A first-time buyer's story

[BrilloPad]

quite amazing...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7450384.stm

I am a credit controller and my wife is a teacher. We are both 27.

We had just got married and wanted to buy our first home rather than renting which, at the time, seemed like throwing money down the drain.

We found it quite difficult to get a mortgage. We did think of saving for a deposit but we had just had to save £5,000 for the wedding and we were living with my parents.

My wife is South African so that made it more difficult to get a mortgage.

I had banked with the Halifax for years but they wanted a £40,000 deposit. How can anyone in our position save that?

We spoke to brokers and got a 100% mortgage with Northern Rock on the day they were bailed out by the government. That pushed up the rate on our three-year fixed-rate deal from 6.75% to 7.29% when we signed.

We bought a one-bedroom ground floor flat in Bromley for £177,000 in December. Our budget was £180,000. It was a bit of a dump but friends helped to do up the bathroom and we borrowed a bit of money to do it up.

Now our bills are huge. The electricity bill is up to £65 a month and there is a £70 a month service charge on the property.

We seem to have no disposable income. I think you should be able to have one holiday a year - not a massive one, but somewhere cheap.

It sounds silly but I have really wanted a PlayStation for six months but I cannot go out and buy one.

If I could go back we would rent somewhere for about £750 a month. Our mortgage is £1,300 a month, so we could have put money away until the credit crunch blows over.

The government gives no incentive for first-time buyers.

[milanbenes]

shirley it was possible to crunch the numbers:


'If I could go back we would rent somewhere for about £750 a month. Our mortgage is £1,300 a month, so we could have put money away until the credit crunch blows over.
'


before signing up the mortgage ?

or am I missing something ?

and couldn't they have estimated the electricity bill and service charge

sounds like a strange story

when will people understand, if you cannot afford something, it means you cannot afford it

Milan.

[Sockpuppet]

The words cry me a river come to mind.

Did they "have" to save £5k for the wedding. No. They wanted to.

"We bought a one-bedroom ground floor flat in Bromley"

Then move. Why live somewhere expensive if you can't afford it. I had a mate who tried to live in Camden and complained how expensive it was yet he was a £15k a year admin assistant. Manchester also needs admin assistants.

I hope this teacher doesn't teach maths or economics. They knew how much the mortgage was before they signed. They should have worked out if they could afford it.

My rent at the moment is £600 below what a mortgage would be on a smaller property. So I'm not buying...suprise that.

[BrilloPad]

shirley it was possible to crunch the numbers:


'If I could go back we would rent somewhere for about £750 a month. Our mortgage is £1,300 a month, so we could have put money away until the credit crunch blows over.
'


before signing up the mortgage ?

or am I missing something ?

and couldn't they have estimated the electricity bill and service charge

sounds like a strange story

when will people understand, if you cannot afford something, it means you cannot afford it

Milan.

Electricty bills gone up alot recently. I think they though house prices were a one-way bet! clearly they did not read a newspaper in the 6 months prior to buying.

[Moscow Mule]

My rent at the moment is £600 below what a mortgage would be on a smaller property. So I'm not buying...suprise that.

Ditto. The lack of basic financial awareness (like the ability to write a budget!!!) in the general population is staggering.

[DimPrawn]

quite amazing...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7450384.stm

I am a credit controller and my wife is a teacher. We are both 27.

We had just got married and wanted to buy our first home rather than renting which, at the time, seemed like throwing money down the drain.

We found it quite difficult to get a mortgage. We did think of saving for a deposit but we had just had to save £5,000 for the wedding and we were living with my parents.

My wife is South African so that made it more difficult to get a mortgage.

I had banked with the Halifax for years but they wanted a £40,000 deposit. How can anyone in our position save that?

We spoke to brokers and got a 100% mortgage with Northern Rock on the day they were bailed out by the government. That pushed up the rate on our three-year fixed-rate deal from 6.75% to 7.29% when we signed.

We bought a one-bedroom ground floor flat in Bromley for £177,000 in December. Our budget was £180,000. It was a bit of a dump but friends helped to do up the bathroom and we borrowed a bit of money to do it up.

Now our bills are huge. The electricity bill is up to £65 a month and there is a £70 a month service charge on the property.

We seem to have no disposable income. I think you should be able to have one holiday a year - not a massive one, but somewhere cheap.

It sounds silly but I have really wanted a PlayStation for six months but I cannot go out and buy one.

If I could go back we would rent somewhere for about £750 a month. Our mortgage is £1,300 a month, so we could have put money away until the credit crunch blows over.

The government gives no incentive for first-time buyers.

A credit controller who cannot even control their own credit situation.

Must be public sector.

[EternalOptimist]

I'm obviously not the only fking optimist around

[Diver]

"I am a credit controller and my wife is a teacher"

[bobhope]

All through the last few years, I've repeatedly asked myself have I missed something:

"rent is X, but the mortgage is X * 1.5 or X * 2, why would you buy, it doesn't make sense?"

The real question is why more people didn't do the same.

[Spacecadet]

I had banked with the Halifax for years but they wanted a £40,000 deposit.
How can anyone in our position save that?

By careful budgeting.
Perhaps the Halifax have the opinion that if you can save up £40,000 then you can pay the mortgage