My Journey as a First Time Buyer!

Saver-Rob

My Journey as a First Time Buyer!
Started January 2009

Hi all,

I think it is time I started this thread as somewhere, if nothing else, for me to vent my excitement / frustration / disappointments / questions and problems.

Firstly a bit about me. As my signature says, I am currently 22 years old and living @ home with parents. My girlfriend is in the same position and age. I work full time and currently earn approx £21,500 basic but do as much overtime as possible - this year it will amount to over £10,000 worth. I have, at the moment, around [see signature below] saved up. My girlfriend works part time to fund her through University but luckily she does a course which is almost entirely paid for by the Government and therefore she has little expenses other than travel and books. She commutes to Uni. She doesn’t save much, if anything, each month but has savings tucked away.

We expect that 2009 will see us move into our first home and I especially am keeping a close eye on the local market and property. I know what I want and roughly how much we are looking @ spending.

I have in the past couple of days made my first phone calls to estate agents with various questions about several properties. We have not yet got a mortgage arranged but are hoping that this would not be too much of an issue with the deposit that we have saved and the (hopefully) fairly stable job that I have. We are just dipping our toes into the market and seeing how it all operates. RightMove has become my favourite website along with MSE!

So here is the start of my journey onto the ladder and hoping to get a good start with a good priced house in 2009!

Aiming for: 2/3 bed Semi. Parking for 2+ cars important and to a lesser extent a garden of sorts.

leespot

Good luck Rob, I'm sure you'll be fine - £49,000 saved up is a great start in any case!

Zandoni

Don't do it.

Why not wait until the prices start to bottom out, you could save thousands...

Saver-Rob

leespot -Thanks for being the first to reply! A long way to go but I am so glad we saved up - hopefully it will make things much easier for us in the long run.

Zandoni - Indeed it is not something that will happen in the very near future unless we get something at the right price for us.

lil'H

what area are you in? How much do 2/3bed semi's in your area cost at the moment? It's very exciting, I'm a FTB started looking in August, found the perfect house in Dec, got a fantastic deal, and am now waiting....and waiting.....and waiting!

Good luck with it, enjoy the viewings, and don't settle for anything that you don't fall in love with!

brummybloke

my advice? dont buy with your mrs

this alone will save you thousands upon thousands, it will also give you more mortgage as she doesnt earn.

you are young, it may last for ever, it may not. there is little point however in getting it in both names at the moment, people change and between 22 and 25 in my view, women are very fickle, they dont know what they want ( ok im generally speaking).

buy it yourself and lett her save her £10k to pay back any student loans she incurs.

you dont want a joint name on deeds, be paying her uni loans off and then she walks away, taking 1/2 the house after you paid off her debts.

romance should not be hampered, common sense saves a lot of stress.

Saver-Rob

Oh God!

OK, firstly... 'lil-H' - The prices vary quite alot but there have been some good bargains starting to come up. They need alot of work doing but I have been looking in the 130,000 - 140,000 mark.

brummybloke - Thanks for the input! I understand what you are saying and nothing is ever for sure, but we have been together for 4 years now so it is probably as stable as it could be at this stage. When she has completed Uni she should start on a fairly good wage with what she is training for - thats 2 years away.

beccybobeccy

good luck to you...

Me and my partner are buying currently and we feel we are getting a great deal. We don't really give a damn about the housing market as we are in love with the house we have found and can easily afford the payments. That's really all that matters to us at this stage.

It's such an exciting time. We hope to be completing in the next few weeks.

Saver-Rob

Excellent! I cant wait for the stress and excitement of that time!

Although a house has a market value there is also a value that you place on it yourself. One person may say that you overpaid or should have waited, but if it is the house you want at the price you want to pay then who cares! Also if you are planning on staying for the foreseeable future then it doesnt matter what people value it at. Best of luck!

besonders1

you wanna try renting for a year and take it from there. You can then settle down and see whether you can afford living together, then hopefully the prices will have come down a bit and have more money for kids, xmas holidays etc. Its also helpful to rent in an area where you would like to buy. Don't waste your money buying now though, you deserve to pay less.

thriftyminx13

Good luck. but going to speak to a mortgage advisor now won't do you any harm.