Tell me, how do you get enough down payment for your first home?

I bought my first house in my life at the end of 2012. At that time, I and my wife ran a drug store in Jinjiang District, Chengdu City.

The pharmacy is quite large, about 150 square meters. The front is used as a pharmacy business place, and two rooms are separated in the back, one room is used as a warehouse, and the other room is used as a place to stay. My wife and I stayed and ate in the drugstore. Although it was a bit shabby, we made do with it in no time. After all, we are in the entrepreneurial stage, so we can save whatever we can.

As my son grows up, I need to consider whether he will go to kindergarten. My son lives with his grandparents in his hometown in the countryside and doesn’t see them more than once or twice a year. I miss him very much. So, my wife and I discussed that we should send our son to Chengdu to study because we didn’t want him to stay in the countryside.

If our son comes to Chengdu to study, we will have to face the problem of accommodation. Living in a drugstore is definitely not an option. It's dark and damp inside, and we adults can make do with it, but the kid doesn't want him to suffer like this. I also want to rent a house, but I think renting a house also requires rent, and my son also needs a household registration to study. It’s better that we stick together, collect a down payment, and buy a smaller house to live in.

I just did what I said. During that time, my wife went out to look at houses every day, some in Jinjiang District, some in High-tech Zone, and some in Shuangliu. After looking at countless houses, I finally decided to buy a second-hand small apartment next to Shuangliu International Airport. Although it is second-hand, no one has lived in it since it was renovated, and there is no furniture inside. It is just an empty shell.

But even for such a house, the unit price was not low at that time, reaching more than 7,000 per square meter. Because the community we were interested in was about two kilometers away from the airport and was the top building in the area when it was launched. The house is of good quality and the surrounding environment is good. Jiang'an River flows through the building. It is a standard river view room.

The down payment for this house plus agency commission, taxes, etc., will cost about 180,000 to 90,000 yuan, not counting the subsequent purchase of furniture and other sundries.

I used part of the money to open this pharmacy, and then borrowed part of the money from relatives. I was in the debt repayment stage for the first two years, and I didn’t have much money saved. Because I have long wanted to buy a house, I save some money every month, hoping to save for a while to save enough for the down payment. But the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. Since I bought the house in advance, I had to borrow additional money to make up the down payment.

In the end, after piecing everything together, the down payment was settled, and the house was successfully transferred. However, the house cannot be moved in without furniture. I had no choice but to take tens of thousands more yuan from my father to buy furniture.

Now that I think about it, I was really poor when I bought my first house, and I didn’t even have enough down payment. Fortunately, I have the support of my parents and relatives, otherwise I don’t know when I will be able to live in my own house and have my own nest in Chengdu!