An Aussie couple have revealed the clever way they managed to reduce the mortgage repayments on their home by half – without refinancing their loan.

When Aaron and Cherrelyn Lydement first began looking to purchase a home in 2014, they almost didn’t bother considering their home in Sydney suburb Turramurra, as it was way out of their price range.

“We were going to see all these other houses in our budget, and we had a gap in the day so we just thought we’d go have a look,” Mr Lydement said.

The couple fell in love with the property, and thought it would be perfect to start their family as Ms Lydement was pregnant with their first child at the time.

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Aaron & Cherrelyn Lydement with their kids Jessica 9 and Jack 6.

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“When we saw the home and the floorplan, we both came up with the idea,” Mr Lydement said.

“We heard through friends about programs where you host international and exchange students that go to the local high school,” he said. “I researched like mad what they needed and they need access to transport to get to the school and because we were so close to rail it was perfect.

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“My wife and I were thinking this home is outside of our budget, we can’t afford it, but if we do this, we can.”

The couple then rented parts of their home out to students for the better part of seven years.

Mr Lydement said it covered around half of their monthly repayment and their mortgage was no longer a worry.

Inside their Turramurra home.

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“It worked really well,” he said. “We had an area with our newborn and we stayed down there while three quarters of the house was occupied by students, that was the only way that we were going to get on the property ladder.”

The couple and their newborn occupied the first floor of the home, which contained a bedroom, lounge and bathroom. They shared the kitchen with the students renting the upstairs rooms.

“As we eventually had our second child we started needing more space we took up more of the house. At the beginning we had just the bottom level and over time we grew into the house.”

Mr Lydement said some people would think it was “extreme,” but it helped them afford the larger home and rapidly pay down the bulk of their mortgage in 10 years.

The layout of the home over two levels.

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“It’s a little bit of a hustle type of thinking,” he said. “It’s a huge lifestyle trade off and a lot of our friends were like ‘yeah not for us’.

“We could’ve gotten a much smaller house, but we definitely don’t regret it. If you’re a first homebuyer trying to reach higher, those are the things you can look for.”

The Lydement family had planned 9 Duff St to be their forever home, but are now looking to move due to the kids being accepted into a school out of area.

Outdoor basketball court among the trees.

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The home is being sold through Bronwen Lipscombe at McGrath Wahroonga who said the location was the biggest stand out for the home.

“It’s a quiet street considering how close it is to the train station and cafes and a local favourite wine bar,” Ms Lipscombe said.

“The house suits a family that have different aged kids, if they have little ones they have the courtyard out the front or the older ones can play basketball out the back and be among the trees.”

The home also is being sold with a DA approval and building certificate for an extension and a pool that cost around $100,000.

The home is for sale for $2.7m.

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Their auction is scheduled for 26 October with a guide of $2.7m.

Mr Lydement said they would miss the quiet street and peaceful outlook over the nature in Ku-ring-gai.

“If you want to buy in Sydney its unfortunately hard, but that’s where we are at, it was hard 10 years ago and it hasn’t got any better,” he said. “But if we hadn’t done the last 10 years like we have, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”

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