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Original poster

Do most people who buy a 300k+ house...

153 replies

PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:20

Have a hefty deposit (possibly from making a profit on a previous house sale?) in order to afford mortgage payments?....

Or are can you tell me your secret? What is your line of work?

Our budget is £200k, we only have a£20 deposit ( from our last mortgage, we made a loss in the sale but had paid of about a 1/3 of mortgage). We have okay paying jobs (£25k each) but we're so not looking forward to paying £1000 in mortgage each month. It makes me wonder how others do it :/

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NoArmaniNoPunani · 07/03/2015 19:22

Watching with interest. Our house was a lot less than 200k and we earn £80k between us. I don't understand how some people are offered such big mortgages

TeWiSavesTheDay · 07/03/2015 19:27

Assume so.

All 4 bedroom houses here are 300k up and there are plenty of families in them so they must be able to afford it!

Our max is 210 though. Seems like a long way away...

LynetteScavo · 07/03/2015 19:28

I don't know any one who has bought at £300K house as their first home! I know quite a few people who live in houses worth more, but I'm over 40 and when my peers started buying houses you could get a decent little terraced house for well under £100K.

Most young people I know who are able to buy a house at all are only able to do so because of family help/inheritance.

Fiddlerontheroof · 07/03/2015 19:28

We bought a house in the late 1990's for 50k, snd sold it for £188 in 2007, which is what enabled us to buy a house that cost just under 300k....we arrived on the property market just before prices rocketed, and we were very very lucky....my sister did it all 7 years later and has really struggled. I'm very thankful x

Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:31

£210k isn't a lot anymore :/.... Our 1st house 10 years ago was £120k and we thought that was alot! Now we're about to borrow £80k more! Scary! Bit we have no choice! We have gone for the cheapest house in our area and we're thinking may as well as it only £150 more than our rent, and smaller & better insulated so hoping heating bill will be lower :/

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Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:34

I think lynette and fiddler you've said it there!
A 1st time buyer no, but a subsequent house buyer yes if you made a profit on last house/s.... Unfortunately for us we made a loss so feel like we may as well be a 1st time buyer :/

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TwoLittleTerrors · 07/03/2015 19:34

I don't know any who have bought a £300k+ family home as a first house either. Though I know a starter home here is around £250k now. Both DH and I know people buying them as first house. They are late 20s to early 30s buying as a couple.

Those of us in our late 30s and early 40s. A few from work I know have paid off our starter home and that's how we have capital to move up. Even then, selling my 3 bed tiny semi, I'm only looking to buy at around £350k. And that only gets me a 3 bed detached.

And £1k per month mortgage. What rate are you calculating at? I'm doing them at 6% and aiming at around £1100 at that rate.

Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:35

Fiddler, we bought our 1st in 06, and then prices dropped :/

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MissHC · 07/03/2015 19:36

Around here you only get a 3 bedroom semi for £400k. It's what we'll be paying more or less next year as first-time buyers. We wouldn't be able to do it without my father's help. Mortgage will still be hefty - abiut £1,800-2,000. No I'm not looking forward to paying that but it's not much more than what we currently pay in rent. I'd rather pay off my own mortgage than my landlord's.

TwoLittleTerrors · 07/03/2015 19:37

pink I think you have been very unlucky. If only you have bought 3-4 years earlier.

gaahhnonicknamesleft · 07/03/2015 19:37

Plenty of people I know in their early 30s also get 30 to 35 year mortgages.

HootyMcTooty · 07/03/2015 19:38

I think most people who can afford houses like that have hefty deposits from previous houses, having built up equity from the rise in house prices. It sounds like you're in an unfortunate age bracket (like me) where you've had no chance to build up equity from rising house prices, as you entered the property ladder when house prices were already staggeringly high. It's rubbish.

Some people of course do just have hefty mortgages because they're high earners.

Trills · 07/03/2015 19:39

Depending on where you live, £1000/month mortgage could be a lot less than you would pay in rent.

lastnightiwenttomanderley · 07/03/2015 19:39

Our first home 2yrs ago was £250k. DH and I had saved like buggery so had about £60k deposit and have salaries of around £35k each when we bought (mid/late twenties). Work in London and live in home counties commuter land though, so factor that into prices/salaries.

Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:39

The £1000 was an average x

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Ubik1 · 07/03/2015 19:41

People I know have family money which they use as deposit/equity.

Or like us they buy a wreck cheaply in the hope of doing it up although not many fixer-uppers around these days.

Methe · 07/03/2015 19:43

Dh and I earn 50k between us and have been told that we could get a mortgage for £250k and we've got a bit as a deposit and there is some (

Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:44

We're paying about £150 less than we will pay in mortgage so it does make sense to buy rather than to rent and pay landlords mortgage, but it's heartbreaking when we see houses that are around the £280k mark and are out of our reach, when they're infact average house prices!
We are happy with what we are buying though. So just curious as to how people do afford these £300k+ ones!

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gamerwidow · 07/03/2015 19:44

A lot of people buy using interest only mortgages too in the hope the price increase over the term will cover the repayment part. Very dangerous imo.

Ivytheterrible · 07/03/2015 19:44

Bought our first house when I was 25 in 2004 bought at 95k (3k deposit) sold for £165k bought second house 2009 for £245k and just sold for £325k. Next house is costing £420k. Each time have bought a wreck/repossession and spent substantial sums to renovate over the years. Has taken a lot of effort and lots of DIY but helped us to upgrade homes quite fast. Also have always overpaid mortgage when we can. Our salaries have gone up a bit but not massively and I'm p/t due to kids which has actually reduced our income in the last 4 years. We are very lucky.

glorious · 07/03/2015 19:45

It's tough. We bought our house for £315 in 2009 with a 10% deposit. Saved very hard, no holidays and few treats and both had good jobs and no DC then. Kept our rent down by house sharing.

When we moved in we had no furniture except a bed, a piano and a kitchen table!

It's now worth over twice as much and no way could we afford that without the equity.

We bought pretty much at the low point which also helped.

Mostlyjustaluker · 07/03/2015 19:46

Recent bought house aged 31 with DH. House was 280k we had £100k deposit from sale of both our flats and hard saving.

Original poster
PinkTriangle · 07/03/2015 19:47

Yes Methe.... We are terrified at the thought of one of ua losing our job!.... But I guess no one would ever do anything if they thought of the what ifs?
We're not in SE, or a city. So the 3 bed houses are all around the £200-£280k range

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JaniceJoplin · 07/03/2015 19:48

We bought at 460k and had 270k deposit. It was equity from our last place that doubled in value in 5 years. We were very very lucky.

Methe · 07/03/2015 19:50

Our plan is to keep it within what we can afford on one wage and the overpay with any excess.