jobs, mortgages and life stress

worrywort

Well-known member
anyone else feel a touch overwhelmed when trying to navigate all this stuff? I'm 26 and have decided that renting is a massive waste of money and so I wanna get on the housing ladder, but even the lowest rung on the housing ladder seems so bloody high, I'm really not sure I'm gonna be able to reach it..... assuming I were just gonna go the direct route and get a full time job then buy a small one bedroom house, the horrible conclusion I seem to be drawing nearer and nearer to is that I'm gonna have to be earning at least £18,000-£20,000 a year to even get my foot on the ladder....and I know what that means....it means I'm gonna have to get a high paying job......which means wearing suits and fake smiles and pretending like I know what I'm doing, and going in and out of meetings, and waving goodbye to the last remaining remnants of my spirit that have managed to hang on since childhood.

are there really no other options? Is anyone else in a similar situation? has anyone made it onto the housing ladder? if so, HOW?!?!
 

Richey

Well-known member
To be honest i have no idea what i'm going to do regarding a loan for a house. i have friends earning high incomes and they are still hesitating and waiting, but they are saving alot every year.

my sister is saving up so she can buy a house outright!! and she'll have no issues achieving that because she is so confident and developed in her career

i'm 25 and still at university working a part time job, so its going to be a while before i'll have a chance to purchase a house, but essentially its better to buy and pay off a loan then it is to rent without anything in return in the long run.

it tends to be couples that sign a loan more often then not, people in their early-mid twenties who know they are going to be togther for a long time, the tendency is that they can then pay off the loan 50/50 or 70/30 over the years.

the tricky part is getting approval and that all comes down to decent credit and income. if you are single then its even tougher to get approval but it is possible if you've been working a decent wage for 5+ years.

i'd actually advise against ever renting unless its your only option for living.

if you want to save up for a loan then dont rent at the same time because saving becomes such a drawn out process. i'd advise living with a friend or family or even in your car or a caravan. renting can cause problems if you ever have to leave your job or you are made redundant. just say you are three months into a twelve month lease and you can't break the lease? you are still expected to pay for the 7 months left, its like walking on egg shells unless you have people you know living and renting to help out ...same thing goes for a loan but at least you know any money needed to pay on the loan goes towards something you own.

again for those who are in secure well paid job it has to be a wonderful feeling and a huge weight off to be in that situation.

of course now is the worst time ever to ask for a loan because of the recent recession and what happened in america the banks are on the back foot, its really bad timing for young people and first home buyers, but anything is still possible if you look hard enough.
 
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sabbath9

Banned
I have a house, I bought it with a 15 year mortgage and paid it off early. Unfortunately for the last 5+ years my brother has been using it as storage. He's a general contractor and said he would fix it up for me, but instead he's just filled it up with his junk. I can't talk to him about it because he gets mad and it just ain't worth it. I hate living in a duplex and I hate my neighbors, but I guess I'm just waiting.
 

worrywort

Well-known member
thanks for the replies guys.....at the moment I think I'm gonna have to stick with renting...which I know is a waste of money, but I don't really have too many other options at the moment.....BUT, i've been doing my maths and I'm not overly pessimistic about it all....I reckon I could save a couple of grand every year at least, then hopefully in ten years or so I should have enough for some kind of accomodation, even if it's a little mobile home/caravan. I'll just have to cut back on lots of spending, but I'm cool with that.

I may be back here with another rant in about 6 months when I'm skint and living off beans on toast, but hopefully not! :/ watch this space!
 

PhantomPod

Well-known member
I actually own a condo and I am currently renting it out and still living with my parents (they don't mind). The rent I receive from my tenants covers my mortgage payment and condo fee, with a little extra for my pocket, which is nice. Honestly, if I was living there myself right now, I would be able to afford it, but wouldn't have much left over each month to spend on fun things I want to do.

I have a full-time job, but it's still not the greatest pay and is considered an entry level salary. I recently graduated college and have been working at this place for a year now, so hopefully I will get a raise soon. We were supposed to get raises in April but it was pushed back to July because of the bad economy and the company wanting to be cautious. So fingers crossed I'll get a raise this month. I make about $33,000 for reference. What's that equal, maybe 20,000 british pounds? not sure about the conversion rate. But yeah, it is around what you were thinking you will need to afford a place. I don't have to dress super nice and wear suits at my work. Luckily it's a laidback place and we can actually wear jeans everyday. I work in customer service (sounds scary, I know), but it is not too bad and is mostly done through email. When I do have to talk on the phone it sucks cause I have huge anxiety in that area, but I've definitely been getting better. So I don't have to be super fake and sell my soul or anything.

My big advice when looking for your first home is to look for a foreclosed property. Now, I live in America, so I'm sorry I'm not sure exactly how the foreclosure process might work in the UK, but the condo I bought was a foreclosure and it was a very good buy. Not sure how UK banks and mortgages work either, but it's very likely that you will need to have a full-time job in order to qualify for a loan. Maybe your government has some incentives out there for first time home buyers? You could look into it and check. The US has an incentive for first time home buyers, where they get $8000 back with their tax return. It's $8000 this year, but I bought my condo last year when it was $7500. Still a good chunk of change though which helped a lot.

But yeah, I'd definitely say just keep on saving, look for a full time job, and do some looking online and in newspapers for foreclosed properties. With foreclosures you can get much better deals instead of having to pay full market price for a house.
 
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