Where is good to make money? Low living costs & high salary?

bp5678
bp5678 Posts: 413
First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
Forumite
I'm a 24 year old looking to buy my first property next year. I quite like the thought of moving to a new city that isn't too near to where I live (over an hour). Currently living fairly close to Basingstoke in Hampshire. Very little going on in the countryside where I live and wanting to move somewhere with more happening/more exciting for someone my age.

My plan is to rent for up to 6 months to get a feel for the place and then buy assuming I like the area. I'm single so would move in alone.

I should be able to afford a property (house or flat) at around £160k.

I'm looking to move somewhere with low living costs but at the same time reasonable salaries. I know the two usually don't go hand in hand. Realistically I'm not going to live anywhere really nice but I also don't want to live in a really rough part of a city. The key thing for me is to be near the centre of a city so everything is accessible (something I don't have at the moment). For example, close to a cheap supermarket (Lidl/Aldi/Asda), close to a 24/7 budget gym (Pure Gym/The Gym) and close to town/train station.

I also realise the job usually dictates where I live as opposed to choosing a city first then finding the job. However, my plan is to keep my eyes peeled for jobs in a few different cities that appeal to me to keep my options more open.

I'm currently earning £28k per annum in marketing. Obviously, with age I expect my salary to go up a little.

I initially liked the thought of moving to Cardiff. Even though it's very cheap, I think I'd only be able to afford to live in a more miserable neighbourhood. Nottingham appeals to me and I'm generally open to ideas about other cities. As I say, it's a case of mixing affordability with reasonable salary with living in an okish area.

As a side note, if I have a 90% mortgage repayment, the house is worth £160 and I put down a deposit of about £25k, how much would I be looking at paying back per month? Or is that a calculator to help me with this?

Thanks

Comments

  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    the best way to do this is perhaps to 'catch' the next up-and-coming area in a city. How you do this, I have no idea, but eg I understand house prices in some of the less obviously desirable parts of Bristol shot up with the building of Cabot Circus and the ongoing 'gentrification' of areas around it.

    The next best way might be to commute from an inexpensive area for living to a well paying job, but obviously you have to watch your commuting costs, AND your methods - I used to get the train from Guildford to Waterloo every day, for example, and that was expensive but a reasonable service. Some train companies have provided such a dreadful service to London that people have lost jobs or been reduced to driving long distances.

    But for commuting, Cardiff is worth a look as the charges for using the Severn Bridge are due to end soon, meaning driving across the bridge will become substantially cheaper. In some quarters there's an expectation of traffic chaos in Bristol when that happens, because that job market is perhaps livelier than Cardiff's. And there are also places like Newport which are much closer to the bridge. Good rail links most of the time too.

    I have a relative studying in Nottingham and there are some really 'interesting' areas there (as in the Chinese proverb "may you live in interesting times").

    However, there's no substitute for your own research, and there are numerous tools out there giving crime stats, school catchment areas (although I'm guessing that's not a pressing concern) and popularity details. What you may find is that some people say "X is a terrible area to live", and others come along and say "X is great, often underrated". The very next area to where I live is like that: a lot of people wouldn't move here on any account, and a shedload more wouldn't live anywhere else. Same where I work: many people won't go near that area, but I feel perfectly safe, not least because I've been working there so long that I'm 'known' to the taxi drivers next door!

    And what you have to remember is that an area can change very very quickly. One reason why the area I referred to has such a bad reputation is that many of the houses are council tenancies, and for a short period there was a policy of moving 'difficult' families in, so there was more than a fair share of 'families from hell' around. Most of them have now been moved on (the worst is an owner occupier), and replaced by 'regular' tenants. The local secondary school was one of the worst in the UK, but has improved substantially. The local primary school used to have a very bad reputation (probably due in part to the families mentioned above) but is now well regarded, and our boys thrived there, even when people were surprised we'd sent them there.

    MSE has a mortgage calculator, and there are many others available via our old friend Google.

    The other thing I'd say is that even if you yearn for 'more exciting' experiences, bear in mind that if you've got a mortgage to service, you may not have much spare cash for excitement ...
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • Tahlullah
    Tahlullah Posts: 1,086 Forumite
    About 2 weeks ago the papers announced that Slough was the best place in the country to work and live. Not too far from where you are.

    First step on the ladder and move on from there when you are more established.
    Still striving to be mortgage free before I get to a point I can't enjoy it.

    Owed at the end of -
    02/19 - £78,400. 04/19 - £85,000. 05/19 - £83,300. 06/19 - £78,900.
    07/19 - £77,500. 08/19 - £76,000.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Tahlullah wrote: »
    About 2 weeks ago the papers announced that Slough was the best place in the country to work and live. Not too far from where you are.
    :rotfl: well, as I said, things can change. John Betjeman's thoughts on Slough
    Signature removed for peace of mind
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards