As soon as Jonathan and Corrina Rego got engaged they started saving: not only for a wedding, but also for a home.

They house hunted for two years and during that time they managed to rent an apartment from a family member - which helped them to put some money aside for the down payment.

"I think that's the way to go," says Jonathan, who works in the Bank of Bermuda's Global Funds Services division: "Try to find a mutually beneficial arrangement with friends or family which allows you to rent at below the inflated rental market."

Corinna is the creative director at Kaleidescope Media Ltd and they have one daughter, Sydney, who is nearly two.

They only looked at about a dozen houses before finding their Bermuda cottage in Paget. "It's the perfect starter house" says Corinna: two bedrooms, one bathroom; just right for a couple with a small child.

Finding the property took time - "It used up a lot of evenings" - but using a realtor saved them from wasting effort seeing unsuitable properties. She only showed them places which she knew they would be interested in. Even so, they found that a lot of the properties they viewed had something "weird" about them.

Corinna recalls "One place had a water tank under the living room floor and another place had disco glitter on the ceiling..."

Seeing so many places which were not right for them helped them to work out what they did and did not want in a property, however.

They finally struck it lucky just before Cup Match, five years ago. The property was advertised in the newspaper and there were lots of people viewing it the day Corinna and Jonathan went.

"The first thing that struck me was that this place was ready, we could move in straight away." says Jonathan.

Relieved to have found somewhere that only needed small cosmetic changes, they decided to make an offer. There was another couple who were interested so they needed to move quickly. "I knew we had to get the bid in before Cup Match" says Corinna.

It helped that Jonathan was an employee at the Bank as they were able to get funding approved quickly. They were also able to take advantage of a special mortgage rate that the Bank of Bermuda offers to staff.

Since moving in they have made some cosmetic changes, including refinishing the floors and changing the terrace, but kept the character of the property. They are also hoping to start some new renovations and possibly add on an extension. "It's kind of a work in progress" says Jonathan.

Corinna says she feels very blessed to have her own house at their age. She knows about five Bermudian couples who are looking at the moment and it's very tough. She recommends that people should start looking early and not expect to find what they want in a hurry: "There's going to be a lot of disco glitter on the ceiling before you find what you want!"