There have been many sacrifices on the road to home ownership for first home buyers James Lee and Melissa Stein.

One year ago, Melissa paused her university studies and joined technical manager James at AusSport Scoreboards with the goal of saving a home deposit.

After meeting their target, this disciplined Port Macquarie couple has claimed the first $5,000 home and land deposit voucher from Sovereign Hills and the Display Village to put towards their build in our community.

“We were living on just my wage until Melissa got her job, and we’re saving all of Melissa’s wage so we really didn’t have the opportunity to spurge,” shared James.

There are four more $5,000 vouchers available to first home buyers who purchase a block of Sovereign Hills land and sign a building contract with one of our display village builders within the stipulated timeframe.

For James and Melissa, the money will provide a sense of security as their new home takes shape in our fast-growing Stirling Green precinct.

“It’s going to be a buffer until we get to the end of the build just in case something happens that we need extra money for,” explained James. “And if we have it at the end, we’ll probably put it towards landscaping and appliances.”

The couple researched the local established housing market before settling on building new.

“The homes were 30 years old and over $500,000,” said Melissa. “We couldn’t bring ourselves to do that; we’re not renovators, we just wanted it all done.”

“We were taking our parents out viewing land and they said well here’s really quiet and compared to what we were looking at it’s a lot flatter too… The park was a big thing for us, it’s right at the end of our street, and it just felt like a community is being built out here,” added Melissa.

“We’re only 10 minutes from work here which is the same from where we are now.”

After touring the Sovereign Hills Display Village, they decided on Coral Homes’ four-bedroom Grange 21 design with some minor adjustments. They’re looking forward to moving on from their rented two-bedroom CBD unit and having the space to spread out.

“You’ve claimed the (converted) media room and added a built-in bookshelf for me. I suppose the kitchens my area,” shared an excited Melissa. “We have a very small kitchen and you can’t have both of us in there at the same time.”

Working and living together, James and Melissa have stayed absolutely focused on their dream.

“A lot of our friends have had children first… They have a lot more responsibilities than we do at the moment so it’s the best time for us to do it. It would be nice to get into the home and we can put some money aside for some holidays, that would be nice,” smiled Melissa.

“It’s a big investment, but it will be worth it.”

You can learn more about Sovereign Hills’ $5,000 house and land deposit vouchers here.

Visit our Land Sales Centre, 14 Sovereign Drive Port Macquarie, to find your perfect new home site today.