Mid-40s, newly separated. First time buyer advice.

elsmandino

Hi everyone.

I am going through a bit of a hard time, having just separated from my partner and child.

We are still all living together but I am looking to move out of the family home by the end of the year.

My partner inherited the family home, so we both lived there mortgage free.  

During that time, I managed to save £160,000.00 - i.e. with my paying all the bills etc.

My partner has a job so I know that she and my child will be OK.

However, I am terrified about my future.

I have never had a mortgage before, which I realise might be fairly unusual for my age.

My gross income is around £45,000.00, which includes a bonus.

The biggest problem is that I currently live in Essex and property prices are stupidly high.

To stay in the current area, I am realistically looking at nothing below around £300,000,00.

I need to keep £10,000.00 back, for emergencies, so I am looking at a £150,000,00 25 year mortgage - somewhere around the £850.00 per mark.

With child maintenance (I calculate around £400 a month) am I likely to be able to survive?

I am already emotionally messed up by everything that has happened but the financial worries are really pushing me towards the edge.

I realise that foreign holidays and takeaways are going to be a thing of the past but I would at least like to know that I will be able to treat my son, whenever I see him.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Myci85

Have you done a budget plan? This will help you to see in black and white what your income and regular outgoings are likely to be, and see what money you will have leftover each month.
There are various online budget planners, including on this site, but I just use an excel file so it is easy to update when anything changes. 

teaselMay

It's worth also taking a look at shared ownership. With that size deposit you could buy a share outright and then you pay rent on what you haven't bought. It's not for everyone but is one way to have security in an affordable way. 

(I'm no expert on it I'm in the middle of buying by shared ownership, I'm a few years older than you)

elsmandino

Thanks - I have just done a quick one and it seems to suggest that I might have around £400.00 spare per month and that is if I am very frugal.

I am not quite sure how accurate that is as I have tried to look up estimates of energy use, based upon a single person's use of electricity and water etc.

I don't do any pension sacrifice at the moment and was hoping to - not sure I can really afford to.

There might be some scope to overpay my mortgage too, which will help things in the long run.

I guess my only real way of improving things is to see if I can get a better paid job or a "side hustle" job that might allow me to do a bit of extra work in the evenings or one of the weekend days.

ThorOdinson

£400 spare is cutting it rather close I think.

elsmandino

I think you are right.

My only other option is to move to another more affordable area or buy something with a single bedroom - the latter meaning that my son can never visit me.

FreeBear

elsmandino said: I am not quite sure how accurate that is as I have tried to look up estimates of energy use, based upon a single person's use of electricity and water etc.

Energy consumption is very dependent on the property and lifestyle.

Just me and the cat in an old 3 bed semi, and I'm spending about £65 on gas & electricity. But I supplement heating with a wood stove and often get logs for free. Also have big south facing windows, so benefit from solar gain when the sun is shining.

Hoenir

elsmandino said:

 the latter meaning that my son can never visit me.

Sofa bed for you. 

ryanm8655

Personally I’d speak to a free broker and see what you can afford/get for a mortgage. Alongside that I’d work out what monthly repayments you want to give you a reasonable amount of disposable income and look at at what you can get in that ballpark.

how far would you need to move to get a 2 bed for a more affordable price?

I get you don’t want to move 50 miles away but personally I’d find a half an hour or so drive acceptable. Consider your son’s age and how often you’ll have him too. Wyour ex-partner look to stay put or might they move somewhere else anyway?

RAS

If it's two bed, how about a Mon-Thursday lodger? Not necessarily all year but keep it below the rent a room limit and it's may be worth it?