DELETED_5350

Welcome to the property market, you face the same problem as thousands of other people.

Simple answer......there isn't one.

As for renting a council house simply to sell in the future, i thought council accomodation was for people on low incomes etc. not for people to make a quick profit. :(

Good Luck.
 
forget all that idealistic crap about contributing to house price inflation.. just do what you gotta do to achieve your objectives..

what do you want a 2 bedroom house for anyway when a 1 bedroom flat will do?

be pragmatic.. try to find a property that will fit the best into your budget but at the same time represents value (being able to do it up etc) .. work towards improving your income and put your girlfriend to work doing the same..

you gotta do the hard graft yourself.. nothing in life is free.. its almost like youve given up before you have even begun.. go on get to it ! ;)
 
I don't see the problem with renting - currently I pay £500 rent - for a house thats maybe worth 150k, mortgage on this would be nearly double the rent. Given I can't afford a house - I'm getting a better standard of living that if I could.
 
basically its a very tough job youve got and one im not envious of.
If i was young in and in your position i would seriously give some thought to going somewhere abroad where the housing is much cheaper. I believe USA and Canada are cheaper but im sure there are more (Australia?).

There are many empty houses in Poland aswell which are probably going cheap. (Romania also soon). Thats another story though :o
 
grahamjenks said:
I don't see the problem with renting - currently I pay £500 rent - for a house thats maybe worth 150k, mortgage on this would be nearly double the rent. Given I can't afford a house - I'm getting a better standard of living that if I could.
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The main thing people have against renting is that you're paying for a service. At the end of the service agreement, you have nothing, except the fact you've had a roof over your head for the last x months.

With buying, you're paying for both a service and an asset (in the case of a mortgage). You've paid (interest) for the privilege of borrowing money from the bank, and you've paid for the bricks and mortor. You can sell at least one of these on :)

Even if the house price stays the same, a lot of the time the interest on the mortgage will be cheaper than the rent over the same period of time.
 
I had the same problem as you m8, couldnt afford to save for a deposit and even if I did the house prices would have increased beyond that.

My way round it was to get a 100% mortgage. That was 2.5 years ago for a terrace house at - wait for it - 46k. I just sold it for £125 :D

My advice is to get on the propery ladder asap, saving for a deposit will be too much of a strain and take too long. Shop around for a mortgage advisor and them exactly what you need. Some will bend the rules enough for you to manage. They did for me.
 
growse said:
The main thing people have against renting is that you're paying for a service. At the end of the service agreement, you have nothing, except the fact you've had a roof over your head for the last x months.

With buying, you're paying for both a service and an asset (in the case of a mortgage). You've paid (interest) for the privilege of borrowing money from the bank, and you've paid for the bricks and mortor. You can sell at least one of these on :)

Even if the house price stays the same, a lot of the time the interest on the mortgage will be cheaper than the rent over the same period of time.
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Yes I did understand that - just if you can't afford to buy a house - the 2nd best (or only....) option is renting - and with current prices as high as they are - its not a bad option.
 
smoove said:
Neither of us a boffins and we're limited to the remedial tasks that are at the bottom of the barrel, so we're chaffed on the wage we've got. We could go to uni, but that kinda just destroys the idea of saving.
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There's your problem right there. If you going to give yourself a glass ceiling and only ever expect low wages, that is all you will ever get. Have a think about what you can do better than most people and see if you are able to use that to your advantage. Maybe get some official training and work into that area. You need to get a much more positive attitude and confidence in your abilities :)
 
Why get a 100% mortgage and maybe over stretch yourselves and be miserable?

Do what many others have to do and rent; council if you can but private if not; you won't get any more bedrooms than you need (ie one) though with the council.
A happy life with enough to spend to enjoy yourselves is better than "just" being able to afford a mortgage but not being able to afford to go out or get a take away etc.

I would normally always say "get your foot on the ladder as early as poss'" but one can only do so much with such a restricted income.

