The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

happytails

lydiandrew wrote: »

Well done :T see told you it would be worth it

Still not heard from the Estate agents yet, gosh this is soooo turning me into a nervous wreck! Wish they'd hurry up! x

Cemetery

Well after having to spend a bit on my car & thinking savings recently have been going downhill I managed over a weekend to randomly win £70 at bingo believe it or not while clearing the account of money to stop random mail from the company and also flogged my old car which had been ready to sell for the past few months with no sniffs so savings are back on course.

Also won 72 pints of beer so all in all a good month

EagerLearner

Any advice folks?
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1761583
x

Orlando_Virgin

Well we're in the middle of everything at the moment, got a meeting with mortgage advisor at Britannia tomorrow afternoon so hoping to get an agreement in principle there.

Meanwhile... We put an offer in on the house we like up at 120k, we offered 108k on Tuesday, they called back and rejected in about 20 mins, said they would take 115k and leave the washing machine etc. We already know they have moved to a house they have inherited with all that stuff in there so they likely want to shift it anyway.

We offered 110k on the back of that and they rejected again, I then told the estate agent we were leaving it and not going any higher, based on it not even being 10% below asking, lets face it, if we pay 115k thats only 5% off asking which means them doing bloody well in a market like it is.

The house is currently empty so ready to go, quite a few frustrating days actually, we like the house and understand its still 10k to the seller but we feel its a very decent offer given the times. I think we're gonna sit tight, get an agreement if we can for now.

EagerLearner

Sit tight Orlando they may change their minds yet! I am in a similar position although haven't offered yet but we know the EA is hoping for us to offer higher than what we will actually offer...

happytails

We put an offer in on Tuesday and the Vendor still hasnt got back to us, Went into the EA to chase it up today and she said they are just waiting on the Vendor to call them back - 3 days is ridiculous, especially as the EA said they wanted a quick sale! - Makes you think how on the ball they are with everything else

heliguy38

Hi,

I've been lurking around for a while, so thought I'd better chip in!
Currently have £45k saved, trouble is i'm on 17k per year, and single. I'm after a 2 bed house, but around here these cost £120-£160k, so absolutely no chance of getting a mortgage at the mo, looks like quite a few more years saving before I can get on the property ladder!.
Congrats to all those who have managed it, I keep reading all the sucesses on here, perhaps there is hope for me yet!!!

rocketchimp9

Congrats Happytails, EagerLearner and Orlando_Virgin on reaching your deposit :beer: Still a way to go for me.
Heliguy saving 45K on a 17K wage is very impressive you will have to give me tips on saving as some days feel I am getting nowhere.

MrDT

heliguy, when you say they cost 120-160k, where are you getting the figures from? asking prices, or land registry?

3.5*17k = 59.5k, plus a deposit of 45k, 104.5k.

If asking prices are in the region of 120k, chances are you could buy right now for ~105k and a 3.5x salary multiplier.

Personally I'd aim for a lower multiplier, but it's widely considered that 3.5x is sensible enough.

A 59.5k mortgage could be as little as £279 a month on a two year fix teaser rate, or £364 on a more useful (unless you like paying fees every couple of years, and don't expect interest rates to rocket in the medium term - and they can't really drop) ten year fix.

Not sure if you have any debts etc, but with 45k in the bank I'd assume not. In that case I think these repayment amounts sit at about a third of your monthly take home? Again a widely accepted 'cautious' ratio.

I really hope you don't take this the wrong way, but there's also the consideration that should anything go wrong at work it'll probably be easier to find another job that pays a similar amount (or more) to what you're on now. Not something that's easily said for those on higher salaries, I see a lowish income as a bit of a hidden benefit in this respect. There are hundreds of previously highly paid city staff out of work scrabbling for anything they can get, they had grown accustomed to their big salaries and bonuses and cut their cloth to suit. A 75% paycut when they take on a much lesser paid job could make paying the mortgage a tad difficult. That kind of paycut can't easily happen when earning 17k.

I think you're in a far better position than you realise, and felt I had to post as you seemed on a bit of a downer.

I'd certainly look to save more over the course of the next year or so, but that's due to my belief that prices have further to drop (come join us on the debate board, you have to be signed in to view) and the more you save while prices drop, stabilise, or even increase slowly, the better off you'll be in the end Of course, if you see a house you absotively have to have right now, all the logical cash conservation thinking tends to go out the window, but I doubt that'll happen too easily to a single fella really.

heliguy38

Hi MrDT,
Thanks for your post, it has given me something positive to think about.

The figures are only from asking prices, there have only been a couple of houses I liked at £120k, most are more like £140k I know I should be able to find something around this price and get it for less (how much less seems to be widely debated on these boards!).

I don't have any debts at all, it's always been the case of if I don't have the money, then I can't buy it - although this could work against me as I don't have any credit cards, so would this affect my credit rating?.

My monthly take home is £1100 to £1200, depending upon any overtime (nothing regular). I tend to lead a frugal life anyhow (don't go on holiday, don't drink etc - god I sound a boring person!), so I could go upto say £450-£500 per month for mortgage repayments (or do you think this is too risky?), I would also prefer to fix a rate for 5 years (incase of any rises).

Regarding my job, I work for the local authority, so my job is fairly secure, its just at the moment, without going into any personal details, I would like to have my own place.

Sorry if the tone of my post wasn't very positive, its just everytime I start looking into the whole house buying thing, and then doing the calcs, I keep coming up short (frustration creeping in).

Still, lifes too short to keep worrying about these things :cool:.