Is it ever possible for a single person on a lowish income to get a mortgage?

pollyanna24

misscomickat wrote: »

I'm not going travelling, I'm going abroad to work full time! But thanks for the assumption! I don't drink much either, don't drive, don't smoke and am very careful with my money.

The reason I haven't started saving yet is because I graduated in 2005, was working in quite a low paid job (a trainee journalist position), renting privately, and paying off my student overdraft.

You're right, it's easy for me assume and I'm sorry that I jumped to that conclusion. I would love to work abroad, but it's not practicable because of some of the decisions I made.

Again, I think I'm going to get backlash, but you chose to go to uni. Which is great, cos hopefully it will make you more money in the long run. So maybe you need to think longterm and that you will have a nice nest egg by the time you are 30/35 to buy that property you want. But surely you can see by making the decision to go to uni, it might leave you in a position to not have a great deal of money when you graduate, hence you might have to wait to buy a house.

In an ideal world, everyone could go to school, then uni, then get a house straightaway and live happily ever after, but unfortunately, we have to work for these things.

I know there are houses up North for about £65K cos my brother in law has bought one. Not particularly nice, but it's a start. It does overlook a graveyard though. :eek:

Dick_here

pollyanna24 wrote: »

I see myself as an ordinary person living too close to London (i.e. high prices) with an ordinary secretary's wage, but I managed it.

Figures please. What is an "ordinary secretary's wage", how much was your combined income, how much could you borrow and how much did the property cost ?

misscomickat

Oh my sister's house in London overlooks a graveyard. It's lovely and peaceful, I think I would prefer that to backing onto a noisy estate.

I didn't want to be tied down to a property too young as I have liked having the freedom to take up opportunities to see the world (eg when I was 20 I worked on a summer camp/ranch in California, if I had to pay a mortgage that would have been impossible), but I think in the next few years I will really want to have a home.

I just hate renting. I've had so many bad experiences with lousy landlords (my current one locked me out of my flat!), horrible housemates (one called the police on me), nasty neighbours (one threatened me with a gun!) argh it's a nightmare!

pollyanna24

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

Figures please. What is an "ordinary secretary's wage", how much was your combined income, how much could you borrow and how much did the property cost ?

I don't feel the need to give figures (cos we are in a better position now (at 26)than we were when we first bought), but my point was that we are not on massive wages, the bf's a builder, we are ordinary people. If our wages are slightly higher than other people, maybe it is cos we work in London, but we most certainly are not high flyers.

Our first house was £110K, and I think we were both on £17K. We'd saved up £12K and used £5K as a deposit. This was 2003. We were 21. The house was dreadful, but liveable in.

misscomickat

You wouldn't have been able to get somewhere by yourself though would you?

I'm so wary of buying with a boyfriend. When I was younger I shared a flat with an ex and when we broke up I was basically homeless and lost out on money/possessions. That was bad enough!

pollyanna24

No, you're right, I probably wouldn't, and neither would he. And we are grateful (if that's the right word) that we found each other so young.

I don't mean to get you all het up and sound like a "smug married" or whatever the blooming term is, but I think in answer to your original question, the answer is yes, you probably can get a mortgage on a lowish income, but you probably need a hefty deposit to do so.

I think in your situation, it's just a case of waiting until the time is right. The last thing you'd want is to get yourself a mortgage that you probably couldn't afford (which I know they are clamping down on). There's no harm in waiting till you're older before you get on the ladder. Just think, because you have a degree, you'll be miles ahead of people like me who bought young cos they weren't studying cos you'll be earning bucketloads.

I did read the other day about complete strangers buying houses together, and that you can find an ideal candidate of the net. Now that sounds horrific! :eek:

misscomickat

I know a guy who bought a house with a male friend, and the mortgage advisors kept assuming they were a gay couple. Ha ha.

JCD_Capulet

pollyanna24 wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear that you have mental health issues and have had to have low paid jobs.

Don't be sorry about my MHP, I'm very accepting of them, I just wish other folk were too.

pollyanna24 wrote: »

It's unfortunate (yes, probably easy for me to say), but not everyone can own their own house. There will always be "I had this, so haven't had a job," "I had a bad childhood, so can't afford...," etc etc. But maybe these people have to accept that they are not going to be millionaires or own their own house.

I'm not sure what to make of this paragraph tbh.
I'm In a financial hole atm. I'm unemployed and seeking work and doing what I can to clear my bills. Once I've been working and saving for a while I plan on going self employed. With the figures I've been crunching for six months or so I'll have a deposit for a house by December 08/Jan 09. It's a funny old game.

misscomickat

Maybe we could buy together JCD?
:rotfl:

jezebel

A year ago I started to question exactly the same thing as to whether or not I would be able to afford a house, I saw so many people in the "Mortgage Free Wannabe" threads that I was jealous of that i'd never have a mortgage that I sat down and worked it out and actually have a three-five year plan to save for a house.

I'm in the very fortunate situation that I live with my parents and pay less rent than I would privately renting but I know it will still be tough and I put aside every spare penny I have (over 50% of my income) to try and get together a good deposit and am working my way up the food chain at work to try to get a better paid job. I think that slowly and with enough dedication you can get a place to call your own.