While a healthy property market is good news for investors and seasoned players, first home buyers are often the unfortunate casualties.

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, a first home buyer would need about $78,000 to raise a 10 per cent deposit for a home in Sydney at the median value of $782,973.

There are cheaper options, of course, but they might take a $40,000 deposit, plus expenses, which is difficult to find as you establish a career.

• Should you park your money in … car parking?
• Sydney garage transformed into $1m loft
• Tricks real estate agents use to sell

With home values in many cities rising faster than many people can save, The New Daily asked the experts for their tips on getting onto that all-important first rung of the property ladder.

Adjust your expectations

Property investor and host of Your Property Empire on Sky News, Chris Gray, says first home buyers need to see the property ladder as just that: a series of rungs that buyers progress up as they cash in on capital growth.

“The trouble is, the younger generation want to live in a two-bedroom unit in Bondi, well, that will set you back $750,000 and in your early 20s you shouldn’t be buying in Bondi,” he says.

“You don’t get the perfect house straight away; you have to be prepared to live in the crap suburb. That is what we all did when we were starting out.”

Buy something, rather than waiting for the one. Photo: Shutterstock

Buy an investment not a dream home

Mr Gray recommends buyers forget spending years struggling to sock away a decent deposit for a dream home “and get on the market now with whatever deposit they have got”.

“When I was starting out I couldn’t afford to buy a house on my own, so I bought a three-bedder investment and rented out two of the rooms to cover my mortgage,” he says.

CEO of Motion Property Group Jack Brukarz recommends buying an investment property to rent out within 10km of the CBD – even if it is a one-bedroom – which can be geared as neutral cashflow.

“If you only have $300,000 to $400,000 to spend you are not going to fulfil your personal checklist for a home,” he says.

Mr Brukarz also suggests considering off-the-plan properties, which give the buyer some time to raise the deposit while the home or unit is being built.

“It is essentially like putting lay-by on a property,” he says.

“Although I would be wary of buying off the plan in city high rises, where there may be an oversupply and not much capital growth, and go for more boutique apartments in attractive side streets.”

Buying with others makes it easier. Photo: Shutterstock

Share the load

Mr Gray says instead of hitting parents up for a hand-out, first home buyers should take a business proposition to them.

“The parents may have money sitting in an account that isn’t earning them that much, and you could get them to co-invest in property with you,” he says.

“Say to them, ‘Mum and Dad, if you lend me $100,000, I can pay you back this much in compound interest’ and set it out before them as a business plan and I think some of them would be impressed.”

Mr Brukarz says saving a deposit is hard, but if home hunters are willing to make sacrifices – such as renting in a share house for a while – it is far from impossible.

“You could also buy into property with a sibling, and while that will mean you only have to raise half a deposit it is important to remember you will only receive half the capital growth,” he says.

A fractional option

If all else fails, you could consider a more creative approach to ownership.

Mr Gray says home buyers should keep an eye out for a handful of fractional ownership companies on the verge of launching in Australia, which allow people to buy a stake in a property.

“You may buy a $10,000 stake in one of the properties in a high capital growth area, which is a lot easier than raising a deposit,” Mr Gray says.

Whatever path you take, the most important thing is to get on the ladder.

“As long as you do something, I think that is a positive,” says Mr Gray.

“Even if it goes wrong, well, at least you tried.”

Johanna Leggatt is a Melbourne-based freelance journalist. Follow her at @johannaleggatt