Jane, from England, and Bakhrom, from Uzbekistan had been together in New Zealand for more than eight years and were renting a unit in Auckland's Mt Wellington when they joined Three’s Slice of Paradise. Hosted by Peter Wolfkamp and Shelley Ferguson, the property reality show follows Kiwis from around the country on their journey to get on or move up the property ladder.
For Jane and Bakhrom their journey hit a road bump almost immediately - the hot Auckland housing market. They had a budget of $700,000 and Jane says they didn't expect how hard it would be to find a property at that price. "There was a lot of competition. We started looking when the housing market started going really crazy, so there were a lot of people. Obviously our budget isn't the biggest, but trying to put an offer in… we'd just get kicked off the game completely," she says.
The couple tried to put in offers on multiple properties, but none worked out. Since Slice of Paradise finished filming, they've continued looking, but to no avail. However, Jane says their time on the property show helped them learn a lot about the house buying processing. "It's been such a big learning curve but I think that's been a benefit to us," she says. "Now we know exactly what we're looking for, we have more of an idea of what area we want to look in - it's quite exciting. I think that's the best part."
With a fairly tight budget for the region, Jane says another challenge was trying not to get too attached to properties before locking it in. For others looking to buy their first property, she says they should have a clear idea of what they want and the area they want to live in. "And also the type of house. We looked at all kinds of houses… and we know [now] structurally, we'd prefer a brick house, with a garden and a garage," she says. "And have your budget in mind. If you see a place that you really like, don't go over budget because you get emotionally attached. "The disappointment when you don't get it, that's the hardest thing."
Jane and Bakhrom are still going to open homes every weekend to try and find a property. "We'll keep looking until we find our little 'slice of paradise'. We feel like we're getting closer each time," Jane says.
Watch Slice Of Paradise on Three every Wednesday at 7:30pm.