He worked and saved hard for a few years and bought a repossession. He later sold it for profit and waited for a crash where he then bought 2 houses to rent out. I don't know the exact detail after that, but I'd guess another downturn allowed him to do the same again. It was much easier then. Today, unless you have a good few hundred grand in the bank, it can't be done. If you've got £1M and buy 4 houses for £250k each, you'll do very well for yourself.
I'm nearly 50. Is it too late for me to start saving for a mortgage?
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He worked and saved hard for a few years and bought a repossession. He later sold it for profit and waited for a crash where he then bought 2 houses to rent out. I don't know the exact detail after that, but I'd guess another downturn allowed him to do the same again. It was much easier then. Today, unless you have a good few hundred grand in the bank, it can't be done. If you've got £1M and buy 4 houses for £250k each, you'll do very well for yourself.
There's been an upsurge in van life the past few years. Plenty of videos on YouTube.
It's not for everyone though and could get really old, really fast. But if you don't want to be handing your monthly wages to a bank for a mortgage, and don't want to pay a spiv landlord who is living the high life at your expense and amusement, it could be an option.
It's not for everyone though and could get really old, really fast. But if you don't want to be handing your monthly wages to a bank for a mortgage, and don't want to pay a spiv landlord who is living the high life at your expense and amusement, it could be an option.
Soldato
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- 9,315
I'd guess most landlords are at the "older" end of the spectrum. Houses were mega cheap compared to what they cost now (although not sure what the ratio of owners to renters was and is). It's all about timings when you look at cost of housing, but the horse has truly bolted. Our house has gone up 50% in 10 years, but my salary definitely hasn't.
Indeed.
The average person who ownes a house doesn't benefit from it financially. It's only those who own a few to rent out gain, and substantially. As you've said, house prices were much more affordable back then. The biggest problem many people had up to a few months ago was trying to get a foot on the ladder. The biggest problem people have now is the cost of living in general, and as this is only going to get worse, owning a house is going to be the least of their worries.
Soldato
How well does your job pay? You say you're intending to move, so do you have a home-working arrangement due to the pandemic? As Boris recently lifted most of the rules, will you still be home-working? I'm an NHS admin and we're not thinking of going back to work base any time soon.
Is your current rent a house/flat or a house-share/bedsit? The latter means a cheaper rent and this is what I did for a few years. Fairly low paid job @ £13.5k rising to £15k back in the mid-2000s but still managed to bring my £3,000 savings up to £15,000 savings. It just meant that I had to find £3k per year for a few years running while maintaining an ok lifestyle, going out to see mates etc. Otherwise it's pointless restricting your life too much. You can use cheaper places to buy your groceries such as Asda.
Location is key as well. I live in Stafford and my house was £70,000 when I bought it in 2006. A £15k deposit against £70k is more than 20% of the house, then I went onto a 25-year mortgage term. For furnishing the house, I used eBay. Worked especially well for the sofa-bed and a double bed upstairs. If you don't have a car (as with me), I got help from friends/relatives to collect the sofa and other heavy furniture.
Associate
I didn't have any in mind and was mainly food for thought. Some people wouldn't consider it an option but should probably be considered.
For english speaking only you could consider scotland/Ireland. Parts of Spain/France have some very cheap houses. They have no jobs but you could save to buy and retire there. South Africa is dirt cheap but I wouldn't recommend it.
It's more difficult with EU countries these days obviously but I'm sure were there's a will there's a way.
I'd look into tiny homes, they're much more affordable and there's quite a bit of leeway in terms of mobility and location with them. Overall not sure I'd worry about owning a house in your case, I'd be thinking about retirement plans more, particularly elder care if it could be applicable (a likely possibility for all of us). For that end I'd probably invest in tech stocks and a little bitcoin on the side for the long term rather than get embroiled with property ownership. Besides that you might also want to look into what (real world) communities exist that you could join, things are much easier when burdens can be split with others. In general if you don't have a lot of money you have to figure out how to make the best use of the things you do have, in particular your time and energy.
