FTB expectations too high?

Graham_Devon

Coming from my perspective, I bought, Shared Ownership at 25, I'm now 28, and going backwards. I thought I was lucky to have bought, even on shared ownership (for me was better than renting). BUT, and there is a big but here.

I have talked to my parents, they, by the age of 28 also had a 2 bed, but a much much larger one. Everyone is talking about 2 bed and 3 bed. I think the difference now is that new build 2 bedrooms are so tiny, its ridiculous. I have one single cupboard, the understairs cupboard, which will not allow an upright hoover to stand.

The lounge you literally could not swing a cat in, should you have some perverse notion to do so. I sit about 5 foot away from my TV, and the TV is at one end of the room, im on the other, sofa up against the wall. It's a two seater sofa, and you could not get a 3 seater in there.

Due to the lack of space, you couldnt even fit a computer into the lounge comfortably with a 2 seater sofa and a single seater. Due to the lack of storage for anything, the hoover has to live in the spare bedroom (I live on my own) with various other stuff, such as ironing board. The main bedroom, with the double bed in (and because I have a door to the airing cupboard in there) you can't even fit a chest of drawers in, it's impossible. So all you can fit in is a double bed and 2 small side cabinets. For things like clothes, there is a small inbuilt wardrobe, but if I lived with someone else, I'd have to store clothes in the second bedroom....along with everything else!

The garden, well, when the washing blows around, say a towel, it can touch one fence, and then touch another when the wind changed direction. I have to have a cupboard in the kitchen for my tools etc, I literally have no storage.

I can only imagine a 1 bed place to be even smaller. And the thought of only just getting to the stage at 35 of being able to buy my own 1 bed place would terrify me and seriously depress me. The fact you need really 2 average (outside of london) wages to do so depresses me more.

So personally, I think this is something people should factor in when they say aout bedrooms. It's not just bedrooms. I don't even have an airing cupboard I can use without dislocating my shoulder! It really is dire.

When talking about 1 bed place, I reckon the newer build 2 bed places ARE the new one bed places. It's no fun when you haven't even got somewhere to store lifes basic needs such as hoover, ironing board etc.

Edit: For this, I work 5-6 days a week and have had to cut out all unnessary expenses. I live to work, to pay for my house. Hence my post count!!!

MrDT

chucky wrote: »

that wasn't my point. who lives in these types of properties? not people who earn £300k a year. equity is built up through inheritances, pay rises or even a bonus.

however, i agree with your FTB logic.

Indeed, inheritances, payrises, and bonuses are all good ways of making up the larger deposit / initial equity stake that would be required for such expensive properties.

Consideration of "future bonuses" or "expected career progression" is, imho, !!!!!!!!. Progress in your career and earn your bonuses first, bank the money, then use the money to buy the spangly house.

Do we agree that sensible multipliers coupled with as large a deposit as required makes the best sense regardless of property value?

chucky

MrDT wrote: »

Do we agree that sensible multipliers coupled with as large a deposit as required makes the best sense regardless of property value?

as far as FTB's go yes. but i don't agree if you're stepping up the property ladder. there are lots of life circumstances that can improve your personal wealth. if you restrict borrowers to multipliers it doesn't work and people go back to lying about salaries to get higher mortgages. this isn't the thread to discuss this though.

as far your posts go you're one of the most balanced posters so usually tend to agree with your posts

triple-clones

As a First Time buyer wannabe still, my situation is that I have not been able to get on the housing ladder for the past 7 years, due to lack of funds and to smaller income (and not being foolish enough to over borrow with 120% mortgage), now I have got a family and an above average income, is it unfair to belief I should be able to afford an average house? (3 beds for into that price range in my area). The other point I have is that I am looking at buying a "Home" a word I think a lot of people have forgotten about over the past 5-10 years - we don't wont to play the property game called "ladder" - if things change in the future then yes change home, however the house we buy will be our long term home. Currently houses I like the look of are still about 10k over price, working on previous sale prices and nationwide price index, however the properties have been on the market a long time and don't think that would be a problem, mortgage isn't a problem (in agreement) and repayments are within current income range - my current problem saving £25k required for deposit and fee's, although we are working are way there - no family members with that sort of money. Maybe if the government really want to get the market moving a first time buyer grant would be an idea - as a tax payer the only help I can see is for people foolish enough to previously over borrow - not those like myself that held of because the risks were clear.

mr.broderick

seraphina wrote: »

The housing ladder has come totally unstuck because of HPI - if you can't afford to be a FTB until well into your thirties, chances are you've got a family/kids to think about then. So of course you're not going to be looking at 1 bed flats! And once you realise that you need a 3 bed semi as your first home, what's the point in shelling out for an over priced 1bed flat for a few years?

