'Millennials want a dream home now - not in 20 years'

When I bought my first home way back in the late 1980s, I didn't care that it was a ramshackle place, I just wanted to get my foot on the property ladder.

Now you hardly ever hear the term 'property ladder', and millennials want their dream family home now - not in 20 years.

But that is how long it took me to progress through a series of houses until I bought my current family home.

I am calling for a cultural shift in Australia: we need to return to viewing property ownership as a long-term, gradual strategy.

So, if you are a first-home buyer, just how do you get on the property ladder?

First, you might need to rethink your expectations of a first home.

Buying in the best location you can afford is more important than getting the perfect home immediately.

And while many people think that the next logical step is to buy a bigger house, you are actually better off moving to progressively better locations.

That will allow you to build value faster than graduating to a bigger home in the same suburb and will take you to the next rung on your journey up the property ladder.

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