Will we ever be able to truly afford to buy?

[phantomhairpuller]

We've been renting since we married 4.5yrs ago. 18months ago we had to move to fairly expensive area due to DHs job, currently paying £800pcm for average sized 3 bed
We resent paying that much a month in rent when we could be paying it off a mortgage.

MIL last night very generously offered to give us a deposit in order to help us along. But realistically it won't be enough. Have spoken with financial advisor this morning and we'd still be short by about £30k for an average sized 3 bed.

How the hell do people do it?

We'll never really be able to afford until all out parents have passed and we've inherited

Fairly pointless thread but am feeling a bit and wanted to get it off my chest!

Most people don't start by buying a family home but begin with a flat and "ladder" upwards. You don't mention if you have children but would it be possible to buy something smaller and a bit scruffy that you could afford then move on?

I feel your pain it sucks massively doesn't it.
I keep doing the lottery and hope for the best.
There is a government scheme where they lend you the deposit, maybe look into that? I'm not sure of the ins and outs of it though.

We have 2 DCs and live a fair distance from our families so a spare room is also a requirement for when they visit (which is fairly often due to babysitting etc). Hence the need for a 3 bed.
I hate that we have to live in such an expensive area too. DH has approached his employers to ask about us moving 'out of area' but they're not having any of it

Your rents less than mine and I've 1 bed less.
One thing I've thought of is buying a small flat to rent out, that way we are on the ladder, something to leave ds and hopefully as our rent goes up so will theirs.

Buy a smaller house with a sofabed for guests (or give them your room and you sleep on the bed when they stay). I do think moving into a family house in an expensive area is difficult - and possibly unrealistic - if you haven't built up equity in other properties but it can be done over time.

I appreciate that we're not in the most expensive area around but compared to everywhere else in the county it's one of the more pricey areas

You don't need a three bed just put your dc's in the same room when you have family staying. Sounds like you can afford to buy but you are being too fussy.

I think you have to go smaller. We have same no of children, and family abroad who visit but still a one bed flat ( which is over double your rent a month!)

Realistically its what we can afford whilst saving for a flat here. £1600 gets us a rented one bed flat, a 3 bed house would be £3-5000 a month!

Go for a 2 bed for now with a sofa bed for overnighters - to be honest it looks like your only option if you want to get on the ladder.

We have the same number of children in a 1.5 bed flat with no outside space and 1 DD has ASD so needs her own room. Me and DH sleep in the living room. It is doable but you may need to start small and work up to your ideal place.

We're buying now for the first time and we're both late 30s. We quickly recognised that we couldn't afford to buy the same space that we're currently renting.

How we've done it is by going from a 3 bed mansion flat to a 2 bed mid-terrace, plus saving hard for a few years. It is possible to buy, but you need to decide what you're prepared to compromise on.

Ditto what maybe says!!! We had to change our lifestyle drastically to be able to save for our deposit. We were renting a 2 bed flat for £900 which was about 1/3 of our combined salary. We spent another 1/3 on bills and food and saved the rest. We cut out going out and only invited mates round for drinks instead. No holidays in that time too. We also ensured we saved on payday rather than at end of the month. It took some discipline but when you start to see the savings building up then you understand why you were doing it.

Have you considered some of the govt schemes as suggested further up thread? Nationwide are also doing the save to buy scheme where you save min. £50 per month in a savings account and after 6 months you can apply for one of their 95% mortgages. You need to have a squeaky clean record though to be considered. I read on MSE some people got loaned on average 4times combined income.

We were in your position 3yrs ago and decided to rent a smaller place to increase our saving capacity, if family visited they slept on sofa bed or we normally gave up the bed for my mum.

Good luck with your savings effort. If you need more info and support pm me.

I really feel for you, house prices are insane in comparison to earnings. I don't understand though why you are asking your DH employers if you can move? Just move out of the area and commute if that is what you want to do. Agree with PP that you could rent a smaller place for a few years and save the difference. Any chance either of you could do some freelance or a second job to bring in extra money?

Could you move to a less expensive area - perhaps not quite as desirable area but still ok? If there is somewhere within commuting distance, your husband could travel a bit.

We went for reasonable area, bought an ex local authority house that needed a lot of work, at a knock down price. We have saved and re-mortgaged, and are currently remodelling.

You can't buy an extra bedroom for guests. That's insane (unless you are rich).

What's your combined monthly income?

£800 for 3 beds sounds like an absolute bargain. Where are you?

We're in Gloucestershire. DH is a sales rep for an agricultural company. When he took the job, one of the conditions was that we live within the area which he'd be selling to. And it's one of the more expensive areas in the county

We've had a chat this evening and are in agreement that we will have to downsize and DH will have to do without the luxury of a garage maybe.

Thanks or all the advice

Oh, that is annoying. We were lucky enough to move to Scotland, where house prices are very reasonable.

We did buy a house that isn't what we would normally go for, but I am very happy with our compromise.

Have you worked out what your maximum budget is?

Max budget gives us enough for a small 3 bed in dodgy area or even smaller 2 bed in naice area

So either way we'd have to downsize from what we're renting now x

Oops, a 'x'

How very un-MN of me

I don't know Gloucershire at all but when I looked they had a lot of 3bed semis in the 110-170 price bracket. I suppose these are in the not nice areas?

Where we used to live - still in glos - we could have had a lovely house within that price bracket. Where we are now you'd be looking at £200+ for a 3 bed semi in a decent area.

I think that can be quite a startling reality check when you see how you need to downsize from renting to buying. Is there much of a difference in your area between the 2 bed and where you are currently living rental wise? If it was me and I was very eager to own my own home, I would be renting a 2 bed and skimming off the saving directly to my deposit pot. That also has the advantage of when you come to look at homes to buy, the jump won't be so huge between where you are now and what you can afford to buy.

I guess you need to come to the decision if owning is the be all and end all for you, or if you would prefer the lifestyle you have now in a bigger rental home? There are always compromises that need to be made, as this thread has shown with people sleeping in their living room for lack of bedrooms, but that being the best choice for them.

I might have to move! I can't get a 1bed for less that 250k

Which part of glos?

Consider a 1970's doer upper. Often good space and value