No matter what though, I'd say think about what you want very seriously over the next two months and then make a firm commitment to do just that. If you don't start working on it hard for the still 10, maybe 15, good years of energy you have, that can be put towards serious work, it's going to be very painful as you go into old age. Not sure if you've noticed but governments have had no issues in getting rid of old people for these past 2 years (all over the world), whether intentionally or simply through negligence. If you don't have family to look after you in your elder years then understand that as an old man you are looked at as nothing but an expense, and society at large would rather a lighter bill than more old people around. I'd say don't leave it all up to fate.
No matter what though, I'd say think about what you want very seriously over the next two months and then make a firm commitment to do just that. If you don't start working on it hard for the still 10, maybe 15, good years of energy you have, that can be put towards serious work, it's going to be very painful as you go into old age. Not sure if you've noticed but governments have had no issues in getting rid of old people for these past 2 years (all over the world), whether intentionally or simply through negligence. If you don't have family to look after you in your elder years then understand that as an old man you are looked at as nothing but an expense, and society at large would rather a lighter bill than more old people around. I'd say don't leave it all up to fate.
This looks fun. Where do they park to sleep?
Caporegime
If you look just over the border into Staffordshire Moorlands then you'll find that property is around 30-40% cheaper like for like. Four our first house we ended up in Staffordshire Moorlands to ensure we got the features and house we wanted whilst staying affordable.
We've now moved back to Cheshire, but commute times from where we were in Staffordshire Moorlands (Biddulph) to most places in East Cheshire were only 10-15 minutes different to where we are now (Macclesfield).
Don't do this.
If you want to save, trickle it into an index fund over the years. For the love of all that is holy, don't gamble your limited life savings on tech stocks and crypto.
Look at a lifetime ISA in OPs position. Free money.
Lifetime ISA - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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Wouldn't help the OP as he's over 40, and first payment has to be made prior to turning 40.
Soldato
I would think that if you are near 50 and got no pension or home equity, then you're going to find it extremely hard.
Soldato
It's the deposit that's the issue not the monthly repayments.
5% even on a £130,000 house is £6,500 and that's even before you end up paying the extra things like solicitors etc
5% even on a £130,000 house is £6,500 and that's even before you end up paying the extra things like solicitors etc
this seems like good advice
moving to a different country/boat/van seems pretty whack
Better to plough more money into a pension rather than a mortgage then? I can't afford to pay substantial amounts into both and contributions to a pension need to be incredibly high when starting later.
Would a financial advisor be able to help with advice on savings, financial planning for a pension and mortgage or do they deal with these areas individually? I assume that this would come at a cost. I feel that there are so many issues to deal with , it's just knowing what to approach first and how.
Would a financial advisor be able to help with advice on savings, financial planning for a pension and mortgage or do they deal with these areas individually? I assume that this would come at a cost. I feel that there are so many issues to deal with , it's just knowing what to approach first and how.
How's your health? Essentially you need to plan for whatever the state pension gives you in terms of affordability. Then you just need to bridge the gap between now and then. If you have full stamps you'll get (inflation adjusted) almost £10k a year to live on. That is plenty if you aren't paying rent.
So if you are 48 now, retirement is 67 - you have 19 years to sort yourself out. That's plenty if you cut your cloth accordingly.
If you can increase your savings - a £2k deposit on a £50k mortgage over 19 years is only about £300 a month.
What is your salary like?
So if you are 48 now, retirement is 67 - you have 19 years to sort yourself out. That's plenty if you cut your cloth accordingly.
If you can increase your savings - a £2k deposit on a £50k mortgage over 19 years is only about £300 a month.
What is your salary like?
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 4,209
what kind of house can you get for 50k?
Not as miserable trying to live off a pension whilst watching your rent go up every year with no protection?
Gotta be under 40 to open it. Because according to the government all FTBs are 'young' (and only buy houses under £450k too, which is the other pointless caveat).
Good luck to the OP. It's perfectly doable. I've no advice although personally I would avoid any shared ownership type deals. Just get some proper financial advice, save hard for a few years and I'm sure you can make it happen.
rightmove.co.uk/properties/120123416#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media4
Just need some gaffa to re-fit the radiator
Soldato
There's a free government service for this sort of advice. Give them a call. https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en