The agony and ecstasy of the first-home buyer

You’ve wanted to get off the renting treadmill for years now, after the parade of cold, damp houses you’ve lived in with their ill-fitting windows and doors and mould on the bathroom ceiling.

And there’s the landlord peering into your bedroom every few months to check you haven’t set up a P lab in the wardrobe. And always the threat that you might have to look for another rental at short notice if the owner decides to sell. Or maybe you suddenly have to look for somewhere else to live because the rent has just shot up by $150 a week.

But now, in mid-2019, your chance to be free from renting has arrived! You’ve somehow managed