At q4 financial, we love working with purpose-driven professionals who use their expertise to empower others. One such client is Meighan Wells, an experienced buyer’s agent and co-founder of Home Buyer Academy—an educational platform designed to support first home buyers through every step of the purchasing journey.
With an upcoming election and increasing public debate around housing affordability, first-home buyers are firmly in the spotlight. Meighan and her business partner, Veronica Morgan, have created an accessible and supportive space for these buyers to gain the knowledge, tools, and confidence they need to make smart property decisions.
We see huge potential for this resource, particularly for our clients who have worked hard to create generational wealth and want to support their children as they take their first steps into the property market. Whether it’s navigating the emotional side of buying or understanding the financial fundamentals, Home Buyer Academy is built to be a trusted guide.
We sat down with Meighan to learn more about the Academy, how it came to be, and how it’s changing the game for first-time buyers.
What inspired you and Veronica to start Home Buyer Academy, and what gap were you looking to fill in the market?
Veronica and I first met at an industry conference back in 2015. She’s a very well-respected and experienced buyers’ agent based in Sydney, with over 18 years under her belt. I’ve been working in Brisbane for over two decades myself. Over the years, we stayed in touch, and in 2019, we found ourselves on a long phone call—one of those deep dives into the state of the industry. We were both frustrated about the same thing: first home buyers are the people who need the most help, yet they’re the least likely to be able to afford professional support like a buyers’ agent.
That conversation sparked an idea. We started tossing around ways to offer a more accessible, hybrid-style service—something with a bit of DIY, but still backed by professional guidance. The more we talked, the more it became clear: what first home buyers really needed was a course. A step-by-step guide to buying their first home, with the right advice, structured in a way that actually helped them make good decisions.
Veronica and I share a lot of values, especially around transparency, education, and high standards, so combining our experience into a structured course felt like a natural progression.
During our early research, we saw a big gap in the market. Yes, there’s a lot of information out there—but it’s usually piecemeal. One resource might focus on finance, another might be pushing a specific product like house and land packages or off-the-plan apartments. But there was nothing that really walked people through the whole process—from figuring out what makes a good asset, to how to do due diligence properly, to understanding how to price a property and negotiate well.
So in 2021, I booked a week in Sydney, and we holed up in a house on the Hawkesbury River and got to work. That’s where we built the first version of Your First Home Buyer Guide.
We actually rolled out the beta version of the course during COVID. It gave us the perfect opportunity to test it over a 10-week period, gather live feedback, and refine the content before launching the full version later that year. Since then, we’ve continued updating the course based on what our students need.
What’s been most rewarding is the feedback we receive. We hear from so many first home buyers who say they finally feel in control of the process, confident in their decisions, and proud of the home they’ve bought. That’s what it’s all about for us—helping people make smart, empowered property choices from the start.
Many first-time buyers feel overwhelmed or underprepared—how does Home Buyer Academy support them through the process?
Buying your first home can feel incredibly overwhelming—there’s so much information out there, and it’s hard to know what’s trustworthy or even where to start. That’s exactly why we created Your First Home Buyer Guide.
We’ve structured the course as a really straightforward, practical 10-step process designed to take the stress and confusion out of buying a home. It’s completely self-paced, so students can go through it in their own time, and by the end, they’ll know how to make confident, informed decisions.
Our promise is simple: by the time they’ve completed the course, they’ll have the knowledge and skills to make offers like a professional, understand how to assess a property properly, assemble the right support team, avoid expensive mistakes, and ultimately, get into their dream home sooner.
But the course is more than just online content. One of the most valuable things we offer is our weekly live Campfire Q&A sessions. Every week, students can join Veronica or me for an hour to ask questions, get feedback on properties they’re considering, double-check their due diligence, or run through their offer or auction strategies. It’s an open, supportive space where they can get real-time help applying what they’ve learned to real-life scenarios.
Our students often tell us that this ongoing access is a game-changer. It’s like having a buyers’ agent in your corner, without the full cost—and that kind of guidance can make a huge difference, especially for first-time buyers trying to get it right the first time.
What are some of the most common mistakes you see first home buyers make, and how can your course help them avoid these?
One of the biggest challenges with first home buyers is that they often don’t realise they’ve made a mistake until years down the track—usually when they go to sell or refinance, and suddenly the cracks start to show. That’s why education upfront is so powerful. When buyers take the time to learn how to do proper due diligence and understand the buying process, they can avoid common pitfalls and make a smart, confident purchase from day one.