It is depressing to look around at my parent's generation and see exactly what they could get for their money.

I do not follow this. Obviously i can only speak from experience.
When i bought my 1st house over 10 years ago i was on 16k a year.
I bought a terraced house for over 35k. It was a very nervy decision and let me tell you i struggled and i was interviewed by my bank manager before i was given the mortgage, ps my nan helped me with the deposit.

triple-clones

mr.broderick wrote: »

I do not follow this. Obviously i can only speak from experience.
When i bought my 1st house over 10 years ago i was on 16k a year.
I bought a terraced house for over 35k. It was a very nervy decision and let me tell you i struggled and i was interviewed by my bank manager before i was given the mortgage, ps my nan helped me with the deposit.

Are you just posting this to make me sick

mbga9pgf

whathavewedone wrote: »

I agree with the OP. I bought my first flat when I was 31 and it was a 1 bed flat. I was very happy with it.

I've thought the same thing reading through posts written by people in their early to mid twenties expecting to move straight into a family house because they might want children later at some stage.

My parents didn't get a family home as soon as they got married. They had a basement flat when my sister was a baby, then a 3 bed semi in a grotty area and finally a 4 bedroom house in a nice area. By the time they got to the 4 bedroom house in a nice area my father was 38 years old. This was 1970, the year I was born.

And what salaries were they on? You cannot compare eggs with eggs.

Would you have expected to move into the same property if you were earning in the top 10% even if you were in your 20s?

Fact remains, affordability was never worse than at its peak in 2007. We are simply seeing a correction to norms.

penguine

The housing market in this country has been completely messed up in the past 8 years or so. That's not the fault of FTBs with overinflated expectations. It's caused by banks relaxing their lending criteria. The more easy it is to get a mortgage, the more "demand" is created for property, the more property prices go up, and the more banks are willing to lend because property is seen to be a safe investment, driving prices even higher -- it's a self-fulfilling cycle, until the bubble bursts.

Personally I think no one should buy a 1 bed flat, as they quickly become unsuitable when circumstances change -- a 1 bed flat is the kind of property you should rent, not sink your own savings/earnings/future earnings into.

We own a 2-bed flat, purchased at rock bottom prices after the last house price crash. We were told a year ago that we could sell it for £180k if we priced it realistically. We live in an unfashionable London suburb, average salary certainly no more than £30k, and it seems absolutely absurd that a FTB should have to borrow 6x their income to purchase our flat. To me this is a clear sign that it's house prices, not buyers' expectations, that are too high.

penguine

mr.broderick wrote: »

I do not follow this. Obviously i can only speak from experience.
When i bought my 1st house over 10 years ago i was on 16k a year.
I bought a terraced house for over 35k. It was a very nervy decision and let me tell you i struggled and i was interviewed by my bank manager before i was given the mortgage, ps my nan helped me with the deposit.

That you could buy a property for approx 2.5x your income indicates prices were more sensible when you were buying. As it was over 10 years ago I'm guessing you bought during or just after the last house price crash. A nervy decision it may have been, but with nothing like the kind of risk people have taken on buying at 5x, 6x, 7x their income more recently.

Maisie11

As we have potentially a £1 million house I would like to comment:

1. You dont buy a £1 million house as a FTB. It has taken us over 25 years to get to this position.

2. As this is a first marriage for both of us and we dont have any children from previous relationships which was not as common 25 years ago as it is now we can afford to totally focus our income on ourselves and our children.

3. We are in excellent health and have insurance if either of us fall ill.

4. We earn a very good salary between us , however this has come about because we have grabbed opportunites, made some good decisions and only had two children. None of this - I have four children and a partner that doesnt work, also I have a child from another relationship but I messed that up - why cant I have a 4-5 bed house on the average wage. In fact I would like to live in a very desirable area and btw I am entitled to it!

Sorry to sound a little tense but making sweeping generalisations doesnt help. Speak to anyone that has a £1 million house and you will find it was not given to them on a plate. Neither was earning well over the average wage.