22 year old graduate - how, when to buy first home

ap1985

ryuuoo wrote: »

Dear All,

I am writing on here hoping that you might care to share your thoughts on my situation.

I am now 22 years of age, finished my BA in June and am now in the process of obtaining my Master's which will hopefully happen late next year. Throughout uni I have lived and worked in London, which I have loved, but it is just IMPOSSIBLE for me to even consider buying any property here.

Wanting to plan for the future, I am now looking into the possibility of buying my first property within the next 2/3 years. I am planning to move out of London and move somewhere like Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol where house prices are cheaper and where I could potentially secure a graduate ('proper') job (20-24k) or ask for a transfer within the company I currently work for (18k). This, according to my calculations would give me somewhere around the 100k-110k mark in terms of what I could afford with a 10k deposit.

I have managed to build a reasonable credit history (utilise various credit cards correctly etc...) and am well on my way in terms of saving up for that deposit.

My questions are: Is this possible? Am I being too naive? Can someone my age nowadays seriously buy a 110k 1-2 bed flat in Birmingham for example? (according to Zoopla, you can hehe!)

What do you think? If you were me, what would you do?

Thanks!!

I moved out of London to Leicester for purely the same reason. I have to also say Leicester is nice and the property market is a lot cheaper than London. I think Birmingham property market is going up in terms of prices as a lot of people from London and moving out to Birmingham. Leeds is also a good option.

iantojones40

Hoploz wrote: »

Explore also the government's Help To Buy schemes, especially the ISA which they top up according to how mich you save.[STRIKE] There is a lot of help out there for FTBs so do look into all options.

[/STRIKE]


There is a lot of tax payer funded government help out there for vendors to sell overpriced properties, particularly developers selling new builds, by getting FTBers into unprecedented levels of mortgage debt.

Corrected for you:)

Loanranger

HS2 will make Birmingham, and Nottingham Sheffield and Leeds eventually, into possible commuting areas. It is proposed that Birmingham to London will be about 40 mins on HS2.
Have you been to Birmingham though?
Nottingham may be a better option as house prices are marginally cheaper than in the West Midlands and it is a much nicer more compact city than Birmingham.

teddysmum

House prices vary so much, even within a small area, so would it not be better to decide where you can work (if you stay with the same company) , then look at your options ?


Unless you go for rich people's enclaves, such as some parts of Cheshire,properties will generally be cheaper away from the larger cities.

Loanranger

2 bed apartment in Beeston suburb of Nottingham
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44230830.html
119,950. With parking; second bedroom is only really a single.

steampowered

It really isn't necessary to buy so soon after leaving university. Renting for a few years while you save for a deposit is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Nothing wrong with renting for a few years - as you are young you are much more likely to need to move (e.g. move in with girlfriend, go travelling etc.) than older people.

While house prices and rents are higher in London, salaries are higher too. The level of opportunity for advancing your career can be much better too (though this depends on the industry/sector in question).

movilogo

I am planning to move out of London and move somewhere like Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol where house prices are cheaper

You are intelligent Only if everyone else could have left London.

Leeds is cheapest but check if you can get decent job there. Birmingham/Bristol are both expensive.

As a thumb rule, more you go away from London, further the price falls. Of course you'd earn less than London's salary but house price to earning ratio would definitely improve.

Good luck.

Bvv

One thing to add to what other people have said is to consider not only how much money you'll be earning in your next job, but also whether it will be a permanent position. Many of my friends (including ones with 'respectable jobs' such as teachers & engineers) were on temporary contracts after graduating, and some still are, five years later. I don't know if you can get a mortgage if you only have a temporary contract, but even if you could it may not necessarily be the smartest thing to do. This may also be something to consider when deciding whether to stay with your current employer (which I presume is a permanent position).

Dird

Loanranger wrote: »

2 bed apartment in Beeston suburb of Nottingham
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44230830.html

Why would anyone spend £120k for a 1.5 bed flat in Notts when it isn't even in the city center o_O

Loanranger wrote: »

HS2 will make Birmingham possible commuting areas. It is proposed that Birmingham to London will be about 40 mins on HS2.

Apparently it will be 50 mins from the city center (airport is 40), currently you can do Birmingham->London in 1hr15m...I still don't see why all that wasted money on HS2 is worth it for 25 mins each way.

@OP: obviously the best answer is live with your parents...you're going to save much more that way. In terms of Birmingham; £100/week roomshare, £100/month food, £1.5k net salary you can save £500-750/month, even the lower end would make it possible in 3 years. If you don't mind commuting then you can find a house (flats...eww) to buy easily, in particular along tram/train routes for reliable commute times

Hoploz

iantojones40 wrote: »

[/STRIKE]


There is a lot of tax payer funded government help out there for vendors to sell overpriced properties, particularly developers selling new builds, by getting FTBers into unprecedented levels of mortgage debt.

Corrected for you:)

It depends which side of the fence you're on. If you're a young person watching prices rise and rise out of your reach it's a good idea to take advantage of systems that are in place. Not taking these advantages on an individual basis does not make houses cheaper, it just means you might fail to buy any property at all. Some schemes are clearly better than others, but that's how I see it. You will I'm sure have noticed I also mentioned affordability in my original post.