Double or nothing appliances on NSW first home buyer grant
June 13th, 2012
In the hope of boosting construction and the NSW housing market, the lovely Mike Baird in his new state budget has opened up an extra $8,000 for new home owners on new homes only, offering a total first home buyer grant of $15,000. But it’s a case of double or nothing.
The flip side is that anyone buying an existing house lucks out as the $7,000 first home buyer grant, which has been around for over a decade, will be wiped. Hard luck, eh.
Making the best of the situation, we’ve put together a $15,000 budget for upgrading your household appliances. Bear in mind that in 2014 the grant will drop to $10,000.
OK money bags, er, I mean, new home owner, let’s get shopping!
The Kitchen
A new home will likely come with a set of gleaming essential appliances already. Ovens, cooktops, ranges etc. So we’ll skip by some of the big ticket items and see where things could be expanded or upgraded.
If you enjoy cooking then an induction cooktop is a no brainer. Super safe, fast and energy efficient, induction cooking is increasingly popular among the chefs at home as well as professional chefs. They produce intense heat three times faster than other cooktops and it’s this snappy heat which lends itself so well to stir fry and wok cooking. Induction cooktops look good too!
They start at about $150 but for $3,184 (on sale now!) the Smeg Induction Cooktop will slip in alongside your current cooktop and it has a recessed wok plate for delightful Asian fare. Yum and hey look it this way, it’s on Baird!
Another new home essential is a good coffee machine. For a quality espresso maker, try the Breville BES860 for $653, on sale now, down from $799! It’s a stainless steel beauty and is fully programmable (for those sleepy, fuzzy mornings) or manual so you can take barista-like control over your brew.
The versatility of a sandwich maker is a subject much discussed on this blog, from sandwiches in general to surprising ways to cook with this small appliance. So we’re going to splash out with one of the top sandwich makers on offer, the Breville Contact Grill at $290 (on sale!). It is surely the small appliance King with a BBQ element, interchangeable plates, embedded heating elements, an adjustable plate tilt, a temperature conversion button and an easy to read LCD backlit screen. Wow, all this for the ‘humble’ sanger.
There’s always room for upgrading a dishwasher, and Smeg’s reputation is second to none when it comes to good looking machines. Funk up your kitchen with a Smeg retro styled dishwasher. Which colour would you choose, yellow, orange, red, pink? Any of them are yours thanks to Baird’s new scheme for $3,401 (one sale now!).
Oops, I’m getting a bit carried away and that’s about half our $15,000 budget, time to check out other parts of the new home.
Living Room
It’s time. You’ve bought your first home which means you’re a grown up and you need to take a mature approach at keeping the new digs tidy and clean. Be a proud home owner with a Dyson. Dyson comes with an uncompromising reputation and for a very good reason – it’ll change the way you look at cleaning, really. The vacuums are so hard core that they pretty much do all the work for you. And for when you’re over the chore, there’s always the Samsung NaviBot robotic vacuum.
Quickly, back to Baird’s budget. The newly doubled first home grant is on property priced up to $650,000 – which means you’ve either got a swanky, yet tiny seaside apartment or a more reasonably sized suburban home. So let’s start with the latter and opt for a heavy duty Dyson Barrel Vacuum cleaner at $896 (on sale now!). To top up the cleaning, or equally suitable for a small apartment is the Samsung NaviBot, which will do it all for you at the neat price of $710 (sale!).
Want to make your new home cosy? Make sure to get a decent heater that will keep you toasty and warm all winter. The new Dyson Hot + Cool Air Multiplier is a fan that doubles as a heater in the winter and a cool fan in the summer. At $514 on sale, it is a steal.
The Laundry
Along with new homes often come new marriages and the patter of little feet. If a new family is on the horizon it’s best to be prepared sooner than later for the onslaught of nappies, food-smeared clothes, and wipes.
You can’t go wrong with Bosch, and bigger is better with the 8kg Front Load Washing Machine for $1,957 (sale!). This awesome machine features 15 washing programmes, including an express wash for 2 kilogrammes of lightly soiled garments that can be cleaned in only 15 minutes. It also has an EcoSilence Drive and an AntiVibration Design to help keep the little ones asleep!
If the new home is anywhere near Sydney then this week’s downpour will encourage the purchase of a new drier. To sit next to the washer we’ll choose a different brand and go with an equally booty 9kg Speed Queen Dryer at $1,887 to ensure toasty dried apparel for the family.
And now for Dad, ‘cos Dads are awesome
There’s $1,362 left in the kitty so we’re thinking either a new TV or a BBQ.
For $1,338 (sale!) Dad can score the 2012 Samsung Series 6 46-inch Full HD, 3D LED LCD TV. It is super slim 
and has some slick features including internet connectivity, the full suite of connections, 2D to 3D conversion and a pair of 3D glasses, all in the box care of Big Brown Box.
If a new BBQ is in order how about the Beefeater 48250 for $1,292 (sale!). Strong and sturdy, this BBQ comes with a five year warranty for even the clumsiest of Dads. It is a five burner BBQ, boasting rust free porcelain enamel coated cast-iron cooktops, a fully welded porcelain enamel frame and a high output side/wok burner with stainless steel lid.
All up, that’s the 15G’s well spent!
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