The dilemma of the First time buyer

kenshaz

Financial limitations are causing under 25-year-olds to delay moving out of the family home by three years and getting married by four and a half years, compared to older generations.

The dilemma of the First time buyer is changing the shape of domestic lives,some areas of the country restrict purchase of some properties to those who have lived in the vicinity for 3 years.

Perhaps that is the solution for those who cannot avoid to buy a house in the locality that they grew up in.

Each generation faces a different challenge ,the previous one it was unemployment ,this one it is finding a home ,a solution is needed.

Perhaps renting is the solution as in Germany,that would of course fuel the buy to let market and push prices up.

DawnW

But it is because they are holding out to buy that they do not leave home etc. There are plenty of places to rent for those who need / want them, at least in this area (pricey south west). In a small local town there have been several quite nice properties with 'to let' signs up for ages, different sizes, so presumably different prices, but the ones I am particularly thinking of are quite small new terraced houses in a nice location, typical of what many FTBs would want, but presumably bought up by the BTL brigade and now they can't get tenants. I think it is the mindset now that people feel they simply have to buy and nothing else is acceptable. I don't subscribe to it by the way. Can't see the point of being in massive debt and worrying about every rate rise when you can have a decent standard of living and look forward to increased interest on your savings instead. It is a myth to say that you 'own' a house if you have a 100% or more mortgage - the bank does. Fine if you can comfortably afford it, or are prepared for the sacrifice, down to individual choice I suppose.

Mr_helpful

Buying my first house was a dilema but then mortgage rates were around 15%. The percentage of disposable income however seems to have remained relatively constant but different generations see things differently. I think for a time the first time buyer will struggle and will try to rent. This will push up rents and when rates fall again there will be a new crop of 1st time buyers fed up with renting

danlightbulb

One of the problems I had with renting was that I couldn't make the place my own.

Since I bought my first house 2.5 years ago I have redecorated every room and done alot of DIY inside and out. Part of this was because I wanted to increase the value of my property but partly because it almost became a hobby - something to pass the time. I remember when I was renting I spent just as much money on going out all the time because there was nothing to do in the house.

I have now increased the value of my home, made it a nicer place to live for me and my girlfriend and its now on the market with £35k equity (which I'm having second thoughts about but don't want to get into that here).

That is what the FTBs want because that is what I wanted as an FTB 2.5 years ago. Its fuelled, i think, by all the property makeover programmes and seeing other people making fortunes out of it. As a FTB you don't see all the issues regarding crashes and interest rates until you've bought the place and you start to become more clued up about the whole picture, as I have but its taken 2 years and alot of reading to reach a greater level of understanding.

zeddy_2

I am a FTB at the moment, currently scrimping and saving to pull together enough cash that I might be able to buy a small house for myself and my partner.

I am really fed up with the market as it currently is becuase it has meant that we are still not in a buying position 18 months after starting to save money. I do know that there is nothing that is going to change this though and all the moaning in the world won't make any difference!

The reason I want to buy and not rent is simple. I want my own place! What is so wrong with spending your hard earned cash on something as big as a house? I agree danlightbulb, I end up spending a lot of my cash on going out and entertainment or just being bored. If I had my own place then I would enjoy spending my time at home and by doing things to the property to improve it.

I just got fed up with renting becuase of the amount of hassel that we had involved with it. There is so little security. I relocated some 50 miles from home becuase of work and set up a new life in a rented flat only for the landlord to put the place on the market 6 months later! I have just reached an age in my life now where I want to move into a place and feel that there is every opportunity that I might actually have the same address in a years time; whereas with renting I have had to move 4 times in the last 3 years and it is exhausting!!:sad:

JoeK_3

Have you considered a shared ownership property?

JoeK

kenshaz

When interest rates reached 15% we had to look long term .Imagine if rates rose again to those levels with the high cost of housing and the earning to borrowing ratio.

MortgageMamma

Something somewhere would have to give if rates went up like that. Unfortunately being 31 I did not witness this as my parents never had a mortgage but I have heard rather a lot about it. It makes me wonder sometimes though, if rates did creep up to something like 15%, OK there theoreticaly would be less buyers and mroe reposessions....but do you think it would force people tolive within their means and stop taking loans and credit cards to fund their lifestyles?