completely naive about housing/mortgage..advice needed!

[Wentsworth]

Hi everyone

I'm 27 soon and starting to think about getting myself on the property ladder. Living in Surrey I know it won't be easy with the crazy property prices, but I'd like to be a homeowner by 30.

If I were able to put down a £35k deposit on a £350,000 2 bedroom flat, how much do you reckon my mortgage would be per month?

I don't particularly want to borrow any money as I already have a hefty student loan to pay off so don't fancy having more debt hanging over my shoulders

If you're going to be the sole purchaser, then the biggest question to ask is how much you can borrow mortgage-wise. It's not normally more than 5x salary. So if your deposit was £35,000, you'd still need to borrow £315,000. So you'd need to be earning about £63,000 per year to be able to afford a £350,000 property. Or you'd need a much larger deposit.

hello oh jesus hahahha looks like I'll never be a property owner!! I'm a teacher and doubt I will ever be making £63k a year....my generation is so f*cked

wow had a blip there. Looked at how to make things bold but automatically wrote "hello" because it's what's in the example hah! I meant Freckled

You need to think more laterally than just "2 bed flat in my town or nothing".

e.g.
Different postcodes / towns/ counties can have staggeringly different prices!
Different types of housing can be differently price - a 2 bed ex council flat will be cheaper than a 2 bed new build for example
Started 1 bed flats will be cheaper than 2 bed
Taking in a lodger to help pay mortgage
Those mortgages which use parental savings to boost affordability
Shared Ownership or similar schemes.

BuzzShitbagBobblyyes I've definitely looked in places other than the town I grew up in! There (since it's so close to London) I'd be paying closer to 450k for a nice 2 bedroom flat.
£350k is in towns around 10-15 miles out.
I have strongly considered moving a few hours away where housing is much more affordable, but at 30 I'm not sure I really want to have to "Start again" somewhere new, especially with making friends as that's notoriously hard as an adult. I am really happy with my life in Surrey, just so resentful of the house prices.

Unless I meet someone in the next couple of years, I would be the sole owner. I did consider going in with my brother but he isn't keen on the idea.
Open to the idea of a lodger to help with the mortgage.
But above it was mentioned that I'd need to be earning £63k to even get a mortgage? As a primary teacher I can't see my self ever earning that.. unless I become a head but that would be years down the line!

It's really shit OP. I am not sure how anyone in the SE does it on their own these days without inheritance. We were priced out of Surrey, where in Surrey are you based, people may be able to suggest areas close by with lower house prices.

mediocre yes you're right. Quite a few of my friends are already homeowners and I often feel that I'm very "behind" compared to them. But then I remind myself that the majority had considerable help from parents. I was privately educated, only possible through scholarship, so most of my friends come from wealthy families. I even have a few who had property bought for them outright.

As I say I have considered moving away but I'm not keen on the idea of having to start my life all over again. I am not the most outgoing person so I know I'd struggle as a 30yr old making friends in a brand new place.
I should've been a lot better with my money when I was younger as I've worked all through school/uni and could've saved up a lot more by now!! But I try not to dwell too much haha

Mediocre forgot to say I am from Kingston, but it being so close to London the prices are crazy. I'm looking more towards the Epsom area and possibly down into Guildford

@Wentsworth that sounds very similar to me, 30 and all my friends are from much wealthier backgrounds/think nothing of £50k from their parents for a deposit etc. I was only able to buy because I moved much further away and bought with my DH. Unhelpful to your situation I appreciate.

Ah Kingston is a fabulous area and I can see why you wouldn't want to leave it. I am not sure I can think of suggestions that would give you a similar lifestyle nearby for less money honestly. I think it is a case of having to move much further from London.

I always used the mortgage calculator on websites like rightmove. It turned out pretty accurate for when we got our house (within £15). As you are a FTB you should get a better interest rate, maybe 1.6/1.9% If you were to borrow £315k you are looking at about £1300/£1400 per month. We used these calculators quite early on in our search and i'm so happy we did as expectation/reality is so different. Or have a chat with a mortgage advisor, they are normally free

Most of the time flats are purchased on a leasehold basis so if you do buy a flat don't forget to take into consideration the leaseholder service charges and ground rent etc. as they can vary wildly

Does it have to be a two bed? A single owner FTB, just get your foot on the ladder with anything and sit on it for a few years until it earns equity and/ or you meet someone, get married, buy bigger property etc.

We’re in south London and only have 18k deposit so you’re really doing well with 35k! But between us we earn over 90k and to be honest - don’t really want a mortgage over 300k. We looked at shared ownership but the truth of the matter with SO is that they push you to buy the share THEY think you can afford. In our case it was 71%. Including rent and service charges, we were looking at 2k a month just for property. We balked at that. We had only wanted to buy 30-40% but they insisted we could afford more and wouldn’t let us.

So 🤷🏻‍♀️

What about shared ownership? I’m a single person thinking about buying in London in the next few years and this will likely be the route I’ll take. But there are one bed flats for below £300k (some even closer to £200k) in the Merton/Croydon/Sutton area