Anyone else in the same boat as me?

lieutenant_dan

Here we go again, like groundhog day. Just scrolled through the thread, thanks again to the many constructive comments and replies, as for the rest.....same message to you lot as last time.

I've just reread some of my earlier comments, to see if anything in them indicates I expect things given to me on a plate, or a woe is me attitude is coming across, or I expect tea and sympathy, and I don't see any of that.

I do an aversion to living in shared accomodation/bedsits, not through snobbery, but because I've done it many times before, and bad experiences in this type of accomodation is what led me to overextending to pay for my current flat in the first place.

You have no control over who you live with, it's pot luck as to who you share with, and even if you end up with alright people at the start, there tends to be a high turnover of people in this type of accomodation, so you could soon enough end up with dodgy people in the house. The last time I rented in such accomodation, could rarely get into the bathroom when I needed to, kitchen and bathroom was generally a mess, one couple in the house got into physical fights and slanging matches often and the police were called out twice in the middle of the night. Then the landlady had family over to stay aswell, so there were at times 10 people staying in a 3 bed house! Of course when I first saw the place, no one was there, it was all very orderly etc, and as it turns out deceptive.

So I'm not talking out of my !!!! when I KNOW what could happen in shared accomodation, maybe I've been incredibly unlucky, but I don't know, you tend to inherit other people's problems as well as your own in that type of environment, and only have the sanctuary of four walls.

In response to the other constructive suggestions, I can not do a 100% mortgage as I am self employed, hence I also need 10% deposit minimum, not 5%, as it's very likely only a self cert mortgage will be available to me. So for all those who scrimped and saved for their in all likelihood FIVE percent deposit, in more favourable market times to now, I have to save double that percentage MINIMUM. Not that I have to justify myself, but house prices have been out of reach to me for years because I was on £20k or under until just under two years ago, when I more than doubled my income. But the prices were still 5 times+ my salary in the last 7 to 8 years. Now I could just about afford it on salary to buy a flat in London, but I have to get a huge deposit together, five percent wouldn't have been much bother, ten percent is.

Now in response to the cretinous posters on here, on this thread for what purpose I don't know. I specifically asked for posters in a similar position to myself, so that I could gage what they feel about things and what they might be doing and exchange ideas.

To be wrongly accused of wanting a "there there" response, well what do YOU want for your so called hardships made previously (so called because the market was far more in favour when these sorts bought, hard, maybe even very hard, but still attainable) made in earlier years and sitting pretty now? A pat on the back or something?

I'm not listening to anyone who goes on about sacrifices made in years go by. I acknowledge that you may well have done so, but the rewards for the sacrifices have to be tangible, anyone who says on average or slightly above average wages that they could do similar now is frankly lying or kidding themselves. All the will and discipline and nights in in the world won't get you near to a deposit of 5%, let alone 10%+ It has to be possible, to be frank it's almost pretty damn impossible for many now, so no wonder many now don't bother with planning for the future if it's all so out of reach. And sweeping generalisations that "while I saved everyone else partied their money away" are frankly laughable.

And why are English people being compared to Poles anyway? That example IF it is true of a Polish couple buying a house are in the minority. Many migrants earn much better money here to their homelands, and reinvest/go back to their homelands eventually where they get so much more for their money.

I know it's an accident of birth debate which is something else altogether, but if you're born here, you should have the right to buy at least AVERAGE (we're talking flats here to start with, not palatial homes, but flats) homes if you're in employment, a right that was available to many previous generations. Why should this generation be denied that right? Not privilege, but right.

And I specifically said DEVELOPED world nations in terms of affordable housing available, yet people come up with Poland as an example, priceless!

Once again, thanks to those who have been constructive. I'm psyching myself up to leave and downsize, and just hope I don't get stuck in a stressful situation and am more lucky this time with shared accomodation.

Phirefly

Articulate response.

So you're self-employed - that coupled with your obvious nouce will no doubt see you right. If you were looking to buy elsewhere I reckon you'd not have a problem. In fact, I think London is your problem. Good luck all the same.

lieutenant_dan

I'm not looking for problems, but aswell as the aggro of extended travel time (I sometimes have to get INTO work for 7am, so up at 530am from where I currently live on the outskirts of London) it's not that cost effective, you could pay on travel costs £300 to £500 per month to get into London within an hour's train journey radius.

And you relocate and try to work locally and the equivalent salaries are lower if you can't travel into London, and you're back to square one. So I have to remain working in London no matter what.

Phirefly

Understood, but no matter how you look at it, London's a moneypit. Without getting into the nitty gritty, if you're self-employed, surely theres more scope for flexibility on the whole? I'm a designer so I could earn shitloads more if I moved to the smoke, but I wouldn't have been able to afford to buy the house I live in if it was down there.

Do you have more choices than you're letting yourself believe?

lieutenant_dan

No, I work in the financial sector and when I say self employed, I'm classed as that because I do contracting work.

So I'm not self employed like a plumber or electrician who can command similar wages in whichever part of the country they work. I am committed to London/the South East for that reason.

Phirefly

Well in that case, give it a couple of years, the market will have stabilised and you'll have a few more professional years under your belt so will be able to command silly money for your consultant number tinkering services... Besides, by then, Lieutenant Danielle will be on the scene, you'll have had enough of your London batchelor lifestyle and will 'reluctantly' seccumb to her wishes of nestmaking somewhere sensible....

lieutenant_dan

Interesting you bring up the other half into the equation. What I specifically DON'T want to do is shack up with someone for convenience just to make my accomodation/financial circumstances better. Seen it happen to many people I know who've done just that, and then end up being trapped in situations they wouldn't have gotten into if they'd gone into it for the "right" reasons, and end up selling up and back on their own anyway.

Though I do like the suggestion made earlier in the thread about hooking up with a rich girl or at least one who owns her own place (not really actually, I'm not that kind of guy!)

Phirefly

That wasn't my point, I'm not saying you should find someone to be your cash cow - Danielle is proabably groaning away on the HPC forum as we speak about the same issues. What I'm getting at is that when you meet her, your priorities will change. Mr Phirefly would have laughed in your face if you'd told him four years ago that he'd end up living 200 miles away from his family and (then) best friends up in the East Midlands ("Where?!")

Phirefly

Actually, I've just realised I've flawed my own argument seeing as I AM Mr Phirefly's cash cow... hmm...

Gorgeous_George

I think that the important thing is to have a goal. If your goal is to be mortgage free and rent free by the time you retire then consider this.

Chances are you will retire at 70. Mortgages are usually 25 years. Buy before you are 45 and you can easily meet your goal.

Over the next year or three, house prices will almost certainly fall and there will be plenty of time to achieve your goal.

GG