She was earning a salary of $25,000 at the time in the marketing industry but as she was a single woman buying alone, her father had to co-sign the loan agreement.
Ms Smith sold her car for $5000 and borrowed another $5000 from her parents towards the deposit then got flatmates in to help cover her mortgage repayments.
The area was yet to be gentrified in 1982. There were no hipsters or celebrities treading Ponsonby's now trendy pavements. Pre-1980 properties were going for under $20,000.
"There were still the original families, old working class families and Pacific Island families plus students and artists."
And though crushing interest rates of around 17 per cent at the time ate into her disposable income, she still managed the repayments. "I was a squirrel, I budgeted really tightly. You didn't eat out three nights a week, it was a special occasion. There weren't the coffee shops so you didn't spend your money on coffee."
Ms Smith said she felt for first home buyers of today who faced taking on massive mortgages.
"I'm the last of the baby boomers. We were lucky and I don't know what our children will do."
