The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

NewbuyerNE

Hi all,

not posted for a while!

Got a new job and a pay cut which meant the house buying was put back a few months.

Good news is we'll be going in to 2014 with 2/3 of our £15,000 aim and should have our deposit saved by April.

OH has gotten a new job also but no contract as yet (he's lecturing) so once we've saved the deposit, we'll be banking it in a high interest ISA and then doing 6 month rentals until he's all permanent (still saving, of course)

Looking forward to being in our own place, whether it's owned or not! (been with the in-laws a couple of years)

jtr2803

Newbie here!

Been in rented accommodation for almost 5 years and had finally decided we would start saving to buy when a notice to vacate our current property arrived, cementing our decision to own our own property. So, despite having to move in the next 4-6 weeks, we are going to start saving with a view to purchase in 2015.

The idea thus far is to save £15k and then start actively looking. This will take between 10 and 16 months depending on company profitability and how much our move costs.

ALM2013

Well done J i m, you sound like yup know what you are doing. Keep it up

LisaJane

Hi guys.

Just thought I'd check in. OH and I purchased a new car yesterday, which has meant that my house deposit savings have taken a severe hit! However, we definately needed a new car considering we have been driving my corsa which I bought for £2500 in 2007! We managed to get £400 trade in for it and have bought a decent enough second hand car outright meaning no extra monthly outgoings and hopefully it will keep us going for a good 5 years at least?!

The other news is that I have been given a start date for my new job of Feb 3rd in which I am going to be getting paid £5000 more a year than I am now. So hopefully any future savings will rack up more quickly than now?!

Feel a little deflated that house savings have taken such a hit, however I feel now that 2014 will be full steam ahead for saving a decent amount, with no more big outgoings planned now that the car has been bought. Fingers crossed anyway!

archersluck

Hi guys, love reading about everyone's amazing progress this year.
I'm finishing my first year of saving with £5812.55 - My boyfriend has about £6k too, we live together now but have no idea where we'll want to buy in the future so not rushing into taking advantage of the 5% deposit scheme or anything.

This year we are just continuing with what we did last year, saving £250 each month from our wages and drip feeding regular savers to max them out. Also save bits from any bonuses, gifts etc - nothing very extreme, we may want to step things up in a couple of years but I like holidays at the moment!

Keep on trucking everyone!

johannalf88

So we are now 58% of the way there! End of Feb OH gets his large pay rise, so we are thinking of starting to look in April/May, as we will have the money by June. Hopefully.

Becky_Boo

Monthly update - managed to keep on track and add £1k to the pot this month - which I'm rather chuffed with as we over-indulged a bit over the festive period and thought I might not make it this month.

Also I'm super pleased as we have now broken the £10k barrier - Woo hoo!! :j Feels like a big milestone. I'm taking the OH out for a treat to celebrate (he needs encouragement!) next weekend and being very MSE, as using a gift voucher given to me by my boss for a posh 5 Course Dinner (don't think I've ever eaten that many courses in one sitting before).

In bad news - car broke down this morning. It's fixed for now, but it's going to cost more than the car's worth to get it through the next MOT in July - so looks like that will be an added big expense later in the year.

Oh well - you win some you lose some - Happy 2014 everyone

Eponym

I'm basically there with my deposit and fees savings (due another £700 or so in interest in March but even if I find somewhere immediately I won't have paid my deposit before then).

I've booked an appointment with a mortgage broker on Thursday so it's all getting very real now! I'm going to wait for an AIP before I start to view so I'm ready to proceed if I find somewhere I like (I've got my eye on somewhere from Right Move already)! Does anyone know whether it's best to instruct a solicitor before or after making an offer?

beckythemadcow

Eponym wrote: »

Does anyone know whether it's best to instruct a solicitor before or after making an offer?

I would suggest researching them and getting a few quotes using rough figures for your purchase price, before making an offer - so it's one less thing to worry about, but you dont need to instruct them until after making an offer.

After shelling out for conveyancing before receiving a Bank valuation of £0, I will in future try to have the valuation before instructing the solicitors. Unless the situation requires me to move quickly of course.

Looks like I need to find a new house!

Eponym

beckythemadcow wrote: »

I would suggest researching them and getting a few quotes using rough figures for your purchase price, before making an offer - so it's one less thing to worry about, but you dont need to instruct them until after making an offer.

After shelling out for conveyancing before receiving a Bank valuation of £0, I will in future try to have the valuation before instructing the solicitors. Unless the situation requires me to move quickly of course.

Looks like I need to find a new house!

That sounds sensible, thanks!