A teenager's managed to get a foothold on the housing market after placing a winning bid on a three-bedroom home in one of Auckland's rising suburbs.
While he's only been out in the workforce for four years, 19-year-old Leon van der Heijden managed the feat by not only working hard, but working smart.
"From a young age, I was always looking for creative ways to make money, selling things online if it was just rummaging through my parents' garage and finding things that they didn't want anymore," Mr van der Heijden told Seven Sharp.
He would also buy items in bulk, which he would then sell online.
Mr van der Heijden said things "really kicked off" after he and his girlfriend started an online vintage store.
"It started out as a hobby for me and my girlfriend," he explained. "We were just op shopping and thrifting and now it's kind of our passion.
"We turned our hobby and our passion, what we loved, into something that can make us some money."
He said he managed to save enough money for the deposit by only buying necessities and "never really making spontaneous purchases".
"I didn't really want to be paying off someone else's mortgage when I could have a house of my own."
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