Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Did you put all your savings towards your house deposit?

27 replies

Pepsicolacubes · 20/08/2023 15:49

I'm a first time buyer. Over the last few years, I have saved £10,000 and I was also gifted £40,000 by a family member last year. I have already spent 6k on a car (old one had various problems).

I earn a relatively good wage for the area, but as I'm buying alone, lenders will only borrow up to 100k, maybe 110k at a push. I have seen a few properties that I love which are at the top end of my budget, but I would have nothing left in savings once I'd put it towards the deposit and paid for conveyancing costs, broker fees, which makes me feel really nervous.

I'd worry in case an unexpected bill popped up such as car repairs etc and I had no money to fall back on. I don't have a partner who can share half the costs. I was hoping I'd be left with at least 10k (6 months salary) but I think this is highly unlikely. There are other houses in the area which are cheaper but they require a lot of work. I know how lucky I am to be able to even buy in the first place, but it scares me spending so much money and not having anything left for emergencies.

I'd appreciate hearing from other people who were/are in the same boat, what you did and how it worked out.

Thank you!

OP posts:
Flipflipmania · 20/08/2023 15:50

Is there any work to do at all?

Flipflipmania · 20/08/2023 15:50

But In short - no I would never use every single penny in the actual purchase

especially as a single person

TedMullins · 20/08/2023 15:55

Yes I did. I bought alone in London with no help and had literally £0 left over once I’d paid the deposit and fees. The top of my budget would only buy a tiny basic one bed in zone 4 as well so it’s not like I could’ve even found anywhere cheaper. It worked out fine and I have nearly £15k in savings again 2.5 years later because my wage increased since then and I got a good redundancy payout from an old job. The flat was quite newly refurbished by the old owner so didn’t need any work or repairs. I wouldn’t have bought a fixer upper. Depends if you think you’ll be able to build up your savings again really

spitefulandbadgrammar · 20/08/2023 15:55

It’s normal for the savings pot to get wiped out: deposit, conveyancing fees, all the legal bits and bobs. The bit you hold back invariably goes on repairs/the mandatory trip to IKEA/B&Q to sort all the things people seem to sell houses without then you move in and think “where are your bloody coat pegs?”

Don’t buy something that needs work unless you have bottomless pockets or bottomless time and a yearning to get very good at DIY. Even then materials are exorbitant lately unless you also factor in time to scour FB Marketplace and be one of those people who sourced their entire bathroom including tiles for free, it only took 25 years.

Flipflipmania · 20/08/2023 16:00

How long did it take you to save £10k?

CrystalCascade · 20/08/2023 16:03

We had a couple of thousand left at the end of it all (including moving costs, solicitor fees and asbestos encapsulation).
It was fine. But house was in excellent condition as confirmed by a Level 3 survey and needed no extra work doing apart from asbestos. Which wasn't actually that urgent as it was only in the garage that we don't need to use urgently but H insisted it needed fixing.
Mortgage is less than rent so we managed to build our savings back up to the recommended 6 months.

Original poster
Pepsicolacubes · 20/08/2023 16:11

To answer some of your questions:

As far as I can tell, the houses that I'm looking at don't need any repairs or updating.

It took me around 7 years to save up my my share of the deposit as I have rented for the last 9 years and could only afford to put away so much every month after bills.

I could probably save some money back up after buying but my mortgage would be more than my rent. This is because I'm currently on a fixed term contract with work and the lenders who will borrow aren't the ones with the best rates. There's not much that I can do about that though apart from take it over a 40 year term to try and make the monthly payments a bit cheaper.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pepsicolacubes · 20/08/2023 16:14

It would be a struggle to save up again if my mortgage is more than my rent.

OP posts:
MMorales · 20/08/2023 16:19

No I didnt.

But I did find during the process there was always something else I had to pay for. So be very careful other costs dont crop up during the buying process.

Original poster
Pepsicolacubes · 20/08/2023 16:22

Oh really. Would you mind saying what the extras were? @MMorales

I'd hoped it would just be conveyancing costs, broker fees and a survey but perhaps as a ftb I'm being naive.

OP posts:
MMorales · 20/08/2023 16:25

I think of there is something up with the house. And you want it fixed.e.g. electrics.

But anyway they had an CCTV which they would leave if we paid extra.

