Please help :-)

darrenwis

Hi Guys,

I'm a teacher (fixed term contract) and my partner works for the local authority. We collectively earn 36k per annum and would love to own our own house. We currently pay out £550 per month rent which is dead money!

However, with the current climate we have no way in knowing what to do. How much deposit would we need to get a house worth around £80,000?

How much are legal fees?

We are total newbies to this and we keep being told figures from 7-18k deposit!!!

We would really appreciate your views.

We have loans of about 5k collectively.

Many thanks,
Darren

neneromanova

you'll need £8k (10%) - £12k (15%) as a starting block for the deposit. Obviously the more you can get the better rates you will be able to get.

My partner is just going through the mortgage offer. He has £39k income and a £25k (15%) deposit and is getting a mortgage for £142k so if you could get together that much you could get a more expensive house. The monthly payments are going to be about £550. That's with Lloyds TSB.

beecher2

£8,000 as a minimum, but only if you have perfect credit. The more you save up the more options you have. Legal fees might be another couple of thousand. Your fixed term contract may cause a problem I think, and

BTW renting isn't 'dead money' - you're paying for somewhere to live, and £275 a month each doesn't seem that high to me.

Accountant_Kerry

pay off your loans and save at least £10k, as mentioned renting isn't any more dead money that mortgage interest is, expecially in a declining market.

nzmegs

Why do people think that renting is "dead" money. it isn't - you have a place to live, you don't have to pay insurances on it or pay for the maintenance.You have the ability to move house any time you want.

As the "owner" of our own home (which is actually owned by the bank) we cannot move because we cannot sell it for enough money and our mortgage is set to increase as interest rates go up. it is a scary place to be actually.

As a renter you will find that your landlord will do anything to keep tenants who pay well and look after the place so you are in a better position than most people.

mich309

I've found legal fees are a lot lower than mentioned earlier, my last house purchase they were £450 + VAT and I am buying a house at the moment and they're charging £650 + VAT.

Good luck saving!