Can we buy in London?

[ThisIsTheFirstStep]

Is it totally pie in the sky? I really want to live there again but I don’t know if we can.

Husband is self employed, earning around 30,000 a year. I am a teacher, would be on 28,000 in London.

We have a big deposit (80,000) after saving like hell for 5 years (living abroad so was possible).

The problem is we have almost no credit rating after being abroad for ages.

We are looking at two bedrooms and would LOVE a garden but is it even possible on our salaries?

Any help is appreciated!

Honestly, no. Not for two beds with a garden. Have a look at places a little further out, Croydon maybe?

Oh yeah I didn’t mean central London but that area, Croydon or whatever is ok too.

Garden is also not essential, just it would be nice for the dog/daughter.

Doesn't answer your question but have you really thought through why you want to live in London? As a teacher you could work anywhere.

Just your day-to-day with a young daughter/dog might be quite different to before you went overseas (going to presume that was pre-kids).

You could buy in a Midlands city for not much more than your depositand spend a weekend a month in London doing all the bits you like best, only an hour on the train.

As above, does it have to be London. Lots of better cities to live imo. And financially within easy reach.

Unfortunately you may find in london your deposit isnt as big as you think. Its crazy how expensive it is.

diodon

Yes, I see what you mean. For me, living in the suburbs is really stifling, I can't stand it. We have considered other cities, that's why I'm asking if it's possible, I guess. It's not just doing the touristy stuff or whatever, I just like living in London. Beyond that, my husband is Korean and my daughter is mixed (but looks more Korean) and honestly London is the only place where we don't get racist comments. Not to say it never happens, but I really don't want my daughter growing up thinking it's ok to yell 'chink' or 'do you eat dog' at her in the street. It happens pretty much daily outside London, within London, maybe just once or twice (we've been several times in the last four or whatever years). So that is a big factor for us.

through Yes, as above. We are considering other places. For me, nothing compares to London really. I love theatre and art, my husband loves eating out, so it is definitely better to live in London for those matters, but yes we are thinking about other places, but London would be the ideal.

It's also easier to travel back to Korea from London as it's the only place in the UK with direct flights year round, and his parents are getting on, so obviously being able to travel relatively quickly would put our minds at ease.

gandt yes, I understand that, that is why I am asking!

Well it looks like the market is very much on the downturn at the moment so you could well find something suitable within a reasonable commute. I also totally appreciate and understand your reasons for wanting to buy in the London region. Focus on good schools, but then I’m sure you don’t need to be told that!

Have you looked into whether you would be eligible for the help to buy scheme or similar?

ida yes, we definitely won't be moving til after Brexit, so we will be keeping a close eye on things. Thanks for understanding, I know that other cities exist, but yeah. We will be looking at schools, definitely!

spuriouser (love your name) I have had a bit of a look, but it's quite hard to get a lot of information from abroad. I'll be going back in the new year for a few weeks and I will speak to someone then.

Thanks for the advice!

You need to get a mortgage offer so you know how much you can afford. Then we can suggest places you can afford (and nice schools for you to work in).

I get what you are saying but other cities are as diverse if not more - we even have a Korean community here! £80k buys you a two bed flat.

super That won't be possible til we're back in the UK with actual jobs, however.

anniehm that might be true, but it's not really the point of this thread. Obviously I know other cities exist, I'm just trying to figure out if London is a possibility for us.

I don't really care too much for having a Korean community either, tbh so much of Korean culture is really toxic and we're trying to get away from a lot of that stuff.

Have you thought about Manchester? Some lovely areas and equally diverse

summer as I said above, we're considering other places but right now I just want to know if it's feasible to live in London.

Look on Rightmove (or such like) to see house prices in potential areas. Use an online mortgage calculator (based on what you think you can earn) to see roughly what you can borrow. Might be worth seeing a mortgage broker to discuss options.

waiting yup, been doing that, I just wanted to hear from anyone who's done it on a similar budget I guess.

Do you have an idea of roughly how much you might be able to afford on a mortgage each month?

What you do really need is a mortgage in principle to see how much you can borrow, you can try an online calculator on some of the bank's websites to get a feel.

80k deposit should be ok through, I would more be thinking that a bank wouldn't lend you enough to buy anywhere half decent.

In case helpful I bought I 2 bed house with a front and back garden in east London for 440 a few years ago and prices haven't changed much since then. Our deposit was around the same as yours although our salaries much higher.

Agree that London is a great city for diversity.

We are in a similar situation, interracial family in London with a large deposit but lower salaries. We have just over six figures but were told we would need a combined income of at least £80k to get a mortgage on the places we've looked at (2 beds with garden) With a self employed salary it's even harder, although friends of ours have managed it, but only with a six figure deposit gift from parents.

You could look into shared ownership perhaps, or if you have family they can underwrite a mortgage for you (this is what we are looking at doing as our rent costs almost double what a mortgage payment would be) Have a look at South/West Norwood, Penge and surrounding areas, there are plenty of two beds with gardens for under £400k

silk A six figure gift (or even a two figure gift tbh) is not going to happen, my parents are skint and I don't want to get into borrowing/taking money off people anyway (at least people who aren't a bank).

I will look into shared ownership. How is Penge? I heard it was a bit rough (no offence to anyone who lives there).

The garden is not a necessity, it would just make our lives easier.

I live 6 miles south of Croydon, 20mins Gatwick. This is near me
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55705380.html

ding That's lovely!

Aren't there online mortgage calculators for this sort of thing? If the mortgage company regards the whole of your husband's income as "real" (which I'm afraid is doubtful) I'm guessing you might be offered a mortgage of £150,000 (roughly 3 x your joint income). That plus £80,000 gives a budget of £230,000. 2 bedroom garden flats in my part of London (about average zone 2) are £450,000 to £650,000.

hojas yes, there are, but I'm asking if anyone has actually done it. Nothing wrong with asking for personal experience too.

As I've said (3 or 4 times now), garden is not essential, nor is zone 2. We're not looking at spending anything near 650, we're looking more at 300.

So your question actually is "can we find a 2 bedroom flat for £300,000 anywhere in London?".