Two young couples, both from Nepal, have bought land in a new Glenorchy subdivision and plan to build their dream homes soon. The two families from left, Tilak Kafle, his wife, Barsha Lohani Kafle and their daughter, Aarna Kafle, 6, Pragati Acharya, her husband, Laxman Panthi and their 19-month-old daughter Saanvi Panthi. Picture: ROGER LOVELL

WHEN these two young families — and friends from university — move into their first homes, they will be neighbours.

Both families are currently renting while making plans to build homes.

And both recently secured land in a Glenorchy hot spot.

Tilak Kafle and his wife Barsha Lohani Kafle said they were excited to go from renting into home ownership.

The couple and their six-year-old daughter Aarna did the rounds of Greater Hobart looking at properties, before deciding to buy land.

Barsha said at first they were looking to buy a house, but in their price range it was mostly older homes that fit the bill, and but they were not totally sold on the idea of buying one.

Tilak said the First Home Owner Grant would be a huge help in turning their dream into a reality.

“We love the view here over the suburbs to the river,” he said.

“We have not chosen a builder yet, but the plan is to build a nice three-bedroom home with a reasonable-sized deck — and Aarna would like a trampoline.”

Happy families.

When Tilak and Barsha found the land that they ended up buying, they told their friends Laxman Panthi and Pragati Acharya about it.

They had very similar plans to give up renting and build a home, and the couple ended up buying an adjoining block.

Both families are thrilled that they will be neighbours.

Laxman said they had first come to Hobart to study, but found that it was a wonderful place to live.

He said they would like to build a comfortable family home — three bedrooms, two bathrooms — and trusted their broker at Mortgage World Finance to assist with making the budget work.

MWF director Tony Robinson said there was a huge sense of satisfaction in helping young people achieve their home ownership dreams.

“They are hard-working, decent young people and it has been fantastic helping them get a foot in the door of the property market,” he said.

Harcourts Signature property consultant Nick Cowley said when land hit the market at Glenorchy it tended to be snapped up quickly.

“The inquiries and demand on these two allotments was like nothing I’ve experienced before,” he said.

“There were more than 100 phone calls and emails in the initial two weeks of release.

“One family had arrived on our office doorstep in New Town less than 30 minutes after releasing on realestate.com.au ready to sign a contract.”

Nick said the properties that each family bought were priced around the $150,000-$165,000 range.

“The allotments are located in a new-homes subdivision in Glenorchy, which gives them an opportunity to build a new family home for under $400,000, and just 10km from the Hobart CBD,” he said.