A managing director with a major bank has revealed he will need help from his parents to buy a house in Sydney.
Ash Frenken, the head of AMP subsidiary Citro, admitted he would struggle to buy a house where he wanted to live without support from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’.
The 34-year-old renter said his parents recently moved from Melbourne to regional Victoria.
‘Investing in real estate is very challenging for people of my generation – I’m certainly requiring the help of mum and dad and that’s not an uncommon thing of people my age,’ Mr Frenken told Daily Mail Australia from Rio de Janeiro.
‘Certainly purchasing in Sydney is a very challenging thing – if that’s something I want to do, I’d likely require support from the folks.
‘My preference is not to have to ask mum and dad for help but certainly if they can, or there’s a way of them doing it that doesn’t affect them and their retirement, then that’s something that might be an option.’
Mr Frenken lives at beachside Tamarama and works in Sydney’s CBD as the head of Citro, a spending rewards program for Australians approaching retirement age.
He is hoping to buy in Sydney’s eastern suburbs so he can maintain his social connections.
Ash Frenken, a managing director with a major bank, has revealed he will need help from his parents to buy a house in Sydney
Ash Frenken (third from the right), the head of AMP subsidiary Citro, admitted he would struggle to buy a house where he wanted to live without support from his parents
‘Ideally, that would be my preference to stay in the same community that I’m in because community’s really important,’ he said.
‘That’s currently where I live and I really enjoy it there – it is certainly one of the more expensive areas of Sydney to buy though.’
Tamarama’s median house price of $5million is more than triple greater Sydney’s median house price of $1.5million.
Even with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit, he would need to earn $769,230 – or more than double what the top 1 per cent make – to secure a loan on his own.
‘Sydney is expensive, even the outer suburbs of Sydney are still more than a million dollars,’ he said.
‘Coming up with 20 per cent, saving more than a million dollars is a very challenging thing for anyone to do.
‘It’s certainly much more challenging on your own not only for the capital but the need for a deposit, then just also to afford the repayments on the loan.’
Mr Frenken was reluctant to say what was salary was but he hinted it wasn’t ‘entry level’.
As a high-flier in finance and technology circles, Mr Frenken doesn’t want to commute from an outer suburb of Sydney.
‘Certainly, could I buy in a less expensive area? Yes,’ he said.
Mr Frenken (in white polo shirt) is hoping to buy in Sydney’s eastern suburbs so he can maintain his social connections, with his friendship group including actor Tim Draxl (far right)
‘There’s certainly an opportunity for me to get into property – there would need to be concessions made around where I live.’
But is he continuing to rent so he can live where his friends are, because he can’t yet afford to buy in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
‘Unfortunately, I’m not able to do that and live where I want to live,’ he said.
‘Right now I’m renting – it gives me the option to live where I want to live.
‘Right now, the community that I have around me and where I live, the lifestyle factor that I get out of that is more important so that’s why I choose to rent.’
When he eventually buys, he is resigned to having to ask him parents for help with things like a 20 per cent mortgage deposit and lender’s mortgage insurance.
‘If I was to pay in Sydney, that may be something that they may need to do,’ he said.
‘Help can be many different things.’
The millennial achiever believes baby boomers had it much easier.
‘It was a little bit easier for the generation before us,’ he said.
As a high-flier in finance and technology circles, Mr Frenken doesn’t want to commute from a far, outer suburb of Sydney when he eventually buys
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