Is home owning for young people just a pipe dream?

Pixie5740

Home ownership isn't a pipe dream for the young. You just need to cut your cloth accordingly. This means not going on 2/3 holidays a year, doing without a car if possible, boosting your income, thinking carefully before splashing out on something (Ask yourself do I need this? If the answer is no then leave it, if the answer is yes ask yourself, can I get it cheaper?)

That said I wouldn't mind renting forever if I had the same kinds of terms and conditions as council tenants.

ArthurOnline

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's single people I feel sorry for ... one income and all the overheads of life.

I was 40 before I bought my first house - and to do that I was lucky and moved to somewhere where they were cheaper.

My dad bought his first house when he was 40, a 3 bed semi miles out of town, with mum and us kids.

Thanks PasturesNew.

I reckon it is more difficult being single, having two incomes to help fund your house is a lot more helpful than one. Although I'm sure there are exceptions.

[Deleted User]

Anatidaephobia wrote: »

ometimes it makes me feel like we are doing it wrong - half the rooms in our house are unfurnished and still haven't been decorated since we moved in. It's going to take us a long time til we get to the point where I consider our house "finished" yet they seem to have achieved this in a month. But then I think of their credit card bills and huge mortgages and, while that might work for them, I know that we did the right thing for us

First thing we did when we moved into our current house was to spend a few grand of money we didn't have doing it up and buying furniture. Ended up with about £4.5k debt, all on 0% cards or 0% store loans. So far there's about £1k left to pay; and that was about 2 1/2 years ago. The debt doesn't bother me - it's being paid off by direct debit on a card I never use and I don't think about it much.

How much did the 'debt' cost me? probably £120 or so in payments to get the 0% cards transferred.

So, I could have waited 3 years to save the money, or spend £120 and get the money right away and enjoy living in a nicely furnished and decorated house. It's not a hard call.

Not all debt is bad, and managed properly I do think it's a good thing to use credit to improve your life.

ArthurOnline

shop-to-drop wrote: »

Being young has one key advantage for house buying and that is being able to spread payments over the maximum number of years.

A young couple that have two wages, stayed out of debt and some savings behind them stand a good chance of home ownership especially with the current help to buy schemes running.

Thanks shop-to-drop.

Has anyone had any experience of the help to buy schemes? Are they easy to use and is the scheme transparent?

pcuk1979

I'm 35, single and exchanged on my first flat in London this afternoon.

There is hope, I promise...:-)

Simon11

dannim12345 wrote: »

Personally I believe it is difficult to get on the housing market (& yes property is expensive) but I don't believe mortgages are the problem. Banks should be cautious of the amounts they lend and also who they lend to (as in looking into their spending/credit history etc).

I think a lot of people decide they want to buy and then start trying to save for a deposit. I'm 25 and have saved since I got my first minimum wage Saturday job at 16 and now have a good deposit whereas most of my friends have little or no savings.

I'm in a very similar boat. I have worked hard, saving from a young age and now in a very decent job. I'm still 25, having a btl property and ahead of target to purchase a home for myself in London.

Its all about the mindset and taking opportunities at work to progress yourself. This includes making scarifies like moving cities and jobs to build up your experience.

Hard work now, so I can become an consultant in the 30s and then take it easy after 40, hopefully!

Anatidaephobia

ringo_24601 wrote: »

So, I could have waited 3 years to save the money, or spend £120 and get the money right away and enjoy living in a nicely furnished and decorated house. It's not a hard call.

We already enjoy living in a lovely house where the main rooms we use are nicely furnished and decorated so no problem there I kind of like the fact that our house improvements are going to take longer because it gives us a project and makes the fun last longer. That's just my opinion though. I can see why getting everything done fast is attractive to others.

SG27

If you single in the south east it's near enough impossible on average wages. My brother never has any hope of buying unless he finds a girlfriend!

I started saving at 22. Bought at 30. The house my parents bought in 2001 I could have paid for outright with my deposit. My dad then was earning more than I am now. Their first house in the 80s cost them 2.5 times my dad's single salary. We could have bought 2 of those after saving over 4 times my personal salary just for the deposit! The house I bought cost us just over 8 times my personal salary.

MrJansell

My partner and I are 21 and 22 respectively, and we have recently exchanged contracts on a new build home in Cambridgeshire. So from my own personal experience, no it's not a dream.

You just have to be prepared to save hard and sacrifice some luxuries for a while...

retepetsir

Bought our first place, a 2-bedroom flat, in SE England back in 2011 when we were 24 & 26 years of age. We upgraded to a 3-bedroom house last year, again in the South East, circa ~£250k.

Certainly wasn't easy, particularly when trying to save whilst renting a flat from 2008 to 2011. We didn't go on many holidays or spend much on luxuries, but it was worth it.

Our mortgage isn't particularly cheap and we did have two incomes, now one due to maternity leave, but it can be done!

It wasn't a new house and needs some work but we're saving up to do that over the next couple of years as I don't fancy taking on further debt in the form of credit cards to pay for home improvements.

We aren't particularly high earners (nurse and engineer) but have worked hard for it.