I think that that is the answer, if there is one ........ increase your incomes if at all possible; if not, bite the bullet and accept that it may be some time before you will own your own home.

One never knows what is around the next corner be it good or bad; I hope that it is good for you both and that above all, you get some enjoyment/happiness from life.

Good luck, think positive and you never know..... ;)
 
I am in a 2 bedrrom flat with 2 kids, I earn 25k a year, and my wife looks after the kids and works 8 hours a week.

I would love to move to a 3 bedroom house but around here that will cost me at least 160k, my flat is worth around 115k and I would have around 20k profit if I sold it, I have no chance of getting a mortgage to buy a 3 bedrrom house around here at all, every area near me of within decent distance of travelling to work is very expensive, I cant afford to pay childcare and have my wife work full time either, so we have to wait until both kids are at school before moving, is a real pain but what can you do.
 
you will not get a 3bed council property 2 bedrooms will be pushing it and if you both live with your parents you have no need to move in the councils eyes and will be placed in band 4 (wants to move) in my area no one in band 4 has been move for 5years

i live in a one story ground floor flat with my wife
were expecting a child
shes on 18k base rate pay
working weekends nights and unsociable hours gets about ~4k enhancements

i get 10k a year (crap eh)
we cant afford a house and for the next few years at least
will be stuck in council properties
the council wont move us until the the baby is old enough to have its own room

our flat is hardly big enough for a cot let alone a lot of baby stuff

we both work dammed hard for our money and it really gets to me when our dosser nabors seem to live better than we do

my we both have debts to pay
and just cant afford to get on the property ladder
thats life
 
To the OP I feel your pain. I am currently renting, and would love to buy but REFUSE to pay the over inflated prices at the moment.

I don't think the property market has been so overvalued, and I earn a decent wage, just the fact I am now divorced means I cannot afford even a flat without busting a gut on a big mortgage.

I rent a really nice flat in a very good area for £600 per month, the "asking" value of which is £175,000. The mortgage would cripple me. Yes I hate paying someone else's mortgage, but I have little choice.

Welcome to living in Britain today - basically either the property market will correct sharply back to "normal" levels or huge numbers of people will be permanently screwed :( The Bank of England will raise rates before Xmas again by 0.25% and maybe again next year, which may slow things down, but its all about sentiment, and the more people who try to convince me that "property never falls in value" are beginning to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

BUT sentiment can change - remember 1999 and everyone getting into tech shares thinking it was a "no brainer" - the same could well be true of the Buy to Let craze which is keeping this market going.

I am just content renting and saving as much as I can - no plasmas or ipods - and hoping for a correction in prices :(
 
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as soon as i get some kind of trade, im out of the UK.

as much as i love it here i cant afford to move out. cheaper to move half way across the world than it is half way down the street.
 
smoove said:
Looks like we'll never get to move out to be honest. Does anyone have any ideas how the hell we can get onto the property ladder without having to survive on tins of beans for the rest of our days?
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Tinned spaghetti is just as cheap. Alphabetti Spaghetti also provides minutes of entertainment.

Life in the UK is bad financially, but you got to make the most of it or move abroad. Try to change your wording of your views. If you tell yourself there's no hope, there will be no hope. If you see it as a challenging adventure, you'll handle the situation differently.

I own a 3 bed end terraced house in (a nice area of*) Swindon. I live here with my girlfriend. Without my parents, I would never have been able to afford the deposit. Money is very tight at the end of the month. It boils down to affordability.

If you work hard, you will increase your earning potential. If you tighten up your budgets and look for extra income... eg Wash neighbours cars, do some gardening, write web sites, provide a pet sitting service then you'll get there in the end.

www.moneysavingexpert.com is a great place to start

I wish you the best of luck.

* there are some..
 
grahamjenks said:
Yes I did understand that - just if you can't afford to buy a house - the 2nd best (or only....) option is renting - and with current prices as high as they are - its not a bad option.
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This is, indeed, very true.
 
Just out of interest, what are property and living costs in somewhere like Australia/NZ compared to here?
 
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