PHOTO: Mother and daughter Fiona and Jhiara Thomas. Picture: Luke Marsden
At just 22 Jhiara knuckled down and bought her first home. Find out how she did it and what she learned.
Moving from state to state is just one of the realities of being an army wife and while Fiona Thomas does not begrudge her husband Paul’s career, she has some remorse.
Hailing from Victoria but now based in Queensland due to Paul’s redeployment, her three children missed out on a close relationship with their grandfather in Melbourne.
“My dad has cancer and I’m sad that my kids don’t have the same bond with my parents as my sister’s kids. My kids hardly know them,” she says.
“On a whim I said, when I have grandchildren I want to be close to them.”
Mother and daughter Fiona and Jhiara Thomas have bought blocks side-by-side in Pebble Creek, QLD, photos: Luke Marsden
While her eldest daughter Braida, 26, is an elite trampolinist training in New Zealand with the view to returning to home at some point, her second daughter, Rakiya, 24, is married and happily settled in rural Queensland.
So Fiona decided to put down roots in the Sunshine State. Forsaking the Melbourne family home, and while her husband was on active duty and uncontactable, Fiona bought a building block in Pebble Creek estate, located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
“We always had our hearts set on moving back down to Melbourne to retire in a house we previously purchased and have owned for a number of years,” says Fiona.
Pebble Creek Estate. Picture: Luke Marsden
“That was until I stumbled across Pebble Creek. I put a deposit down and my husband came home three weeks later. I said, ‘By the way, I’ve bought a block and I’ve found the house I want to put on it’.
“About a week after that he says, ‘well, are you going to take me to see it?’
Our block leads straight to the dog park and he’s the biggest dog lover. He stood there for a moment and said, ‘I really like this, it reminds me of being in the country’.”
While Pebble Creek is over an hour’s drive to Paul’s work in Brisbane, he will retire from the army after 40 years of service in three years’ time.
An aerial view of the development.
“He is a sergeant and I managed to get a transfer to a job close-by, so it will all be worth it in the long run.”
YOUNGEST FIRST-HOME BUYER IN THE FAMILY
Fiona’s youngest daughter, Jhiara, 22, was equally enamoured with the new estate, buying a block next door to her parents.
Mum was thrilled, but Jhiara has her own interesting reason for buying it. “I wanted to be the youngest person in my family to buy a home.
The area offers plenty of easy lifestyle options.
My sister did it at 24 with her partner, but I am doing this on my own.”
Jhiara works full-time at McDonalds and part-time at Coles putting in around 55 hours a week, and has a clear vision of the single-storey home she wants to build when her land is registered later this year.
“I thought about building a two-storey house but I have to think about my finances, I may be able to upgrade later down the track.
“Either way, not many people can say they built their own home at 22.”
Fiona’s home is almost ready and Jhiara’s building block will be certified in December. Picture: Luke Marsden
Fiona’s dad Geoffrey is in his 80s with failing health, but he has been monumental in helping facilitate the build of Fiona and Paul’s Hallmark Homes single-storey design.
Due to be completed by the end of the month, Geoffrey, who is a trained glazier and worked on construction sites his whole career, has been calling the shots via his home in Melbourne.
“We did everything through the guidance of my dad.
He would check out all the suppliers and talk to me about colours,” says Fiona.
“My dad is 81 years and very direct, which is what you need when building a house. He’s also giving Jhiara advice. He came up last weekend and says it’s coming together nicely. He got out his tape measure and is now talking about how it should be decorated.
“When dad dies we have a little bit of him in this house, and that’s important to me.”
READ MORE VIA NEWS.COM.AU
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