First Time Buyer Very confused

Mortgage_Moog

I recently bought my first place and you just have to buy what you can afford. It's unrealistic to expect a 2 or 3 bedroom home for your first property, when I went for my mortgage interview the man I saw said that when people start asking for things like that they start worrying.

Why not just start off with a flat? Why do you need 2 or 3 bedrooms? I bought a one bed place and after saving for a year or more I'll be moving out and getting something similar in an area that's closer to where I work. A few years after that I'll probably sell that place and buy my final home.

I'll tell you now that you won't get £171k anyway on your income. Online calculators will give you a high figure, brokers will tell you the same, the AIP will tell you the same, even at the interview they'll give you that figure. A few days later you'll have a call/email with the real figure and it'll be far, far less. It's down to the underwriters to decide how much they lend you. You'll probably be offered about 130k maximum on your income and that's if everything is A1. I had a perfect credit score, no debt, everything singing and dancing having been in the same job for over 10 years and they offered me 3.5 times my income.

Did you know that the average age of a first time buyer is 37? You're very young to be buying, I'm not that much older and under the average but don't feel bad if you can't buy yet because if you do you're 10 years ahead of the average. I hope it goes well for you.

luis1988

My girlfriend and I have just moved near Abingdon which is between Newbury and Oxford. It's got great car links and I am currently sitting on a train from Didcot to Paddington that takes less than 45 minutes.

We paid £280k for 3 bed new build on a combined salary of £50k and with half the deposit you have, albeit using H2B.

Definitely worth looking out this way, get so much more for your money. Season ticket is around £450 a month I believe so far cheaper than Swindon and closer to London too.

Rain_Shadow

MumOf2 wrote: »

Back in the day, a first home would be a bedsit or one-bedroom flat in a pretty grotty area. Then it might be a bigger flat or terraced 2 up 2 down, then a semi detached if you were lucky. It takes time to work up to a bigger property.


MumOf2

Which day was that? I bought my first house at 22. It was a three bed semi. The day was 5 May 1980 though.:cool:

e13

Mortgage_Moog wrote: »

I recently bought my first place and you just have to buy what you can afford. It's unrealistic to expect a 2 or 3 bedroom home for your first property, when I went for my mortgage interview the man I saw said that when people start asking for things like that they start worrying.

Why not just start off with a flat? Why do you need 2 or 3 bedrooms? I bought a one bed place and after saving for a year or more I'll be moving out and getting something similar in an area that's closer to where I work. A few years after that I'll probably sell that place and buy my final home.

I'll tell you now that you won't get £171k anyway on your income. Online calculators will give you a high figure, brokers will tell you the same, the AIP will tell you the same, even at the interview they'll give you that figure. A few days later you'll have a call/email with the real figure and it'll be far, far less. It's down to the underwriters to decide how much they lend you. You'll probably be offered about 130k maximum on your income and that's if everything is A1. I had a perfect credit score, no debt, everything singing and dancing having been in the same job for over 10 years and they offered me 3.5 times my income.

Did you know that the average age of a first time buyer is 37? You're very young to be buying, I'm not that much older and under the average but don't feel bad if you can't buy yet because if you do you're 10 years ahead of the average. I hope it goes well for you.

I'm not sure that they will only get 3.5x their income - I got offered 4.5x on a mortgage, and I bought a house slightly cheaper than that in the end, but still my mortgage is 4.25x my income.

I'd been in my job less than a year, have student debt and an (interest-free, so just sitting in the savings account making money) loan from work. I had had a credit card for a few months but only used it once - so I don't think my credit score would fit the pattern of all singing, all dancing. Especially as I'd never even had a phone contract, or any of the other things they list to improve your score.

I also understand why the OP wants a house and not a flat, but you're totally right - reality, rather than what we want, has to dictate what we do!

I ended up not taking a job in London, and taking one paying significantly less elsewhere - because despite the 20% cut in my income, I was going to have more money spare and it meant I was able to buy a house within a year. (Having kept my belt exceedingly tight for that year!)

(And I also question everyone saying that your first house has to be eg a one bed flat. I've bought a two bed end of terrace - but not in London!!)

Ruby789

I know where you're coming from OP. You want to put down roots in a place you won't rapidly outgrow. It's a massive and scary purchase and you expect to be 100% happy. But the reality is that you have to compromise. I was born and raised in London, it's where I want to stay, so I must pay the premium for a cupboard to call home.

I am older than you, similar financials, and I am in the process of buying a one bed flat. It's small, but its what I can afford. It isn't what I want long term, but it meets enough of the criteria for the short to medium term that it's the right move for me.

Instead of thinking about what you can't have, think instead of what you can. What I did was to go and see anything and everything within my budget across 12 different areas. Pretty much a flat a night. After a few weeks I had a better grasp of what my budget could actually get me, what I needed (vs what I wanted), and what really wouldn't work for me.

And in the end I saw this little flat, which was the most suitable of the 27 I saw. And now I am excited about making it my home.

Planet_Switzerland

I earn more money than you, have a much bigger deposit than you and have a wife who also works full time. We are on the verge of buying our first property, which is a one bed flat in zone 4.


That's the reality of prices in London. I too would like to move from a flat to a house asap, but the only way of doing that in London is getting onto the property ladder with a one bed flat first.

mije1983

Mortgage_Moog wrote: »

I'll tell you now that you won't get £171k anyway on your income. Online calculators will give you a high figure, brokers will tell you the same, the AIP will tell you the same, even at the interview they'll give you that figure. A few days later you'll have a call/email with the real figure and it'll be far, far less. It's down to the underwriters to decide how much they lend you. You'll probably be offered about 130k maximum on your income and that's if everything is A1. I had a perfect credit score, no debt, everything singing and dancing having been in the same job for over 10 years and they offered me 3.5 times my income.

That's a bit of a sweeping statement! My broker got me exactly what he said he would (actually it was slightly more in the end) and that was for 4.5x income. So it's perfectly possible the OP can as well.