{"id":569047,"date":"2026-03-28T02:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569047\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:07:14","slug":"new-parents-secure-gold-coast-home-with-ai-help-2-deposit-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569047\/","title":{"rendered":"New parents secure Gold Coast home with AI help, 2% deposit loan"},"content":{"rendered":"

New parents Aaron Claridge and Angela Altus consider themselves to be among the \u2018forgotten middle-class\u2019 who don\u2019t have the luxury of relying on family inheritance to help them buy a home.<\/p>\n

The Brisbane couple recently purchased their first house in Ashmore on the Gold Coast \u2014 just in time for the arrival of their newborn daughter, Summer.<\/p>\n

Despite earning solid salaries between them, it was a struggle to scrape together a 20 per cent deposit, and they didn\u2019t receive any financial help from family, but they desperately wanted to get out of the rental market before becoming a family of three.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Brisbane apartment crisis: Shocking new data reveals supply threat<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in this awkward position where we were both strong income earners, but the rent itself was around $1400\/$1300 a week,\u201d Mr Claridge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to get into the market before 2026, but also wanted to truncate that time once we knew Summer was coming. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had the capacity to pay a loan back, but the sticking point was not having enough of a deposit.\u201d<\/p>\n

After meeting with a mortgage broker and exploring his options, Mr Claridge decided to consult an AI chatbot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just put in a query to ChatGPT to see what options we had,\u201d he said. \u201cSkip (Loans) came up, so I went through that process. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was very bewildered because it was super easy. The process wasn\u2019t overcomplicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple secured a loan through Skip Loans with just a 2 per cent deposit \u2014 paying $85,000 upfront for a $1.2m house.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know you can service the loan, you either have the deposit to go with a big bank or this is your option. Do you want the security of a home or not?\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Property mogul lists $25m mega mansion amid AI fears<\/a><\/p>\n

It comes as new research reveals the suburbs where large amounts of intergenerational wealth are set to change hands, with residents in some Brisbane locations set to receive inheritances of up to $1m this year alone.<\/p>\n

The analysis from Foundit lays bare the widening wealth gap between those who can afford to get into Queensland\u2019s property market and those who can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Mr Claridge said he could not see that gap closing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t see there being a middle-class anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re either in the upper tier of lower socio-economic, or the low tier of higher (socio-economic). <\/p>\n

\u201cUnless there\u2019s a recession, or house market crash, which creates its own economic issues, I don\u2019t see how many people just getting a medium or average wage will ever be in a position to own their own home.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for their daughter\u2019s future, the couple is already considering putting money away for her to be able to afford her own home one day.<\/p>\n

Skip Loans CEO Mario Emmanuel said the company helped people get out of the rental market and in to their own homes sooner by offering low deposit loans. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost people being left behind today aren\u2019t worried about the success of their peers,\u201d Mr Emmanuel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re focused on building a better future for their families. Skip helps remove their biggest barriers so they can focus on building their lives and future \u2014 just like generations of Australians that came before them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as First-home buyers land $1.2m house with 2pc deposit after using AI chatbot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New parents Aaron Claridge and Angela Altus consider themselves to be among the \u2018forgotten middle-class\u2019 who don\u2019t have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[279794,279790,279793,64,63,689,651,99,279796,64000,59975,139529,2485,279787,279798,279788,279789,279791,677,11151,140195,279795,701,279792,279786,279797],"class_list":["post-569047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aaaron-claridge","tag-apartment-crisis","tag-ashmore","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-brisbane","tag-business","tag-elizabeth-tilley","tag-family-inheritance","tag-general-motors-company","tag-glenn-hampson","tag-gold-coast","tag-home-ownership-crisis","tag-lender-offering-mortgages","tag-lenders-mortgage-insurance","tag-mario-emmanuel","tag-newborn-daughter","tag-oceania","tag-property-market","tag-property-mogul","tag-property-wealth-divide","tag-queensland","tag-reqld","tag-widening-wealth-gap","tag-young-familes-getting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}