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Original poster

At what age did you buy your first home?

335 replies

GrapefruitGin · 31/07/2019 10:02

And did you buy a home before or after kids?
How much ‘help’ did you get or did you raise a deposit alone?
I’m 29, no dc and renting, curiously wondering if I’m one of many or am I unusual!?

OP posts:
SandraOhshair · 05/08/2019 20:40

21, house was 36k and 5% deposit. We were jointly earning 33k but still took it out over 25 years! Seems madness when I think about it now....

corythatwas · 05/08/2019 21:29

I was 29, dh was 32, this was in 1993 and only reason we managed to buy was because of the property slump- we'd never dreamt we'd be able to get our own house. We'd been saving up for 10 years and were queuing for a council flat.

Leftiefterson · 05/08/2019 21:38
  1. No help.
TinyMystery · 05/08/2019 21:44

25 (DH was 28), in the South East, had considerable help from parents/in laws with a deposit. We would have really struggled to save a considerable deposit on our own.

Very few of my friends of a similar age own their homes so I consider us to be very lucky.

mizu · 05/08/2019 21:48

Last year. 45. No help from family since I was 19. Saved £10,000 deposit. Took me 7 years.

Equimum · 05/08/2019 21:49

I was 30 & DH was 31. We completed three days before DS1 was born, and had absolutely no help. Moved on to forever home four years later. We live in SE commuter belt.

BarrenFieldofFucks · 05/08/2019 21:50
  1. With a gifted deposit.
Onetwistedsista · 05/08/2019 21:52

28, before dc, bought cash. Saved alot and got a good 'fixer upper' deal

MissKatz · 05/08/2019 22:00

36 with a baby under 1. It's not been easy. We had zero help from family and took us a long time to settle down. We had a 20K deposit and a bit aside for legal fees & insurance. Life is still a struggle despite the fact we both work full time and earn an OK income. We started from scratch and didn't even have a bed to sleep on. We were sleeping on a blow up bed!! We have come a long way but still have a way to go furniture-wise. I feel like we should be financially comfortable but we only just get by and money is a constant stress and this is due to childcare costing £52 per day. We have no family close by and no support. My family all moved abroad and my husband's family live a good 5 hours away. I wish I bought earlier in life.

lastqueenofscotland · 05/08/2019 22:03

26 bought by myself. Could have bought earlier but didn’t settle, kept hopping about the world. Bought a year after working in one city.
Saved hard and was left money from my late father

Idolovechocolategimmygimmy · 26/10/2019 07:17

36 I regret leaving it so late. Was never guided by my parents. Their fault lol haha!

PseuDenim · 26/10/2019 07:20

27, pre kids, zone 2 flat in London bought by myself but on a large (90% plus interest only mortgage!)

Sooperkat · 26/10/2019 07:56

32, maybe I should have bought earlier but I moved around the country a lot in my 20s and it was never part of my plan. My DH was 25 and it was pre DC in 2011. We had very significant (borrowed and repaid) help from my parents and I’m incredibly grateful to them. We had to buy in a slightly unusual way as we had no deposit. We’re about to exchange on our third and hopefully forever house.

Adversecamber22 · 26/10/2019 08:29

21, no help but I worked from 13, while doing A levels I was working 20 hours a week. I went to University as a mature student and still worked. Had a 7k deposit on a 34k flat.

Knew no one would ever help me financially.

tangledyarn · 26/10/2019 08:36

Am 39 not there yet! Still saving for a deposit..would have got there years ago but chronic health issues mean I only work p/t now. Very frustrating but I have a nice (if expensive rental) roof over my head!

DialANumber · 26/10/2019 08:37

I was 25, DH was 28. It was a government scheme thing so we only bought half and only needed a few thousand deposit. My dp lent us some money to carpet etc and pay stamp duty.

We were so lucky, it went up in value and we got half the increase when we sold a few years later. This became the deposit for our next house and we've never looked back.

This was pre kids and I just can't imagine how things would have gone if we hadn't got in such a fortunate position at that stage. There is absolutely no way we could have raised tens of thousands of savings to build a deposit whilst I was on mat leave etc.

SpadesOfGlory · 26/10/2019 08:38

24, bought by myself, parents and grandparents gave £1000 each towards the deposit but apart from that no help!

happytoday73 · 26/10/2019 08:42

Aged 30.. On my own, own money, 10% deposit paid for a 2 up 2 down terrace that needed work. Redundancy payment helped my savings....

HisBetterHalf · 26/10/2019 08:43

R21 and no help at all.

madeyemoodysmum · 26/10/2019 08:43

23 but I’m 48 now.

Parents gave me a few grand. Rest was my money and mortgage but bouse only cost 37k 😫

madeyemoodysmum · 26/10/2019 08:45

All the posters saying they were 21 etc. How old are you now?

atlanticblueandgreen · 26/10/2019 08:47

I was 25. I had a £50,000 deposit from my dad.

Alsonification · 26/10/2019 08:47

Had first baby at 23 & then myself & partner bought our first house the following year (1999). No help. 10% deposit of €11600 & 25 year mortgage. We bought our second house 2 years later & then when we divorced I bought my first house by myself at age 29 with the help of a shared ownership mortgage & then after 2 years moved to a cheaper area and I was able to buy a brand new house for myself & my 2 kids on a normal mortgage. We are here 13 years now & I’ll be here til I die I think ☺️

SlothRunner · 26/10/2019 08:48

I was 23 and he was 26. This was 10 years ago, we had a 20k deposit, 10 we had saved ourselves and 10 was a loan from my parents, which was paid back to them a bit each month.

Defeatthedebt · 26/10/2019 08:50

I'm about to buy my first at 25 with my sister. A family member is lending us £2000 to get us to the 10% deposit mark so we can get a better interest rate. I appreciate how lucky we are in that aspect though.