Louise Duffy opens up about getting on the property ladder and trying to make her first house a home.
Buying your first home in Ireland can feel like a rite of passage - equal parts hope, chaos and blind optimism.
Introducing My First Home with AIB, a brand new podcast series where first-time buyers are the heart of the story, and people from all walks of life give their own insights and experience when it came to getting on the property ladder for the first time.
In episode one, host Brendan Courtney sat down with RTE star Louise Duffy - and the conversation kept circling back to that first, terrifying, thrilling leap onto the property ladder.
"The first home is different," Brendan says. "It’s not about granite worktops. It’s about getting in. Getting the keys. Getting a start."
Louise agrees, "The first time, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I just knew I wanted stability. Renting felt temporary. I wanted something that couldn’t be taken away with notice."
When she bought her first home in 2013 with Kerry GAA star Paul Galvin, the feeling wasn’t glamour; it was relief, with Louise reminiscing, "We weren’t buying our dream home, we were buying our foothold."
It’s a sentiment that makes Brendan laugh, and one that the presenter, who is well renowned for his love of all things home and architecture knows only too well.
"People think your first home has to be 'forever'. It doesn’t. It has to be functional," he says. And that practicality shaped everything for Brendan and Louise.
Louise remembers furnishing her first home on a shoestring, "We bought cheap and cheerful. If it was flat-pack and vaguely upright, it was coming home with us."
She doesn’t say it apologetically; she says it proudly. "It meant we could actually live there without panicking about money."
Her biggest lesson for first-time buyers? Start with the absolute basics.
"You need a bed. A table. Somewhere to sit. You do not need a 'concept’."
This was music to Brendan’s ears as he agrees, "You can’t feng shui a house you can’t afford."
They both laugh, but Louise admits she did try to think about flow.
"Even in a small house, you can feel when a space works. The couch doesn’t have to cost thousands to sit in the right place. Feng shui is free; just move things around until the room feels calm."
The emotional side of buying was just as big as the financial one.
"Signing those papers was terrifying," she admits, "You suddenly realise, this is adulting at Olympic level."
In all his years working with AIB and in the property sector, Brendan has seen it all, and he says there is always one common thread.
"First-time buyers feel this pressure to get everything perfect. But perfection is the enemy of progress. The win is getting on the ladder."
Louise then admits the pressure she felt as a first-time buyer was a little overwhelming, but as her family grew, she and husband Paul considered selling up from their starter home, and moving on, and the fear felt completely different.
"The second time, I had something to lose," she says.
Dealing with a property chain, juggling timelines and trying to line up sale and purchase brought a new kind of stress.
"The first time, it was hope. The second time, it was logistics."
Brendan describes chains as "a group project where nobody replies to emails."
Ultimately, Louise and Paul chose to renovate their home to make more space for their growing family rather than risk stepping off the property ladder while searching for a bigger home.
She says the lessons she and Paul learned from buying their first home guided them. "We didn’t rip everything out at once," she explains. "We focused on structure. On space. On what would genuinely improve how we live."
Still, she’s clear: none of that would have been possible without getting that first house. "That first step changes everything," Louise says.
"You stop paying someone else’s mortgage. You start building something of your own."
Brendan sums it up simply. "Your first home doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be possible."
This is completely in line with AIB experts’ advice to first-time buyers.
Start by understanding exactly what you can afford; review your income, spending and existing loans. Next, save consistently with the aim of reaching at least a 10% deposit of the home you have your eye on.
And don’t forget to check your credit history early and reduce short-term debt where possible!
Get Approval in Principle before you start viewing properties – this will keep you realistic in your expectations and sellers will know you’re serious.
Most importantly, talk to a mortgage advisor early, clear guidance at the start can make the entire process feel far less daunting.
For more expert advice and tales from the trenches of first time buying, tune into new episodes of Brendan Courtney's My First Home every Monday on all podcast platforms.
