Buying a house as a single person

Scully38

HappyMJ wrote: »

Banks seem to now calculate on affordability rather than just a multiple of income. Normally the multiple was around 3 to 4 times income but in this case the bank has offered 4.5 times based on affordability. If the OP had credit cards the bank would take that into account and lend less. If the OP had a much higher income therefore a higher disposable income some banks have offered 5 times income.

And that's why there are so many repossessions! Five times the income? That would have scared the crap out of me borrowing at that level. I borrowed 95% as a first time buyer ten years ago and refused to spend more than double what I earned just in case I couldn't afford the rates and mortgages or got sick. I feel so sorry for FTB now. Thing is until the banks start behaving themselves again and actually offering mortgages and house prices became more realistic then we wouldn't be in this mess. *gets off her soap box* And returns to the OP. What I would say is don't go to your max budget when you buy your house because especially when you start off there are so many things you don't budget for, like things breaking down, initial start up costs, connection fees, furniture, appliances etc. Just be careful that you're thought about all these costs also. Remember it was probably a long while ago your parents started out and things are very different now and no jobs are safe, so you might want to look at Job insurance also in case you lost your job, how would you pay your mortgage especially using all your savings for a deposit. Best of luck anyway I do hope you get the house of your dreams soon.

Oh by the way on average my bills are £550 per month not including food, and there's just me, myself and I.

KiKi

19lottie82 wrote: »

Took the words right out of my mouth here. I am in the same position, being that I am 29, own my flat and pay all the bills, including my mortgage myself. I too run a car, and in total my bills, excluding my mortgage are about £500 a month. This i made up of gas, electricity, water, council tax, mobile phone, telephone, internet, factors fees, tv license, car insurance, road tax and a few other bits and bobs.

If you consider after all your fixed outgoings, how much you would be left with to cover clothes, entertainment, food, other household expenses and contingencies, it’s not a lot at all, I think you might struggle………

I posted above, but I'm single, own my own place and all my bills only come to less than £200 a month. So it really does depend on how you budget.

KiKi

Marvel1

It is possible to get a mortgage on your own, but the amount I'm unsure how much you will get.

In late 2007, I was earning £15K, and the maximum I could have had was something like £66K, I had a house for £65,500 (cheap area and small house), and had a mortgage for £58,500.

I have coped fine with the outgoings to date.

This was before the crash.

My current average outgoings is £680 (this includes mortgage, food, car, gym and saving for my sister's wedding next year abroad) and have about £230 left for personal spends. I don't go out drinking each week (hardly drink, will defeat the object of going to the gym).

But I do get the works bus to work as it's only £2 a week, and it's 12 miles one way! So saving a fortune.

iwantahome

rodent, I wasn't having a pop at what has worked for you in the past, I was just trying to point out that encouraging someone on £24k a year to take out a CC for 83% of their wages is not very sensible. I doubt that someone without a CC would even be able to do this anyway, but on a 24k wage paying back this 20k and also paying for a mortgage would be nigh on impossible. Good on you that you have managed to play the system and make a success of property owning, but this is not for everyone. Some people simply want to buy their own home and work in 1 job, but others want to make a million being a LL, each to their own.

Things are different for FTB now, proving you're worth it to a bank is more complex than a few years ago, I think this needs to be taken into context when comparing your past success with the difficulties we now face. By the way, I completely dislike but also fully agree with having to save up a large deposit before buying, but i also think that houses are far too expensive when you take into account the wages of the people trying to buy them.

moesasji

KiKi wrote: »

I posted above, but I'm single, own my own place and all my bills only come to less than £200 a month. So it really does depend on how you budget.

KiKi

Yes, I've seen this but quite frankly don't understand how this is possible. In the city I live (Bristol), the cheapest council tax (Band A) in itself already puts you back for £87 a month, BBC tax = £12 a month, which would leave £101 for your mobile, gym, utilities and insurance (even ignoring the fact that very few houses are in band A. If you can manage on £200 a month extremely well done, but I doubt many people can.

ps) Do keep in mind that the OP was making 200 miles a week, so car insurance, car maintenance, road tax, depreciation of the car also needs to be payed. And running a car takes an awful hit on your budget in my experience!

ms_london

iwantahome wrote: »

Hi Stacey I am in the same position as you but without the deposit, I am still on the road to depositsville.

Have you thought about your fees and a rainy day fund? The rainy day fund is especially important if you are buying on your own. If you buy with a partner and one of you loses your job at least you would still have one income coming in, but if you buy on your own and lose your job then there is no income at all. I am looking to save the recommended 3 months worth of my pay just in case, also about 3 grand for fees and 3 grand for furniture. I'm looking at £20,000 deposit on top of that.

Don't make the same mistake others have and put everything you have into your deposit as many of these people are now facing repossession and a lot of heartache.

My advice would be to stay at your parents a while longer and save up the shortfall in your deposit for a place of the standard/location you want and also save up for fees, furniture and the unthinkable.

Good luck.

Hi Stacey and Iwantahome!

I am literally only just starting saving for a deposit, but would like to be in somewhere by christmas 2012! I need some motivation from other people doing it alone!

xx

tyler80

In the city I live (Bristol), the cheapest council tax (Band A) in itself already puts you back for £87 a month, BBC tax = £12 a month, which would leave £101 for your mobile, gym, utilities and insurance

Licence fee, mobile and gym are not essentials, they're not bills that figure in my monthly outgoings and I suspect that's the case for others too