A worried first time buyer!

vicky_kidder

I'm planning with my boyfriend to buy a house next year together, but with everything going on at the moment, I'm a bit worried.

Firstly, we are in our early twenties and our combined income will be about £50,000 so will be looking to buy around £150,000. What sort of figure will we be expected to put down as a deposit and fees and stuff because everyone is saying to us that there are loads of other costs to buying a house!

Also, on a house of around this price, what would monthly repayments be likely to be? Sorry if these seem simple questions, but I'm really not savvy with all these things at all! THanks to anyone who can help at all. :j

findingmyownway

You are likely to need 10% deposit - £15,000
Stamp duty at £150K = £1500
Solicitors fees = £2000 ish
Moving costs = £1000 ish

Total = £19,500 cash up front

Mortgage would be £150,000 - £15,000 = £135,000 which is about £800/month (obviously depends on interest rate!!)

vicky_kidder

oh my god that has depressed me a litle bit, will need to get our saving caps on i think!

thanks for replying!

beecher

Have a look at some of the tools here

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/campaigns/mortgages.html

to work out budgets etc.

You'd need a deposit of 10% and a repayment mortgage of £150,000 over 25 years would be nearly £1000 a month.

Best best is to install property bee and keep an eye on some houses you're interested in, and see what happens over the next year as it could be the case you could get something for a lot less than you're looking at just now.

You'd be looking at paying solicitors' fees and stamp duty if you buy at over £125,000.

Best advice is probably to save as much as possible and see if prices come down in the next year. You might want to get copies of your credit reports too to see what they're like.

Jimuth

Save. Follow every little bit of advice on this site. Save. Install Property Bee. Save. Develop unhealthy obsession with financial websites. Save. Read every bit of info you can about prices in your area and what's value for money. Save. Draw up a list of what boxes a property must tick for you. Save. Lock the money away in long-access accounts if you don't trust yourselves not to spend it. Save. Give yourselves targets. Save. Economise. Save.

Did I say save?

It's a lot of money required, and the cost of mortgages are likely to go up. You can still have a life while you're saving, but you'll know you're committed to your goal when the meals out, holidays don't seem as important as putting that money into your savings account!

I'm in the same boat too, so you're not alone!

Good luck !

findingmyownway

vicky_kidder wrote: »

oh my god that has depressed me a litle bit, will need to get our saving caps on i think!

thanks for replying!

You're welcome, i know the figures come as a shock to begin with.

You are in a good position now to wait a year or 2 and see what happens to house prices - a drop of 10% or so makes a big difference in the costs.

If you could get something under the £125K stamp duty threshold you would also save money there (you pay 1% stamp duty to the government on house between £125K and £250K, 3% above 250K)

vicky_kidder

thank you all for your good advice, we will definitely wait at least a year/year and a half until we buy, and think we should be able to save the amount everyone seems to be saying, about £20,000. gonna check out that property bee as well!

Thanks guys for helping a newbie!

dannyboycey

vicky_kidder wrote: »

oh my god that has depressed me a litle bit, will need to get our saving caps on i think!

thanks for replying!

Don't get too down - remember that the houses you're looking at in the 150k price bracket will be much less next year* *disclaimer: probably.

mr.broderick

Jimuth wrote: »

Save. Follow every little bit of advice on this site. Save. Install Property Bee. Save. Develop unhealthy obsession with financial websites. Save. Read every bit of info you can about prices in your area and what's value for money. Save. Draw up a list of what boxes a property must tick for you. Save. Lock the money away in long-access accounts if you don't trust yourselves not to spend it. Save. Give yourselves targets. Save. Economise. Save.

Did I say save?

It's a lot of money required, and the cost of mortgages are likely to go up. You can still have a life while you're saving, but you'll know you're committed to your goal when the meals out, holidays don't seem as important as putting that money into your savings account!

I'm in the same boat too, so you're not alone!

Good luck !

Dont bother saving, property is finished just rent and spend your money on nice cars, holidays etc just enjoy your life forget about buying, the days of it being a great long term investment are over, just rent.

ickledee

We are in the same boat Vicky!! We are in our early twenties and have just bought our First House - We have incurred the following;

Stamp duty - £1,500
Deposit - £15,000
Lawyers fees - £850
Survey - £200

and so will be waving goodbye to £18,000 shortly Cant wait though! Very excited, will be worth it in the end

dannyboycey

ickledee wrote: »

We are in the same boat Vicky!! We are in our early twenties and have just bought our First House

Same boat? I think not!! Vicky has yet to buy. You have just bought. BIG difference.