Sometimes people say they will leave certain fixtures or fitting for extra cash. Etc.

And if selling then lots of certificates you need to get for your own house.

MMorales · 20/08/2023 16:26

When we did the conveyancing there were extra reports they could do for extra cash.

And in one instance to buy a certain insurance cos of the location of the house. It used to be in a parish. So possibility of a claim from the church or something- very unlikely. But advised to buy the insurance by the solicitors.

CyberCritical · 20/08/2023 16:30

Moving costs, connection fees for utilities/broadband etc, if they have hive or a smart meter that can't be handed over and you need to fit your own, insurance, any furniture or gardening equipment you may need to buy.

You could probably avoid some of that but you won't know for sure till you're doing it so it's worth holding a bit of your savings back to cover those costs if you can.

FutureThroughLensOfThePast · 20/08/2023 16:34

Yes, back in the day - only about £2000 in those days.

CrystalCascade · 20/08/2023 16:34

MMorales · 20/08/2023 16:26

When we did the conveyancing there were extra reports they could do for extra cash.

And in one instance to buy a certain insurance cos of the location of the house. It used to be in a parish. So possibility of a claim from the church or something- very unlikely. But advised to buy the insurance by the solicitors.

It's worth asking your sellers if they'll cover those fees as well. Don't ask don't get.
We were advised to take out insurance for building control I believe our extension had been built several decades ago, Passed the limit for council to complain but insurance advised just in case.
We asked the sellers to pay as it was them who couldn't provide the paperwork. They did. Was only about £100 I think but better than nothing, worse they could say is no.

CrystalCascade · 20/08/2023 16:34

*some of those fees!

Flipflipmania · 20/08/2023 17:22

It took you 7 years to save £10k? And you have no dependents and were on £2k and living in an area with very very cheap housing?

Flipflipmania · 20/08/2023 17:23

What will happen after your fixed term contract finishes?

Wednesdayonline · 20/08/2023 17:35

Yes we used all our savings, as a couple though. But we finished saving for the deposit, survey and solicitor fees about 4 months ago, and now we are completing next month and have a few thousand saved up again. It's so difficult when you're renting to get enough, but is it possible for you to wait 6 months more and save hard for those 6 months still so you have a buffer?

DrySherry · 20/08/2023 18:15

Always always keep some savings...

spitefulandbadgrammar · 20/08/2023 18:17

Pepsicolacubes · 20/08/2023 16:22

Oh really. Would you mind saying what the extras were? @MMorales

I'd hoped it would just be conveyancing costs, broker fees and a survey but perhaps as a ftb I'm being naive.

So yes, deposit, conveyancing fee + VAT, survey, specialist survey if the survey throws up something about drains/floors/whatever, searches, land registry search fee, land registry registration fee, conveyancer acting on behalf of mortgage lender fee + VAT, bank transfer processing and admin fee + VAT, lender’s mortgage cost. Contents and buildings insurance.

Don’t forget to put some aside for a moving van and fish and chips on moving day.

New locks, potentially. Loads of cleaning products.

DeedlessIndeed · 20/08/2023 18:33

If moving into your mortgaged house means that you'd struggle to save, then you may want to have a few (maybe 3-6?) months expenses as part of savings.

Everyone should have an emergency pot, especially if living alone!

Sprogonthetyne · 20/08/2023 18:47

We spent literally every penny, put moving costs on the credit card and had an odd assortment of furniture given from hear and there.

In retrospect it was pretty risky, but it worked out fine and a year or so down the line our finances had all stabilised, mainly because mortgage and much cheaper the rent had been.

Biscuitlover456 · 20/08/2023 18:48

FTB and we moved in a month ago - I would keep some savings over if you can. Random extras we had to cover included changing locks (£200), mail redirection (£70 I think?), white goods (£1k), furniture etc but you can control that a bit more. We also paid £100 to get a guy to check our loft for pests (turns out a squirrel used to live up there! Thankfully it moved out a while ago). There might be something unanticipated which needs sorting/checking urgently so keeping a few £k back is wise in my view.

eurochick · 20/08/2023 20:08

I bought about six months before I was planning to as a lively flat came up in the block I was renting in and I went for it. I used every penny I had. At the beginning my furniture consisted of two garden chairs (borrowed), an air mattress (borrowed) and a moving box for a tv cabinet.