Will my girlfriend's job stop us getting a mortgage?

WalkinX

Yes I am well aware they would be popular and that London is expensive. Ihave been saying that ever since I started the thread.

Well we didn't sit down and whip out calculators and crunch numbers until the small hours and consult saving experts but we did manage to figure out that by judging how much we have saved so far and int he time frame with our earnings we should be able to save at least £10k by the end of the year.

ViolaLass

WalkinX wrote: »

Yes I am well aware they would be popular and that London is expensive. Ihave been saying that ever since I started the thread.

So why are you still surprised by/complaining about it? There are plenty of other people in your position who are just getting on with working out what they /can/ afford.

WalkinX wrote: »

Bloody banks and credit crunch.

Indeed, because we wouldn't want the banks to start being more careful with the money they lend now, would we?

WalkinX

I'm here for the what the purpose of the site is: to get advice on the subject.

Why are you here? Not for a housing advice, you already boasted your off travelling as you don't want to own a home yet.

Yeah they should be careful lending to EACH OTHER as that mesed them up. They all lent to each other and when one fell they all got in the !!!!. It wasn't buyers fault - and yes I know plenty of them defaulted and that lead to the banks being in debt and the whole line falling but that was due to cost of living increases and wages stalling or decreasing combined with the banks again refusing to cut interest rates.

ninky_2

WalkinX wrote: »

My gf is currently getting £380 a week. I think she is sticking it out there and does enjoy the work so she willbe there for awhile or if she does move - move into another job of the same calbire on another show.

2 years? Damn.

Indeed. Bloody banks and credit crunch.

Why is it that the consensu is that high house prices ar e a good idea? It's partially that that got us in the mess in the first place! Grrr!

just hold that thought for when you have bought a place of your own and its value is going up up up.....

ViolaLass

WalkinX wrote: »

Yeah they should be careful lending to EACH OTHER as that mesed them up. They all lent to each other and when one fell they all got in the !!!!. It wasn't buyers fault - and yes I know plenty of them defaulted and that lead to the banks being in debt and the whole line falling but that was due to cost of living increases and wages stalling or decreasing combined with the banks again refusing to cut interest rates.

That's certainly one assessment of the situation.

I don't feel I was 'boasting' that I'm travelling. I'm also not doing it 'because I don't want a house'. It's not a glamorous lifestyle, it's just what I'm doing. I made the comment in the first place to point out that I do think it's possible to save a good deposit in a short time - although I view 18 months as a short time and we appear to differ on this view. I certainly wasn't bashing 'house ownership' in any way, I will get there myself one day, although I do find the desperation to jump onto the housing ladder whatever the cost when the person is only in their 20s somewhat strange, but that's just me.

Why am I here? Well, it's a public forum, I'm very interested in all things financial and the subject of your thread was one that I felt I knew enough about to be able to make a useful contribution. I appreciate you don't seem to like what I've been saying - I'm afraid that's the risk you take when you post on a public forum. You are, of course, at liberty to completely ignore anything I say.

I think there have been some very useful answers in this thread but some of your questions are extremely difficult to answer. Is a £20k deposit enough? Given that we can't know which flat/house you hope to buy, how can we judge? If the house costs £100k then yes, if it's £400k then no. Is it realistic for you to save that quickly? Again, don't know. Your other questions i.e. how to get the information you want and what you can realistically borrow, have, I think, been answered. You haven't always liked the answers but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

WalkinX

ninky wrote: »

just hold that thought for when you have bought a place of your own and its value is going up up up.....

I will. £250,000 as the average house price is terrible. A quarter of a million as the AVERAGE???

House prices shouldn't be that high as an average. Have your houses that re worth millions and charge millions if you like but standard houses being at ridiculous levels is a disgrace I think and I will always think that no matter what house I own.

WalkinX

ViolaLass wrote: »

That's certainly one assessment of the situation.

I don't feel I was 'boasting' that I'm travelling. I'm also not doing it 'because I don't want a house'. It's not a glamorous lifestyle, it's just what I'm doing. I made the comment in the first place to point out that I do think it's possible to save a good deposit in a short time - although I view 18 months as a short time and we appear to differ on this view. I certainly wasn't bashing 'house ownership' in any way, I will get there myself one day, although I do find the desperation to jump onto the housing ladder whatever the cost when the person is only in their 20s somewhat strange, but that's just me.

Why am I here? Well, it's a public forum, I'm very interested in all things financial and the subject of your thread was one that I felt I knew enough about to be able to make a useful contribution. I appreciate you don't seem to like what I've been saying - I'm afraid that's the risk you take when you post on a public forum. You are, of course, at liberty to completely ignore anything I say.

I think there have been some very useful answers in this thread but some of your questions are extremely difficult to answer. Is a £20k deposit enough? Given that we can't know which flat/house you hope to buy, how can we judge? If the house costs £100k then yes, if it's £400k then no. Is it realistic for you to save that quickly? Again, don't know. Your other questions i.e. how to get the information you want and what you can realistically borrow, have, I think, been answered. You haven't always liked the answers but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The only answers I haven't liked are yours ever sinc eyou said buying a house outright wasn't hard to do and then backpeddled when I poitned this out and claime dyou said it about something else.

I was looking for information, people more in the know and could translate the jargon and figures into plain english. What the site is for.

I have been very grateful for the answers given. I just don't see the need to judge someone or be snarky when someone is simply asking about the subject of the topic forum of the subject it is for on a website also dedicated to the subject.

PasseySam

I know it may seem unfair that the average house price is perhaps more than you can afford right now but do remember that the price of houses is dictated by the market and what people are prepared to pay for houses. So a house in the capital city of the country where land is at a premium and demand for property is high will always be more expensive than elsewhere (for example in Leeds where as you rightly pointed out the price of houses is much cheaper).

House prices are not controlled by anyone and always fluctuate in response to changes in the market and supply and demand. It is us, the buyers and sellers, that determine what house prices are and the value of a house is as much as people will be prepared to pay for it. So in high demand areas prices are high. It may seem unfair but that is just the way things are I'm afraid. And when you own property (even a 1 bed flat like the one we are selling, not even million pound houses!) you will see things from the other side and be glad when your property increases in value.

I would echo the advice by others on the forum and suggest that you save like mad, check out the different areas in london and what property prices are like in the different places, then by the time you do have your deposit saved you will have had plenty of time to do your research and will be in a strong position to buy and know exactly where you wish to live.

And don't worry about buying a flat, I bought my first flat about 7 years ago and have loved living there, only now selling to move on to a house. And it's the fact that property prices have generally risen since I bought that means we now have the equity from the flat to be able to look at bigger places.

Also in London most young people live in flats and it is unlikely that you will have a problem selling it in the future simply because it is a flat. Start small would be my advice, if you really want to get on the property ladder. And make sure it's affordable too.

Good luck