FTB: how much should be budget upper limit?

[Deleted User]

Ive always gone for the biggest and best I could afford and did stretch myself sometimes, otherwise Id always be pining to move again. It paid off. At 35 I bought my forever house and Id never want to move ever from here. It brings me happiness and pleasure every time Im in it or I come home to. 

I remember the high interest rates of the 80’s but wow did the salaries shoot up with inflation every year ! So big mortgages seemed small very quickly. 

With your income you could get a fantastic property in outer Essex where you mention 

Crashy_Time

Soot2006 said:

You have a lovely range to play with.  Go see some houses and buy the one you like most.

When we bought last year, we had a budget up to £500,000 but told the EAs £450,000.  So we viewed loads from 400,000-480,000. Then looked a few for 500,000 but honestly couldn't quite understand why they were valued higher. Ended up spending considerably less than 450,000 for a house that is in a lovely location, much bigger even than the 480,000 range houses we viewed, huge garden, garage, etc ... It is dated (though not old person dated, just large family without money has grown up in it for last 10 years dated). Lovely project.

Best to wait at this stage and get more house for your money later on IMO.

dani17

we are quite in  the same situation. we had an offer accepted for 600k in the region of purley and waiting for valuation. it is a  4 bedrooms detached house with medium garden. but given the current situation we may pull out .

G3ralt

Grumpy_chap said:

You did not say whether the salaries are 2 x £75k or some other split, but it is worth doing an assessment on whether only one of you worked, could you afford it.  Assume one salary £75k x 4 = £300k plus deposit £120k = £420k.

Good point. Definitely worth thinking through now given the Covid situation. Although so far our jobs have been safe can't say what will happen.

blue_max_3

The first rule of property - the house you want is always more than you expected to pay.
If you work in Central London, have you considered a small place there? I can think of nothing better than walking to work in the centre! In fact, considering that myself and I don't work there. If I was in your position, I'd do it in a heartbeat - what an experience! Eventually, you'd probably want other things, but immersing yourself in the bars and pubs around Old Street/Shoreditch has got to be amazing (if they survive).
You won't get much, but probably as safe an investment as you can make. Have a feeling you'll get more next year though.

steampowered

There's no particular reason to artificially limit yourself. You've got at least 3 decades until retirement.

Personally I'd buy the best place you can realistically afford. Interest rates are at record lows and likely to stay there for the foreseeable future, so it's a good time to take advantage of that.

I find it a bit strange that you are looking so far outside of London, given you both work in central London. Unless you are planning to have kids in the immediate future?

It sounds like your jobs may not be very demanding compared to other city professionals? If you are both doing long hours buying somewhere close to work is a god-send.

hansolo2000

Crashy_Time said:

Soot2006 said:

You have a lovely range to play with.  Go see some houses and buy the one you like most.

When we bought last year, we had a budget up to £500,000 but told the EAs £450,000.  So we viewed loads from 400,000-480,000. Then looked a few for 500,000 but honestly couldn't quite understand why they were valued higher. Ended up spending considerably less than 450,000 for a house that is in a lovely location, much bigger even than the 480,000 range houses we viewed, huge garden, garage, etc ... It is dated (though not old person dated, just large family without money has grown up in it for last 10 years dated). Lovely project.

Best to wait at this stage and get more house for your money later on IMO.

Yes house prices are going to be falling for years yet

G3ralt

steampowered said:

There's no particular reason to artificially limit yourself. You've got at least 3 decades until retirement.

Personally I'd buy the best place you can realistically afford. Interest rates are at record lows and likely to stay there for the foreseeable future, so it's a good time to take advantage of that.

I find it a bit strange that you are looking so far outside of London, given you both work in central London. Unless you are planning to have kids in the immediate future?

It sounds like your jobs may not be very demanding compared to other city professionals? If you are both doing long hours buying somewhere close to work is a god-send.

Well, I guess the reason we were looking far away from London is that we really appreciate the possibility of having more space. It is more of a 'want' than a 'need' I would say at the moment but yes, will be a requirement later on when the family grows.
We have rented in Reading before while commuting to London for work so we think that probably will work out ok. Basically, we kept commute time from Reading as a benchmark and looked at various places within that sort of journey time.

hansolo2000

G3ralt said:

steampowered said:

There's no particular reason to artificially limit yourself. You've got at least 3 decades until retirement.

Personally I'd buy the best place you can realistically afford. Interest rates are at record lows and likely to stay there for the foreseeable future, so it's a good time to take advantage of that.

I find it a bit strange that you are looking so far outside of London, given you both work in central London. Unless you are planning to have kids in the immediate future?

It sounds like your jobs may not be very demanding compared to other city professionals? If you are both doing long hours buying somewhere close to work is a god-send.

Well, I guess the reason we were looking far away from London is that we really appreciate the possibility of having more space. It is more of a 'want' than a 'need' I would say at the moment but yes, will be a requirement later on when the family grows.
We have rented in Reading before while commuting to London for work so we think that probably will work out ok. Basically, we kept commute time from Reading as a benchmark and looked at various places within that sort of journey time.

The high speed trains and the fact that’s many will carry on working from home after this crisis should make for a lot less demand in London going forward next few years 

Anamox

You're fortunate to have such a budget and I'm sure you'll find a great place to live, and there is good advice on your post already on some considerations.

Regarding locations, have you thought of towns north of London? You may get even more for your money and find the commute is even less. Milton Keynes for example tends to offer huge, high specification properties in your price range and is a town famous for its green space and the fastest trains into London Euston are 28 minutes.

Here are some examples if you're interested, both are in the nicest area of town:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-91229891.html
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77426647.html