32 Still Not on Property Ladder. Is this sad?

Ruby789

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

There is a snag to that. OP may never meet that Special Someone. Some of us don't. Motto - get on and get a decent home for yourself anyway on your own.

I hate to think what sort of place I'd be living in if I'd kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting for Him.:eek:

I'm in exactly the same situation, but turn 34 this year. And this is where i'm at now. I've been waiting for my situation to change forever. I've had a few 3 + year relationships, and each time thought happy ever after was around the corner, but it wasnt.

I've been through phases of looking at house prices, and each time I have decided to wait, the lowest rung gets further and further away.

So i'm buying a place to live in. It wont be a palace, and it wont be in an area I love, but I'll have a home.

lydriver

Will depend on the prices youre looking at so you'll have to do the maths for your own situation but with 40k and a good income maybe consider putting down half of your savings as a deposit, or enough LTV to get a tracker or fixed term with no Early repayment charges?. Then you might not feel as trapped. With the option of overpaying.

FIRSTTIMER

Hi,


Thanks for all the advice. I think I am going to buy over next 6 months. I will pay the last of my overdraft and just put down £20k on a £160-180 house I think.


Although now I am in the dilemma of whether to buy a city centre apartment or a house!

System

I would pay off the Virgin MasterCard off. You have the money in the bank.

FIRSTTIMER

True, but I am going to keep it as its 0% until April 2018 paying £50 a month

System

Are you putting £500 a month into stocks and shares ISA

FIRSTTIMER

I'm not no....help to buy isa 200 and regular saver 300

SensibleSarah

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I just went down the route of "Whack it all on a credit card, then move it to 0%". Sure, i'm still repaying it 4 years later, but it hasn't cost me anything in interest and I got my house into a decent state first, rather than wait until it was lived in and I couldn't be bothered renovating.

I think a key difference between now, and 'back in our parents days' is that there is now much more affordable furniture (Ikea) and electrical goods. You can furnish a house far cheaper than back in the 70s. There is also far more affordable lines of credit.

That's a valid point for many people, but after buying my house it took me around 18 months to get back on an even keel financially (as in, not living in my overdraft constantly) after the fees & various other costs of moving into my first house, plus various things breaking every month or so, as they do in a house that hasn't been touched since the 70s. I definitely couldn't have comfortably afforded credit card repayments too & I try to keep debt to a minimum for my own peace of mind. I have most of the cheap furniture & electricals now, just not the big stuff like decent flooring, windows that you can't feel a breeze through & a bathroom not in avocado

After various job changes in the interim I'm back to square one with the savings again. It was that or lose the house. I'm not about to rack up credit card debt for things I can live without for a while longer so the slow & steady saving continues for now. At this rate it will take me around 6 more years to save up enough to do the major stuff but I'm hoping for a payrise soon, which will help.

The curse of the single income household!

zagubov

I was a year or so older than you when we bought our first place. We nearly bought a flat which would have gone into negative equity but held out a couple of years renting a flat above a shop until we bought a semi-detached. Glad we waited.

POPPYOSCAR

ViolaLass wrote: »

When my parents got married, they couldn't afford carpets for two years. I can't be the only person doing better than that.

I agree.

Also when I bought my first house most things inside were bought second hand to begin with.

My son and his girlfriend having just bought their first house have everything brand new.