Anyone else in the same boat as me?

lieutenant_dan

Coming up to mid 30s, desperate to own my own home, but not able to save enough for a deposit at the moment?

Rent a decent flat at the moment, earn a decent wage, but thinking I may have to downsize for say a year to save the difference and get enough of a deposit together. I feel like time is ticking on a bit now.

One step back to take two forward etc. Not sure I can put up with living in a bedsit though, which is what it's come down to. And I'll lose my privacy with shared bathrooms/kitchens etc.Tenancy expires next month, so I have to move fast on this and decide very soon, problem is I know deep down I have to move out logically, but then I look around my flat and don't want to leave it, but that's the problem, it's not my flat, and I'm paying someone else's mortgage.

jonewer

Dan, I dont mean to be critical here but if you cant save for a deposit, how are you ever going to be able to pay off a mortgage?

nollag2006

Why are you in your mid 30's without buying a house? Why didn't you buy something 5 years ago ?

lieutenant_dan

That point makes no sense whatsoever.

Because the deposits required now are huge (I will also need 10% minimum as I will need to be self cert) as house prices are sky high is the simple answer.

The actual mortgage payments would work out roughly the same as I'm paying in rent at the moment. Easily affordable. The problem is getting a big enough deposit together, which is tough when your rental outgoings are high enough as it is.

nollag2006

Ain't life hard ??

lieutenant_dan

Nollag, I'm far from being unique.

I didn't buy 5 years ago because my earnings were much less than now, and prices were out of my reach.

Zammo

I was earning 15K a year in 2000. Boy am I glad I stretched myself for that 60k loan.

lieutenant_dan

That's great for you and everything, but did ask for people in similar positions to myself to respond, doesn't help me much does it?

Running_Horse

I was in your position and lived in every kind of cruddy bedsit and shared flat to save a deposit. It wasn't fun buying a house on £8,500 basic salary and then losing the overtime that made it possible, and then taking in lodgers and never going out to survive, but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Are you willing to make that sacrifice? If not, stop complaining how hard life is, and enjoy your independence in your rented flat. There are people starving to death as we type.

lieutenant_dan

Relevance of people starving to death to my circumstances or my attitude? And when did I say I'm the worst off person in the world? Just saying I'm craving a bit of security, and that's what it's come down to, if I'm willing to make a few short term sacrifices.

livalicious

hi lieutenant dan,

I can sympathise with u wanting to own your own place and having to take a step back to move forwards so to speak. My partner and i would love to buy a home together and have been saving hard for the last few years to get a decent deposit.

We've stayed in several house-shares, some nicer than others, but the rent is cheap and we dont have to pay extra for bills and such. I understand you value your privacy and dont really relish the idea of having to share with strangers. But once you get used to it, its not as bad as you might think.

If you do decide to take this route, gumtree.com is a great website for house/flatshares in your area. I found our current place on there about two months ago, all the rooms have en-suites, close to town and transport, etc blah blah. My point being that you may have to make a few sacrifices to achieve your goal but its a good start. And i should know, in 3 years we managed to save that 10% deposit we never would have, had we rented a flat.

Good luck!