House Prices

[ladymary86]

DP and I are hopefully going to be buying a house together soon.

We are both teachers so have a good income and we have a very healthy deposit also.
We have been renting a 3 bed house for 2 years now at just under £1k a month. This is ok for us and we can still afford to do other things.
In the process of looking and considering properties (we will probably buy a new build) we noticed that there is so much out of our price range and it got us thinking - who CAN actually afford them?! I know we are not the highest earners but we are certainly not anywhere near the lowest. We are looking at around £295k for a 4 bedroom house which will have us paying roughly the same a month as our rent just now.
I am just being nosey really, but AIBU to ask - what's your mortgage a month? What kind of home do you have?

Wow a 4 bed for under £300k would be amazing! Around where I live (South East) that would get you a 2 bed house. Maybe salaries are higher down here though as pretty much everyone I know has managed to buy a similarly priced house or higher, either in their 20's or very early 30's.

Yeah, market is booming round here, houses coming on and going off same week. Total seller's market.

Why are you looking at 4 beds? As a first time buyer I would buy smaller and hope to make money for my next home.

It really depends on your area. I'm north east and paid £165k and mortgage is £530 a month for a 3 bed semi.

Coronavirus didn't stop me buying this house and I have no regrets. We were in the process before this all happened. If you find a house and love it, I would go for it if you're planning on being there long time.

@Poetryinaction

Why are you looking at 4 beds? As a first time buyer I would buy smaller and hope to make money for my next home.

You do realize that you don’t make anything, in fact you lose out as the next house in the ladder has gone up in value too? In a rising market, it makes sense to buy the largest house you can afford. Not only do you save more upfront but on fees later too.

@Poetryinaction

Why are you looking at 4 beds? As a first time buyer I would buy smaller and hope to make money for my next home.

Best advice is always to buy the biggest, best house you can afford. That way you avoid multiple lots of moving costs.

@Poetryinaction

I'm not the OP, but I'm in the same position. Looking for a 4 bed because I have 3 children. Age 14, 7 and 4. I could get the youngest two to share, but they are boy and girl, so if we are stuck unable to move for whatever reason, then that could cause issues in a few years. Plus we will have to pay stamp duty if we plan a buy and sell within 5 years. Plus impending recession means that isn't something to count on. Not all of us were able to buy pre-children for a multitude of reasons.

@Didyousaysomethingdarling I've been accused of spouting a lot of things but clever is a first. Thanks . Waiting for someone else to pipe up with the flaw to my plan.

4 bed semi NW village, combined income of around £80K our mortgage is £600 a month - house worth around £230K. We’ve however 2 little ones and I’ve just come off maternity leave so childcare takes a lot of our wage.

We have a 4 bed ex council in a really convenient commuter area. The house was bought as a repossession a few years ago and have renovated and extended it ourselves. We pay £500 a month.

Mortgage is £1100, too much really but wet found out forever home. I'm a 0.6 teacher, DH in finance.
House was £320k but had a decent chunk of equity as deposit.

Sorry, 4 bed detached, commuter village

1970 a month, 3 bed semi in nice bit of the NE.

sst1234 very much depends. We buy fixer-uppers. Increased the value by 50% the average increase for the area was 8%. The house we bought has gone up by 8%.

So yes, sometimes you do make money!

Our mortgage is £1150; 33% of our net income (after tax, NI, pension & commuting costs). Pretty worrying with the talk about house prices crashing, global recession etc.

Oh, and it's a 3 bed Edwardian semi which we are gradually renovating, outskirts of London (zone 6) where DH grew up (I'm from Walthamstow originally, but totally priced out of my home area).

4 bed detached. In lovely north eastern village. £195000 purchased 3 years ago Our mortgage is 550. The north is fab.

We don't have high combined salaries - 40K but saved 50k towards first house and gifted 30k by parents. The house was 155K. We sold that for a 70k profit 7 years later and had some more savings to buy a 4 bed in the north for 340K and £430 mortgage monthly payment.

We couldn't have afforded to buy our house when we were first time buyers either though. You buy what you can afford, then after 5-10 years you've paid off a chunk of the mortgage and house prices and wages have hopefully gone up. At that point you up your mortgage to your new maximum and you have some equity in your house to put down on the new house.

Everyone these days seems to miss buying the tiny flay or 2 bed mid-terrace and jump straight in with wanting to buy a forever home and wonders why it isn't affordable. We bought our first flat at 23 with a tiny deposit and an almost unaffordable mortgage and 16 years and 2 moves later we're in a 3 bed semi.

4 bed round here would be c£1m, NW (Cheshire). We are lucky in that we made quite a lot of money on property we bought when we moved to London 20 years ago otherwise would not be able to afford to live round here

£315k for 1 bed flat in London. I pay £650 a month

1st house bought for £72k, sold 8 years later for £165k. 2nd house bought for £215k, sold 10 years later for £360k. Now in a 4 bed detached in south Bucks, paid £650k but big deposit so mortgage £300k (£1,450 pm over 20 years). We were so lucky to get on the property ladder in the mid 90s, it's a totally different story now :(

170k 4 double bed semi with an extension and an acre garden plus large front garden with outbuildings and off road parking for 4 vehicles. Bought 2 years ago.

Rural East Anglia.

The prices of some of these! I couldn’t ever hope to pay these prices except winning the higher end of the lottery.
I have a mortgage of £318 a month for an end terraced three bedrooms house with huge garden in a quiet village. Cost £95,000. Put down £15,000 deposit so mortgage for £80,000.

@Fettfrett I kind of agree but for me personally I feel I've done those early stages while renting. I'm mid-30s and renting a 2 bed terrace with on street parking and tiny paved yard. I'm almost ready to buy now and settling for nothing less thn a 3 bed semi with a drive and nice back garden.
I'm hoping to use help to buy and monthly payments will be less than my rent so I can overpay to cover what I'd have been paying for the full 100% if that makes sense.