Second steppers struggle

GoldenShadow

sKiTz-0 wrote: »

Just to clarify for everybody, I'm not saying I want help from the government. My point was that now first time buyers get all this help, making the second step is actually harder than getting on the ladder in the first place.

Also, I'm not looking for a 'bigger' place as such. I'm looking to cut down my travel time and costs by moving closer to where I work, and also live somewhere I am not constantly disturbed and kept awake by the neighbours. Trouble is, the closer I get to work, the more the prices rise. A property similar to mine in the area I work would cost around £20k-£30k more than it does around here.

The general consensus seems to be either meet somebody to buy with, move in smaller steps or increase income.

Meeting somebody is out of the question, I'm not interested in any of that. Moving in smaller steps could be an idea. I don't know how I could go much smaller than my little 2 up 2 down terrace, so I can't really downsize. I would compromise on the garage/garden aspect though. My main priority is decreasing the amount of neighbours I am attached to, ideally to 0. That is what I am focused on.

Increasing income is easily said, but much harder to do. It's not like I can just choose a nice £50k a year job to walk in to as easy as that. I'm not afraid of hard work to get where I want, a few of you seem to have got the impression that I want everything gifted to me on a plate. I did mention earlier in the thread that I worked 3 jobs for years to save for my deposit. I would literally be working 7 days a week on 3-4 hours sleep a night, working for 17-18 hours for 6 of those 7 days. This allowed me a sizeable deposit of £26k to put down on this house without any help from the bank of mum and dad- this was at a time when large deposits were required for mortgages, and also I had to get the monthly payments down to an affordable level for a single income. Now, whilst this was a good move at the time, and I would do it again if I had my time over, I am 8 years older than when I did that and would quickly get burnt out if I tried to work that much again on so little sleep.

I suppose my main points are that the second step is harder than the first, and also that house prices are ridiculous in general.

I disagree. You want to double the value of property you own, from approx £80K to £160K, no? That's a big step. Our 'second step' house would not be double our first house unless our salaries practically doubled also. You are choosing to make a big second step, your wanting is what makes it harder.