How to save the deposit FTB

rictus123

http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/blog/frugality/saving-for-first-mortgage-deposit/

All of these are a check for me
Live with parents / relatives
Make Saving A Priority
Eat and Drink In
Unnecessary bills
Buying Second Hand

I live with my parents and as im only 18 i have done all my life. Saving has been my priority for a while now and iv just started getting my finances sorted, need rid of the debt before i can save. Other than going to Greece we havnt really been out since xmas. The only 'Unnecessary' bill you could say i have is my £35 a month phone bill. But i send over 1000 txts so i think i do need this. I drive about in a £400 van when i see lots of my mates getting 5-6k loans of family friends or wherever they can get it for a top spec car, how on earth are they ever going to be able to buy when they are starting off there financal life at the very bottom?

According to this...
http://www.1888pressrelease.com/average-age-of-first-time-uk-house-buyer-reaches-34-pr-74q2o2xr3.html

the average age of the first time buyer is 34. Thats another 16 years for me if i go with the average. Any by the time im 34 the average could very well be nearer 40.

I am of belief that renting is dead money, but is it renting thats proving to be the stumbling block thats making the average age of the first time buyer quite high(in my opinion)? Who is the youngest on here thats got a mortgage on there own without the help of parents paying the deposit etc? Im sure iv seen someone say they own outright at 24 which is fairly impressive. Is there light at the end of the tunnel or is buying going to be an absolute nightmare for young(keen to get on the property ladder)teenagers like me?

PasturesNew

I was 30 before I bought my first home.... a mobile home, cheapest in the area, on a personal loan. To borrow that I'd researched which companies would lend for a mobile home, opened up accounts at those building societies, then had to save a 20% deposit. At the time, where I lived, a studio flatlet cost £70k (peak of the late 80s bubble).

Rolling on from there I next got a SO property, again near the peak. It was a studio. I stayed there about 7 years and was still in negative equity, so had to pay 5% of my borrowed amount to clear the negative equity.

It was 3 years again before I could buy. Starting from scratch again I got a job and saved really hard, living in a bedsit house with shared bathrooms. I was 40 before I could buy again, with a good deposit.

And now ...? Well, I'm back renting now, living in a studio.

Stuff happens in life and you don't know what will happen next. At 18 you've got years to think about buying somewhere.

rictus123

Exactly who knows what will happen. Im trying to make sense of everything to do with buying, i know i have a few years before i can even think of getting somewhere but if i start now il be able to get as clued up as i can on what im buying into and how much il need to get a place. Iv seen alot of people on here just saving the minimum deposit? Is there noone who tries to save 50% of the house value or simular?

mbga9pgf

I am going for 40-50% of purchase price.

I like your attitude though. Get started early. Biggest way for singly blokes to save cash is not spank it all on Booze.

The bigger the deposit, the lower the interest you pay on the mortgage, with the best rates offered to those with a monster 40% deposit.

rictus123

This is fantastic.

lostinrates

I managed to save a lot in late teens early twenties. This was partly job juggling..fitting part time roles in around full time ones, and partly through saving. Having more than ''normal'' working hours I found harder when single: becuase there was no time to meet anybody else....I had to drop a job to work on personal life. But the bonus to working more hours than normal is that you have less time to spend. I also used to get paid to do stuff I otherwise might have spent money doing...which is twice the saving and made work more easy to enjoy: its something to think about if you can.

GrammarGirl

Although I think you're wise to think about saving now and it's great that you're learning how to budget and be careful with money... you're only 18! I'm 23 and just realising that it's time to stop having quite so much fun and start getting a bit more serious.

If your ambition in life is to own a house as soon as possible, you should be saving, nothing wrong with that. But you'll never be so young and free again - this is the time to go out, have fun, spend money on frivolous things from time to time and enjoy your life. You need a bit of balance - don't let finances take over.

beccad

At 18, I wouldn't entirely give your life up in order to save for a property. By the time you've bought your house in however many years time you may well find that all your peers have done all their going out/having fun (anything, not just going out and getting drunk!) and are now starting to think about buying property so staying in and saving a deposit. Great to get your finances in order at a young age though, but do have a bit of fun too! Something you should also bear in mind - you're happy living at home at the moment, but how long are your parents happy for you to be staying there? What happens if find yourself in a serious relationship and want to move in with that person?

Unfortunately lots of people aren't lucky enough to be in the situation where they can save 40-50% of a property's value before they buy it. That's a pretty hefty amount really (in London, for example, you'd be needing to save £120-150k for as a 40-50% deposit on a FTB property - before anyone says it, London salaries aren't THAT much higher!)