My mate and I racked our brains trying to figure out how to get the FHBG when we started our investment journey.
I just went ahead and purchased an IP which disqualified me at the time. He was paralysed by it for 2 years.
When we finally had an opportunity to use it, we found houses were $20/30k more expensive at the lower end of the market. Because the grant allowed you to essentially borrow more, people just jacked up their price.
Crazy what people would pay (and do) to 'save' the grant money.