How do people without family help buy houses ??

[01Username01]

As the title says, how do people who don’t have family help buy houses ?? I’ve been saving for the last 10 years to buy a house and every time I get close, prices seem to jump again and it’s still out of reach.

Me and my partner earn decent salaries and have what I thought was a decent deposit but it just never seems enough. Prices in my area seem to have got totally out of control and 2 bed bungalows are now going up for £650k.

Everyone we know has been given significant deposits (£200k+), whereas we have no family help and it’s starting to feel like it will never happen . Has anyone been able to buy in this situation ?

But somewhere cheaper. Even in London prices start at half that. I had no help, got a 95% mortgage - yes it was cheaper then but we earned far less, I was on £6 an hour

Also I should say we are in the SE but can’t move area due to the location of our jobs.

I saved like made in my early 29s. Bought a shared ownership flat. Had it for a few years purchased 100%. Had loads of equity and jumped up the ladder.

Its unfortunate that you're in an expensive area, but I dont believe that a starter price in your area is 650k. You either need to widen the area you're looking at and be prepared to commute a bit longer for work, or downgrade on the spec you're after.

I lived a depressingly frugal life for a few years, and then bought a slightly run down flat somewhere cheap. I managed to do it up a bit and sold that for enough profit to buy an ex council property, in a marginally nicer area.

You have to just go with what you can afford and make the best of it.

Everyone you know has been given a £200k plus deposit!!! REALLY?

Bungalows are always expensive because they have a larger footprint and are often detached, does it have to be a bungalow. Maybe you need to buy in a nearby but cheaper area and also go for two bed terrace

I live in a v expensive area in the SE and you can get an awful lot under 650. You need to widen your search area

We buy much cheaper houses, live in cheaper areas (even if that means earning less)

I'm a single parent on minimum wage and bought a house last year with no family help.

I had to just get what I can afford. I am fortunate to live in a cheap area in the Midlands but I've had to buy on not the best street, with a postage stamp size garden that is overlooked from every direction. I could only afford a 2 bedroom semi but it's only me and DS so that's all I needed anyway. My house cost £100k.

Even in zone 2 you can buy flats for £350k ish. Yes housing here is dear but I think you might need to be more realistic about what you can afford, rather than saving up for the dream and getting left behind by the market time and time again

Everyone you know has been given a 200k deposit?! Unlikely.

You start small. You start cheap. Choose further away, cheaper area. You don't go all in for the dream house in the dream location on your first go. Unfortunately real life is a bit of a slog, it's about building up in increments. Much better to get on the property ladder with your smaller deposit now than keep waiting and getting nowhere.

We live in an expensive area in SE and my husband commutes to London but we wouldn't be able to afford £650. Surely you can move to a slightly cheaper area or start with a 2 bed? We definitely made lots of compromises with our first house.

Do you need a 2 bed bungalow as bungalows are usually dear because of the footprint?

We moved are completely but she still kept his job and commuted in. It was the difference between living in a 2 bed flat or a 3 bed semi with a huge garden.

We lived on fresh air and small change from down the back of the sofa for years, and lived in situations some people would consider un-ideal (in an unheated sort of garret accessed by a ladder over a garage in Oxford, living for free with an elderly woman in exchange for shopping, company and chores, a squat, as a property guardian in a barely habitable old convent, once in a Monday to Thursday night arrangement with someone who worked in London and was happy to have someone else stay in his Oxford flat for weeknights, but wanted it to himself at weekends etc etc).

I think I was 34 when we bought somewhere, and even then it was pretty grungy. No family money at all.

I don't know anyone who got a handout from their parents, and our adult dc won't be getting one from us. Most people i know started off with a tiny flat then moved up the property ladder as they got older/better paid.

Wait for a relative to die.

It sounds harsh, but when rent takes up almost all of your income what else can you do?

We got our house when my father in law died. We had zero chance of saving for a deposit before that. £19k pa with £650pcm rent leaves pretty much nothing.

My arse can you not get anything under £650k

We bought a 3 bed terrace for £83,000 10 years ago, now it would be worth about £120,000.

You need to look at a more affordable area. I'm in Leicester which is commutable to London by train in 1hr, £650,000 would get you a 4 bed detached house within 1 mile of the train station.

I couldn't have got on the property ladder if I had tried to buy a two bed bungalow as my first home!

Like most people I started with a small flat. I stretched to afford a 2 bed rather than one and then took in a lodger to make things less tight.

You need to look at what deposit you’ve got

You say decent deposit/salaries but that’s all relative really as can’t really see why your options are without knowing the ball park figures.

Some lenders have a high income ratio, some don’t.

Agree with some of the PP, buy smaller and move in a few years when you’ve gained some equity. It’s rare people move straight into their forever home.

“Everyone” you know has been given in excess of £200k by way of a deposit? I find that very hard to believe. I know some people from very well to do families and don’t think anyone’s ever had more than £100k. You’re obviously friends with the super rich or only know about two people who happen to have multi millionaire parents.

I brought for cash 2 years ago as a FTB a house in East Anglia 2 bed with a big garden. I guess I just saved up and increased my earning potential brutally changing jobs and never accepting the standard wage increases offered.

I don't know how people do it in Bristol. Prices are insane. Most people I know that bought before they were 30 had help from parents or an inheritance, they still saved a lot though. I was lucky and bought a flat in a dump cheaply that quickly became a trendy area so I sold for a lot more.
Where are you that a 2 bed bungalow is £650k?!

No family help, bought my first house from savings on my own from working three jobs. Have since bought joint with my DP which was definitely a lot easier!

Save, save, save. Review your requirements, being on the ladder in a less than "perfect" house and paying down the mortgage is better than renting and paying someone else's mortgage if you're looking to buy.

Good luck!