Through our course, we help them learn not only what to do, but why it matters—so they can make informed decisions and maximise their budget.
We’ve also created a free downloadable guide on The Top 3 Mistakes First Home Buyers Make, and we’ve gone into more depth on a couple of podcast episodes as well. But to give you a quick snapshot, here are the three we see most often:
- Taking advice from the wrong people. Well-meaning friends and family often give advice based on their own experience, but the property market changes—and what worked 10 years ago may not serve them well today.
- Letting grants drive their decision-making. First home buyer grants can be helpful, but if they’re not careful, buyers can end up purchasing the wrong property just to qualify for a benefit. That short-term gain can turn into long-term pain.
- Buying without a long-term view. Too many buyers focus only on the short term—getting in at all costs—without thinking about how that property will perform or suit their needs in five or ten years.
Our course helps them spot these red flags early and make decisions with a much broader perspective. It’s all about teaching them to think like a property professional, even if it’s their very first time buying.
You also offer a range of free resources on the site—can you tell us more about those and who they’re best suited for?
We totally understand that before people commit to a course, they want to feel confident they’re learning from someone they can trust. That’s why we’ve created a suite of free resources to help first home buyers dip their toes in, get to know our teaching style, and start building their knowledge straight away.
One of the most popular is our free mini course, How to Price a Property Like a Professional. It walks through the Comparable Sales Methodology—the exact approach real estate professionals use to assess value. This is such a critical skill, especially when it comes to knowing how much to offer on a property. It’s something we find most buyers aren’t taught anywhere else, and it can make a big difference in how confident they feel during negotiations.
We also host a weekly podcast, Your First Home Buyer Guide, which has now been downloaded over 230,000 times. That response has been amazing—it really shows just how many people are hungry for trustworthy, step-by-step guidance. The podcast covers everything from how to assess a property, to understanding the buying process, to avoiding the traps that can cost first home buyers dearly.
These resources are ideal for anyone starting out—whether it’s an adult child beginning to explore the market or a parent wanting to understand what their kids are up against. It’s all designed to be practical, jargon-free, and genuinely helpful.
For parents looking to support their children in entering the property market, how can Home Buyer Academy fit into that journey?
When we surveyed first home buyers, we found that the first people they turn to for advice are their parents—which makes perfect sense. But here’s the challenge: many parents are drawing from their own experience buying a home 10, 20, even 30 years ago. And while that experience is well-intentioned, the property market has changed dramatically—so what worked then might not work now.
As parents, one of the most powerful things we can do is equip our children with the kind of education that sets them up for long-term success. We think of school, university, financial literacy—but property education is just as important. Buying the wrong home or paying too much can have ripple effects for years to come. So investing in their knowledge upfront is a really practical and empowering way to support them.
That’s where Home Buyer Academy fits in. It gives your children the tools, frameworks, and confidence to make smart decisions from day one. And for those parents who want to be more actively involved, we’ve even had families go through the course together. It creates a common language, more productive conversations around the kitchen table, and helps everyone feel more aligned and in control.
Ultimately, it’s about giving them the confidence to step into the property market with clarity and support—not just from us, but from you too.
Where should people start if they want to learn more or get involved?
If you’d like to learn more or explore how Home Buyer Academy can help your children step confidently into the property market, the best place to start is our website. You’ll find details on all of our offerings, including our flagship program, Your First Home Buyer Guide—a step-by-step course designed to help first-time buyers avoid costly mistakes and buy with confidence.
For those who prefer to ease into things, we also offer a free mini course—How to Price a Property Like a Professional. It’s a great way to experience our teaching style and learn one of the most important skills in property buying: how to assess what a home is really worth.
You can also subscribe to our podcast, Your First Home Buyer Guide, which drops every Wednesday. While it doesn’t replace the full course, it’s packed with insights, real-life examples, and practical tips that can help buyers understand what to do—and just as importantly, what to avoid. You’ll find all the episodes here.
And if your child is looking for a supportive community where they can ask questions and get reliable advice, our private Facebook group, Your First Home Buyer Guide Australia, is a great space to connect.
What started as an affordable way to help first home buyers get on the ladder without making avoidable mistakes has grown into something much bigger. We get to know our students through weekly Campfire Q&A sessions, share in their wins (and sometimes setbacks), and guide them through one of the most exciting—and important—chapters of their lives. It’s incredibly rewarding to be a part of that journey.
Follow the links below to find out more.
Website:
https://homebuyeracademy.com.au/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/HomeBuyerAcademyAUS/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/homebuyeracademy/
