000 deposit and stretched her budget to the brink to sign a $690,000 mortgage.

And it wasn’t easy. Maddie worked two jobs: earning $78,000 a year as a medical researcher and pocketing another $40,000 working weekends at the Apple store.

‘I was working 70 hours a week just to save,’ she says. ‘All I wanted was my own place.’

But the reality hit hard.

With interest rates climbing and repayments nearly doubling to $1,000 a week, Maddie was suddenly spending almost 80 per cent of her income on her mortgage.

‘I wish I’d bought something smaller and more manageable,’ Maddie admits, ‘or considered buying one or two investment properties first.’

The stress drove her to take on two housemates just to keep up.

‘It’s capped me out. I can’t afford to buy again for a few years – now all my money is tied into my home,’ Maddie added, who now runs Money Lounge as a mortgage broker.

Maddie’s dream home came at a huge cost – and she’s not alone.

A growing number of young Australians are now warning others not to rush into home ownership. According to Finder’s First Home Buyer Report 2025, 45 per cent of first home buyers who purchased last year regret their decision.

The biggest regrets? Paying too much for a property, and not saving enough for a deposit.

TikTok has become a platform for mortgage confessions, where young people share teary regrets and blunt advice.

‘Best financial advice I can give: don’t buy a house!’ one user tells their thousands of followers.

Many post videos cautioning against overstretching themselves, sparking a trend of buyer beware content among Millennials and Gen Z.

But there is a way for younger people to get on the property ladder – and it’s not just through the new five per cent deposit scheme for first home buyers.

‘Gen Z has got to play smarter, not harder,’ property expert Anissa Cavallo tells Daily Mail.

‘The sooner people accept their first buy won’t be their dream home, the sooner they’ll actually get into the market. Get on the ladder first, then climb.’

The message is clear: the old rules about buying your forever home no longer apply. A new, more strategic approach is taking shape – and young buyers are learning the hard way.

Home ownership isn’t dead, but ‘rebranded’, Cavallo insists.

‘Gen Z and millennials need to see property as a stepping stone, not a finish line. Today, it’s not just about buying your parents’ family home – it’s about building wealth, financial stability, and options. The dream isn’t gone; it’s just changed shape.’

For many, that means reconsidering what their first property actually looks like – and how it fits into a bigger financial plan.

Enter rentvesting: a strategy that’s quickly moving from alternative to mainstream. Instead of buying a ‘forever home’, young Australians are purchasing investment properties in affordable areas, then renting where they actually want to live.

This approach, which has existed for decades, is now becoming the ‘default,’ especially as the cost of owning climbs. As Cavallo explains, ‘rentvesting is about rewriting the rulebook… buy where you can afford, live where you want.’

The benefits are clear: more flexibility, potential for higher capital growth, rental income, and tax advantages. In many cases, rentvesters find their weekly rent is lower than what they’d pay in mortgage repayments – freeing up cash flow and reducing financial strain.

For dozens of young Australians, rentvesting isn’t just a theory – it’s a real strategy changing lives.

While the new five per cent deposit scheme recently introduced by the Australian Government might sound like an ‘easy way’ for first home buyers to get into the market, it still assumes buyers have adequate income to keep up with mortgage repayments.

Maddie believes the scheme will help first home buyers and is a great option for buyers who don’t have family support, however prices will likely rise consequently.

‘You can’t borrow more than what you can afford – this scheme doesn’t change anything to do with borrowing capacity and is just reflecting how the market has grown and the types of properties first home buyers are purchasing.

‘I believe it’ll naturally push up property prices in the coming year due to more first home buyers in the higher price thresholds which can in turn impact them as well – ironically.’

Take Lawrence Petruzzelli, a 32-year-old taxation and business adviser living in Queensland, recently bought an investment property in South Australia.

‘I like the freedom and flexibility to move if I don’t like where I am,’ Lawrence explains. ‘It’s a smarter financial decision, it works out better taxwise, and I have greater access to capital.’

With his property negatively geared, Lawrence can claim 100 per cent of the expenses on tax. By renting at a lower cost than his property’s rental income, he’s boosted his borrowing power and kept his cash flow strong. ‘Rentvesting has let me build wealth without sacrificing lifestyle or flexibility,’ he says.

I’ve taken a similar path. Last August, my fiancé and I bought our first house in Adelaide – three bedrooms, two bathrooms, won at auction over Zoom – while choosing to keep renting where we actually live in Sydney.

We were thrilled to get on the property ladder, but daunted by the debt we now faced. Leasing out the house gave us passive income and tax benefits we could never have accessed by simply buying to live. Our tenants, a couple in their late twenties, are also rentvesters – a sign of just how normal this approach has become.

For both Lawrence and myself, buying an investment property first doesn’t mean giving up on home ownership; it means building wealth and keeping your options open.

Experts like Anissa Cavallo emphasise that the key to success in today’s property market is thinking with your head, not just your heart. Before leaping into home ownership, young Australians should be realistic: stop waiting for the ‘perfect’ house and start looking for high-growth areas where you can afford to invest.

Consider strategies like rentvesting or co-owning with friends or family – anything to get your foot on the ladder without being financially overextended.

Cavallo’s core advice: ‘Don’t fall for the trap of buying with your heart alone. Get creative, do your homework, and focus on building long-term wealth.’

Flexibility, financial independence, and a willingness to adapt are more valuable than ticking off old-fashioned ideals. Take advantage of dual incomes where possible, and be open to living in ways your parents never considered.

The white picket fence dream isn’t dead – it’s simply been replaced by something more practical and empowering: financial freedom and flexibility. A generation ago, buying your own home was seen as the final destination.

Now, it’s just one step in a broader journey, and the smartest way forward might mean being a rentvester, an investor, or a strategic co-owner.

In Cavallo’s words: ‘Today’s dream is a choice. You can live where you want, travel when you want, and still build wealth through property. The old rules no longer apply – young Australians are rewriting them for a new era.’