IT’S been described as a dating app but for home ownership.
A new start up that eases the mortgage strain by matching individuals with similar housing preferences and allowing them to break into the housing market by co-purchasing a property.
Mortgage Mates co-founder Daisy Ashworth said the innovative website was developed to support those priced out of the property market to live the Australian dream of owning their own home.
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READ NOW“Mortgage Mates is like a dating app in the sense that it uses a unique algorithm to match you with individuals with the same housing preferences, such as location, cost and property type,” she said.
“By matching you with another user who shares your housing aspirations you can afford to purchase a home to live in, land to build on or an investment property with less financial risks and increased legal protection.”
Based in Perth, Ms Ashworth said she believed co-ownership was a solution for the current housing affordability crisis.
“Not everybody has a family member or friend to help them break into the property market,” she said.
“Instead Mortgage Mates believes co-ownership should be open to all individuals through leveraging the sharing culture, such as AirBnB and Uber, and linking community members together.
“It will allow people to choose the security of home ownership over rental properties and share houses.”
Luke Bollam (27) said he would look at using Mortgage Mates to purchase his first home.
“I’m renting at the moment and the prospect of owning a home in Perth in the current market is ridiculous,” he said.
“With the increase in prices it is getting harder and harder to even afford the 20 per cent deposit on a moderately priced home of $500,000.
“Trying to save $100,000 for the down payment is out reach for so many young people.”
Mr Bollam said many people in his generation still dreamed of owning their own home.
“There are so many freedoms that come with your own home,” he said.
“There’s no sense of permanence when you are renting.”
Ms Ashworth said currently only 45 per cent of 25-35 year olds own a home, 65 per cent of first time buyers are partners and one in four people are experiencing loneliness.
“We believe by enabling affordable home ownership in the areas people want to live in, we can increase social connection and have a positive impact on the whole of housing continuum across Australia,” she said.
Since launching in June 2019, Mortgage Mates has presented at the National Housing Conference in Darwin and competed in the Pitch@Palace which supports entrepreneurs to accelerate their business ideas.
After more than a decade working within the legal, housing and welfare space Ms Ashworth saw a growing gap in the market leading to people living without a roof over their head.
“I noticed that younger generations were simply being priced out of the housing market, with no opportunity to purchase their own home and enter a competitive housing market,” she said.
“It was through this experience that Jess Vesely and I developed the idea of connecting individuals together to allow them the opportunity to co-own a property.
“Since then we have worked alongside an engineering and software team to develop Mortgage Mates into what it is today – a space to connect with like-minded individuals to purchase a home, investment property or buy land to build on.
“We are aiming to disrupt the housing market, providing all Australians the opportunity to own their own home.”
Ms Ashworth said interest in the product amongst the mortgage and real estate industries was high.
She said the first match to purchase a home together was expected to happen within six months.
“We want our users to feel as comfortable using Mortgage Mates as Uber, Airbnb or Tinder,” she said.