Just turned 18

alexlyne

If you're allowed to use your parents phoneline, then consider going to payg on the phone... could cut down to 10 or 15 a month? If they have internet, get a webcam to chat to the gf for free. It may not be much but it all adds up!
I also assume the 100 for packed lunches is more than just lunches... £16 per day seems a bit pricey!!
You can still get 90% mortgages (and may be easier in a few years when you take the plunge), and although banks can still offer 3.5x salary or more assuming excellent credit score, you need to look at what the monthly payments will be to see if you can really afford what they're willing to lend.

rictus123

This is fantastic.

hebawom

I just got a Natwest mortgage and if you can provide a 15% deposit, the rest is based on affordability. So if you have no kids, no loans and no credit card balance, they will lend you a rather large multiple of your salary.
I suppose this is no good to you - since you are buying a few years down the line. But gotta say - I wish I'd been as forward thinking as you when I was 18!!
I'm buying my first home at the ripe old age of 30!!

rictus123

Do you mind telling me your salary and how much your deposit/mortgage is? I hope im in my own place at 21.

Hippychick

Currently the monthly cost for a repayment mortgage of 63k over 25 years is about £400 a month so you should manage that comfortably on £1700 pcm.

Bear in mind that even though house prices are falling currently they 'may' rise in the future so keep an eye on the property market and how it looks to be heading, it could be you would need more of a deposit or would pay more than 70k for a house.

penguine

Hippychick wrote: »

Bear in mind that even though house prices are falling currently they 'may' rise in the future so keep an eye on the property market and how it looks to be heading, it could be you would need more of a deposit or would pay more than 70k for a house.

House prices are very unlikely to rise significantly over the next few years. We have high unemployment rising every month and those are not the conditions to feed into house price inflation, especially given that house prices are still very high at the moment compared to historical averages.

So do keep an eye on the property market, especially actual sold prices not what agents are putting houses on the market for. There are a couple of websites that will let you search actual sold prices as listed with the Land Registry. Consider installing the Firefox browser and the Property Bee plug in as this will let you see every time that vendors cut their asking prices.

If you keep saving and don't rush into anything, in a few years' time you could be in a good position to buy a larger or nicer property than what you're considering now.

penguine

Hippychick wrote: »

Currently the monthly cost for a repayment mortgage of 63k over 25 years is about £400 a month so you should manage that comfortably on £1700 pcm.

Forgot to add, bear in mind that interest rates are extremely low at the moment so likely to rise higher in the future, so take that into consideration when working out how much your monthly payments will be over the life of the mortgage.

rictus123

This is fantastic.

rictus123

Oh me, the forum wouldnt load, i was lost tonight!

diable

I would also budget for booze and women as they eat in to any wages ;o)))

Be wary of the recession as a lot of trades are suffering at the moment so be careful...