To purchase a house without any savings?

[sunflower1993]

Hi all,

I'm a 27 year old first time buyer and I've just found my dream property, in a dream location for a dream price! It's just under the top of my budget and I am buying alone.

The property is completed to a very high standard and absolutely nothing needs to be touched. I will obviously get a survey done but it's recently had new windows, roof, boiler, rewire etc.

I'm currently renting and have saved for the past 3 years. But my issue is that I will only be left with around £1000 after the deposit and fees are paid. After having such financial security for so long, I'm really scared to part with this money. However, I'm a very good saver, I'm earning a good salary and am very frugal and careful with money.

My question is (and I know there will be a vast range of varied responses) : is £1000 ENOUGH?

I used all my savings to buy my house. I moved in in June, I'm starting to build up my savings from scratch. I don't regret it.

I would and effectively did as I bought a house with no savings (or furniture )

If you managed to save for the deposit you will be able to keep saving that money towards your rainy day fund.

It sounds like an unmissable opportunity, and putting your money into your own property is better than paying rent so you are gaining an asset with every payment.

Once you have a mortgage you usually have options if something major happens. Extend the mortgage, re-mortgage, fit in a weekday lodger who wants a pied de terre for their job, for example.

And as a teacher you do have good job security, also a good pension so you don’t need to prioritise pension payments yet.

Go for it!

(Have you factored in buying costs : solicitor fees, searches, etc etc)

With 4 bedrooms you can easily rent a room out if you hit a difficult spot!

We did this. Actually it was even worse, I think we were left with no savings at all and spent the first month living off credit cards

We did have some savings for the DC (I think around £1500 at the time) so in an absolute emergency we could probably have raided that as a last resort.

It was a risk but it paid off. Personally I think it is a risk worth taking.

Yes, go for it.

I was in a similar position, just about to part buy a shared ownership, by the skin of my teeth, then an unexpected fee came up a few days before, (not my fault) I was a lone parent with a baby,

A friend lent me £500, she was screaming - you can't lose this house & I remember frantically requesting a higher overdraft online with my bank, which was accepted within minutes, I think I got a bit of a sweat on!!

We had no carpet for 2 years, etc.

Sometimes you have to wing it, til you get there & nine times out of ten its worth it.

Go for it property prices always goes up in the mid to long term and you only live once

I saved my wages for about 2 years to get the deposit, & remember eating houmous, pitta bread & soup most days so my food bill was about £25 a week, I was desperate to get that house

I think I lived off credit cards for a bit (0%)

I stiĺl don't know why I just didnt buy the bloody carpet with the credit card!

If it has taken you only 3 years to save for the deposit, you’re going to be fine!

I did this. I literally had the deposit and nothing else. I was broke for years until I sold up and bought with exh. Looking back it was still a good decision.

I bought furniture on interest free credit.

We had less than nothing when we bought our first house - it was fine. Go for it!

If you get the timing right you might get a month off rent and mortgage. We did when we swapped from renting to buying.

With rent it's normally in advance and our mortgage started at the end of the month after we moved in.

Plus don't forget your deposit coming back from the flat.

I always think a first time buyer should buy a house which needs work, scope to move up the property ladder whilst learning vital DIY skills.

But I realise that is some people’s idea of a nightmare!

When I bought my first place it was on a 100% mortgage (not sure if they still do them!) and used every penny, the first few years was really, really tight but no regrets, better to pay your mortgage than someone else’s.

I’m a very cautious person, but I say buy it! You sound really sensible with money. You’ve considered things and you’ll be able to save wuickly. Go for it!

We were left with £1k savings after buying our house, the right house cane along just a bit sooner than we had planned, but so glad we went for it.

How much is your rental deposit and are you likely to get it all back?

A couple of other things might increase or decrease your savings significantly, assuming not already counted within the £1000:
Hopefully you‘ll move before winter, so will you be due money back from your energy bills, or will there be an end bill?
If you have a car, how will the insurance be affected by the move? The difference may be £100s either way, depending on where the properties are, where the car will be overnight and whether your regular commute will be significantly longer or shorter.

If that 1k is after taking a solicitor and survey fees into account, then yes absolutely.

You don't want to buy all your furniture etc at first anyway. You will want to see how you feel once living in the house. We moved from a rented studio flat to a 3 bed owned house this year and have only furnished about 1 and a half rooms! It's ok to take your time.

Check your budget for:
Buildings insurance
Contents insurance
Council tax band (higher for a big house)
Heating bills (ditto)
Water bills (ditto)

Turn off radiators in unused rooms and keep the door shut.

@sunflower1993

Hi all,

I'm a 27 year old first time buyer and I've just found my dream property, in a dream location for a dream price! It's just under the top of my budget and I am buying alone.

The property is completed to a very high standard and absolutely nothing needs to be touched. I will obviously get a survey done but it's recently had new windows, roof, boiler, rewire etc.

I'm currently renting and have saved for the past 3 years. But my issue is that I will only be left with around £1000 after the deposit and fees are paid. After having such financial security for so long, I'm really scared to part with this money. However, I'm a very good saver, I'm earning a good salary and am very frugal and careful with money.

My question is (and I know there will be a vast range of varied responses) : is £1000 ENOUGH?

Can you build it up again? If yes then go for it. If the mortgage leaves you without any money to save ever then reconsider.

Can you afford it without your boyfriend? Or is he a husband? You say you have a MIL? And that boyfriend will be "named" at some point.

These are all quite confusing points although if the property is as great as you say at a dream price then yes, you should snap it up if you can afford it.

Remember not to apply for the credit card while your mortgage application is going through as it can mess things up, good luck OP sounds like a no brainer and a wonderfully house!

Totally do able. 8 years ago when hubby & I was 22. We had no savings. He was on 30k a year & I was earning about £800 a month. He happened to own an Audi A3 outright and sold it for 11k. We used 7k of tbat as a deposit on our first flat (140k) 5% mortgage and once everything else was paid, stamp duty, solicitor fees etc.. we were left with about £1800 & we go by just fine! Good luck!!

I ended up saving an awful lot and buying a home I never thought I could! Currently have 3x income as savings. Thank you for all your advice

Well done Op! Sounds like you could give some excellent advice to others about how to save too!