STAWELL - Carlee Vokes and Tom Colwill are counting down the days until they get the keys to their new home.
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For the first home buyers the purchase of their property just a couple of kilometres outside of Stawell brings to fruition a dream they've both worked at least four hard years to achieve.
When the couple moved more than 500 kilometres from the picturesque Barossa Valley in South Australia they brought with them a perspective that helps prove that people who live in country areas like ours aren't as hard done by as they sometimes make out.
"We didn't have enough arms and legs and body parts to sell on the black market to afford buying there (Barossa Valley)," Ms Vokes said.
"We rented around the Black Range and Lake Lonsdale area and we actually found that quite cheap," she said.
"We know a lot of people in Stawell find it quite expensive, but when your coming from somewhere like the Barossa Valley where you would pay much more for the same, you look at it differently."
The couple plan to complete live-in renovations when they move into their home in March.
Ms Vokes is an administrative manager at the Comfort Inn Goldfields while Mr Colwill is a local builder.
"It is a really huge move, it is still quite surreal to think we have got to this point, but I think you just have to get out there and do it, go for it!" she said.
With high demand continuing to put pressure on the supply and price of rental properties Ms Vokes said it was good to make the break from the rental market into the buyers market.
"You hear people say rent money is dead money, well when you go from paying the same amount of rent as mortgage repayments that is absolutely right," she said.
"It feels so much better knowing that your paying off your own home, not someone else's."
Ms Vokes said the opportunities and lived experiences of being located in the country compared to the city are endless.
"The country is heaps better, there are nicer people and better environment to set ourselves up in and start a family with," she said.
"You only have to look at homes in the suburbs of Melbourne or other cities these days, no wonder children spend so much time inside or on video games because they don't have a backyard to go out and run around and play in.
"We grew up with an outside area and we want our children to grow up with the same opportunities we had. A couple of acres out of town where you can grown your own vegetables."
Ms Vokes had a simple message for those that would like to, but that maybe feel the dream of one day owning their own home is out of reach.
"We moved over here with nothing, never thought it would be possible that we could one day own our own home," she said.
"We made the decision to knuckle down, work hard and save and it took time, but if we can do it, anyone can."