1st positive thread on here on how you CAN get your 1st home

JamesN

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on baby boomers... I appreciate its US based but the same still applies. Plus it misses out the retiring well before the standard retirement age like I know so many who have (Men before 60 years old) with their final salary pensions.

seradane

coffee_prince said:

Hi all
"Theoretical scenario"

The very best I can afford is a 1 bed flat, this costs around £135k-£140k for the very cheapest in Bristol (go ahead and have a look), I figure I could put down a deposit of £40-£45k. This means a mortgage might be £350-£400 a month. With all bills I figure it would be £700-£800 a month. 2 bed is an ideal situation that start at £160k (let out the spare room making it cheaper than a 1 bed) but it is out of my reach in terms of my low salary.

My take home pay is £1400 a month. I currently house-share and pay only £400.

It's taken me 7 years to save up my deposit. I haven't been on holiday for 5 years, my phone is 3 years old and it was bought second hand. I do not drive.

Of course if I moved to another city I could definitely get a better place, any real savings would mean having to travel up north though. I feel like with a dead end job like mine it would take at least 2 years to get established and feel secure in a new job if i were to relocate.

As this is a constructive post, I would definitely welcome any positive feedback, though I feel I may get some condescending ones judging the previous posts.

A mortgage of £95k with such a high deposit would likely be about £300/mo, so a bit cheaper than your house share. And keep in mind that ~£150 of that is going toward equity - so a bit of that is effectively enforced savings, as opposed to the house share cost that's all out of pocket. Not much difference short term, but potentially huge difference long term.

My sister-in-law is on a very similar income to you in Bristol, and bought herself a flat on her own with Shared Ownership, and since then has met her now-husband and with his added income (not much more than hers, granted) they've been able to ladder up to a 3 bed house. She is frighteningly efficient with money though.

As you say if you can manage a 2-bed with a lodger, even if it's a lower percentage ownership, your impressive ability to save and the reduced mortgage payments will mean you could potentially staircase quite quickly.

E.g. this one's lovely and well located: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-85245863.html (Okay it's SSTC but they do exist, might just have to jump quickly...)

Sailtheworld

coffee_prince said:

Hi all
"Theoretical scenario"

The very best I can afford is a 1 bed flat, this costs around £135k-£140k for the very cheapest in Bristol (go ahead and have a look), I figure I could put down a deposit of £40-£45k. This means a mortgage might be £350-£400 a month. With all bills I figure it would be £700-£800 a month. 2 bed is an ideal situation that start at £160k (let out the spare room making it cheaper than a 1 bed) but it is out of my reach in terms of my low salary.

My take home pay is £1400 a month. I currently house-share and pay only £400.

It's taken me 7 years to save up my deposit. I haven't been on holiday for 5 years, my phone is 3 years old and it was bought second hand. I do not drive.

Of course if I moved to another city I could definitely get a better place, any real savings would mean having to travel up north though. I feel like with a dead end job like mine it would take at least 2 years to get established and feel secure in a new job if i were to relocate.

As this is a constructive post, I would definitely welcome any positive feedback, though I feel I may get some condescending ones judging the previous posts.

By your own admission you're in a dead end job and you don't earn enough to support a mortgage on a £160k flat which you'd like to buy. The solution to this problem is obvious - you need a better job.

I suppose you could keep saving up and in another 28 years buy in cash.

coffee_prince

seradane said:

coffee_prince said:

Hi all
"Theoretical scenario"

The very best I can afford is a 1 bed flat, this costs around £135k-£140k for the very cheapest in Bristol (go ahead and have a look), I figure I could put down a deposit of £40-£45k. This means a mortgage might be £350-£400 a month. With all bills I figure it would be £700-£800 a month. 2 bed is an ideal situation that start at £160k (let out the spare room making it cheaper than a 1 bed) but it is out of my reach in terms of my low salary.

My take home pay is £1400 a month. I currently house-share and pay only £400.

It's taken me 7 years to save up my deposit. I haven't been on holiday for 5 years, my phone is 3 years old and it was bought second hand. I do not drive.

Of course if I moved to another city I could definitely get a better place, any real savings would mean having to travel up north though. I feel like with a dead end job like mine it would take at least 2 years to get established and feel secure in a new job if i were to relocate.

As this is a constructive post, I would definitely welcome any positive feedback, though I feel I may get some condescending ones judging the previous posts.

A mortgage of £95k with such a high deposit would likely be about £300/mo, so a bit cheaper than your house share. And keep in mind that ~£150 of that is going toward equity - so a bit of that is effectively enforced savings, as opposed to the house share cost that's all out of pocket. Not much difference short term, but potentially huge difference long term.

My sister-in-law is on a very similar income to you in Bristol, and bought herself a flat on her own with Shared Ownership, and since then has met her now-husband and with his added income (not much more than hers, granted) they've been able to ladder up to a 3 bed house. She is frighteningly efficient with money though.

As you say if you can manage a 2-bed with a lodger, even if it's a lower percentage ownership, your impressive ability to save and the reduced mortgage payments will mean you could potentially staircase quite quickly.

E.g. this one's lovely and well located: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-85245863.html (Okay it's SSTC but they do exist, might just have to jump quickly...)

Unfortunately £135K for 50% =  a 2 bed flat at £270k is too expensive for me. I find shared ownerships are quite expensive in general, but maybe there are cheaper alternatives around.

Thank you for your post, it does give me some ideas