"No One Teaches Us": Woman Who Bought 1st House at 26 Lists 5 Errors to Avoid, SA Inspired
- Thato Mofokeng bought her first home at 26 and shared five costly mistakes she made during the process
- The finance content creator warned first-time buyers about hidden levy costs and sectional title rules that caught her off guard
- South Africans in the comments related to her experience and said God always comes through with a better job on bond day
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Thato Mofokeng, a South African finance content creator, posted a candid video on 6 September 2026 recounting the costly errors she made when she bought her first home at 26. She said her bond was not what nearly broke her financially. It was everything else.
Source: UGC
Her first mistake was choosing a location based on where she worked at the time. On the very day her home was registered at the deeds office, she received a new job offer 47 kilometres away, meaning she faced close to 100 kilometres of daily commuting. She eventually started working from home two years later, but she was clear it was luck.
Thato said paying the levy was the mistake that stung the most. She knew about the levy and had budgeted for water and electricity, but her first statement arrived with six additional line items she had never accounted for. She said if it had not been for that new job, she would have been surviving on noodles. Her advice: always ask the previous owner for three months of levy statements before signing anything.
Thato's third mistake involved buying a sectional title property without fully understanding the shared rules. She pointed out that even small decisions like repainting your house require approval, and if a neighbour falls behind on levies, the entire estate feels the financial knock. On insurance, she said she was grateful she had household cover because a burst pipe cost her nothing out of pocket. She urged buyers to confirm that both their personal insurance and the estate's insurance cover everything. Her final point was about interest rates. Unless buyers lock in a fixed rate, bond repayments shift every time the prime rate moves, so she recommended leaving room in the budget for those fluctuations. Watch the video that sparked the conversation below:
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Mzansi appreciates 1st-time buyer advice
South Africans in the comments recognised themselves in Thato's story:
maiso_mbele was inspired:
"One thing I love about seeing people achieve and acquire things before me is that I'll get to learn how to go about is being well informed. No one teaches us these things. I appreciate this. ❤️"
@rockstar_wandile said:
"When you buy a house, make sure you have a partner that will help you manage it financially, 2 salaries are better than one."
@leez_mketsi shared:
"We need to talk about how when we buy big assets God always pull through with another job with bigger pay 🥳 The same happened to me the day I collected my key was my first day at the new job. I was also 26 🤗"
@toto_thatom responded:
"@leez_mketsi ohh sis 😩🙏 God covers."
Other Briefly News stories about young homeowners
- A 20-year-old university student posted a viral video captioned "God did" as she went homeware shopping to decorate her newly acquired property.
- Many were inspired by a 23-year-old wife who went viral on TikTok after sharing how her husband’s advice helped her improve her credit score and purchase a home at age 21.
- A young South African man inspired social media after posting a TikTok video showing off the modern interiors and spacious yard of his new property.
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Source: Briefly News
