I secured a 245k 3 bed semi. I'm feeling an overwhelming sense of dread

[YourGreenDreamer]

Hello all,

I (F27) have an offer accepted on a 245k property. it's a 3bed semi. So I have found an absolute bargain and I love the house. Should probably mention that I'm buying on my own.

My take home after NI, tax, student loan and pension is £2,565. My monthly repayments will be £893.11pm (5years fixed rate). I am budgeting 400pm for:
£159 council tax (excluding single persons discount - rather overstimate just in case)
£75 gas
£75 electric
£50 water
£27 broadband
£12 sim only deal

I haven't included building+content insurance as i will pay that in full by exchange.
I do not have a car
I work from home

I will have £1,273 left for day to day living whether it's food, saving, shopping.

I feel extreme dread going into this as I started looking for properties within the 210-230 range. They'd typically be smaller houses and I would probably outgrow it in the next few years. This property is spacious, with 3 bedrooms and I can see myself in it for the long term. But I fear I'm overstretching myself here?

(The first sale I had that fell through was 210k and monthly repayments would have been 863 on a 2yr fixed rate. The difference between that repayment and my current offer is £120 so why am I so much more anxious...)

My saving grace is that I can get a lodger in, charge £625 for a room which will take my disposable up to around £1.8k. Much more comfortable and i'd be able to overpay my mortgage. But I have anxiety around not finding a lodger full stop.

I also have anxiety that after I pay my deposit, i'd only have around 8k to fit underlay and carpet in the 3 bedrooms, landing and stairs and buy furniture. I'd have little to no emergency fund. Very scary.

About me
I work for a council so fairly secure job.
Although I'm single at the mo I would like to settle down and have kids soon.

Perhaps I should hold off buying and wait? Or just go for a smaller property?

A lot of this is just me thinking out loud and getting some of the pent up dread out, so i'm sorry if this is all over the place or if I sound annoying lol.

Any advice will help.

Thank you very much

Do you really need three bedrooms..? I know it’s nice to have space, but the mortgage takes up a big chunk of your monthly budget. That would give me anxiety as well.

How much do you love this house? Do you really see yourself living there for a long time, or are these feelings a sign that a smaller, less expensive house might be better suited to you?

Can you extend the mortgage term to make things cheaper in the earlier days? You can always change it later. Must lenders go to 40 years, some even to 45

OP, you sound thoroughly sensible and capable. This looks extremely doable, and I agree that having the option of taking in a lodger gives you extra security.

Make sure you have a full survey, so you are as confident as you can be that there aren't any roof/electrics/boiler/damp issues.

And make sure you're contributing to your employers pension scheme.

If you'll have £8k left after completion day, I wouldn't go spending on carpets and furnishings straight away. Keep yourself a healthy savings pot (because there will be unexpected expenses, I promise). You don't need to carpet the rooms you're not using. Get second hand furniture.

Save up and then refurbish one room at a time. Get your friends round for painting parties. Use YouTube to teach yourself skills rather than employing tradesmen (except electricians, gas fitters etc!).

I've been where you are. It's a huge responsibility. But so, so exciting.

Your figures do look perfectly comfortable. As for your doing up cash, it’s enough to do the basics, you can always save and add more as you go.
Is it cheaper to maintain the student loan or increase the mortgage?

' £1,273 ' is more than enough for one person for food shopping and saving.

Many families live on that, not just one person.

If I had £1273 leftover my budget would be:

£200 transport
£175 food
£80 clothes/shopping
£100 socialising/hobbies
£68 holiday fund
£600 savings (which would add up to £7.2k a year)

Unless I'm missing something, you'll have a very nice and comfortable lifestyle?

You'll easily afford new carpets...just buy cheap stuff if you're worried

Your monthly budget looks comfortable.

Especially if you get a lodger.

Don’t spend £8k on carpets, get a massive rug from IKEA or hire a sander, sand the floors and varnish. Then have a rug by the bed to stand on. You need an emergency / maintenance fund.

Start with essentials only furniture, inherit as much as you can cast off from friends and family , charity shops, Marketplace, freecycle.

Sounds doable OP
Just have a proper survey - not just the basic one you need for a mortgage.
I was going to say with the pp said re hiring a sander and buying some large rugs. You can also make a runner for your stairs.
Or just put up with crap carpets for a bit.

Why are so many posters suddenly saying F27 /M27 etc in posts? 😕

I think you will be fine. Don’t forget wages go up and mortgage payments will go down over the years to come. I think you did the right thing by going for a bigger house as a first time buyer - I wish we did the same years ago but we were too cautious with the amount of mortgage we could have got. For what you have left over without the lodger is more than enough. If you get a lodger in, I would invest the rent paid to you in an ISA and let that build up for as long as you can and then use it to pay some of the mortgage off later on.

Hi, i don't need three bedrooms per se. However, this is me future proofing. I'm 27 and I know i want to have kids whether i find a partner or not.

I do love the house, i can see myself living in it for the long term.

that said, i am currently debating whether or not i need to go for something more manageable.

I don't know but i am 27 years old, born in 1996 and female lol. Maybe 27 is just a pivotal year for a lot of us

This is already at 40 years. I can only do overpayments if i got a lodger. Without it would be even more of a stretch

I'd definitely get it.

Get yourself a lodger and put that money towards doing the house up.

You're doing brilliantly - don't buy something cheaper now when you'll want a house like that in the future.

I would just go for it. It’s so expensive and stressful to buy and sell. Looks like this house will work for you for a long long time.

Oh thank you very much Gazelda. Definitely will be relying on the survey, hope it comes back fine as without a lodger or sizeable savings, I couldn't afford for things to go wrong lol.

Yes, i'd rather carpet bedroom 2 for prospective lodger. I don't mind having a bare room will i recoup some funds.

Thanks again

I think this sounds really good. I'd agree with having a lodger to build up savings.

Definitely, definitely buy this house! Shake off the worry because you're making a good decision. If you ever do want to sell, a three bed is much more sought after than a one or two bed home. Bring in a lodger and it will be grand. Congratulations!

Your budget looks sensible. No way will it cost £8k to carpet 3 bedrooms.

Don’t worry about too much furniture, both my kids had offers of furniture from relatives and friends (ours and theirs) DS1 cycles a lot and often spots freebies and cheap items by the roadside. Freecycle, Freegle and FB have lots of free furniture. Charities like BHF and hospices have furniture shops as well. Often have carpets on offer.

Sounds like you would be fine. Get a lodger and put the rent towards home improvements to do up house slowly.
If I was a ftb again I wouldn't spend much on furniture before I had lived in the house for at least a year or two. We bought the "wrong" livingroom setup before moving in and were then kicking ourselves for years as the furniture we bought was not really 100% suited to how we used the space.

Hi OP, in your shoes I'd go for it - your maths looks sound to me!

The lodger will help a lot and it's great to have that option to fall back on.

When we moved in to our current 3-bed house after the renovation cost went sky high (thanks pandemic!) we were living on fumes but furnished it very cheaply - IKEA mattresses are great, we got the cheapest beige carpet from carpetright, we got our sofas from freecycle (really posh and lovely!) and another sofa and dining table from eBay... FB marketplace can have good bargains too.

I think your £8k budget can shrink to £1.5K for carpets and nice second hand furniture, and that way you'll have a nice buffer in case anything else crops up.

Of course buying any house is a major commitment, it's natural to have butterflies, but you love the house and got it for a good price and can afford it - great work! Crack on! :)

Wish you all the best with it

£1.2k pcm available for day-to-day living after housing/bills is something many can only dream of. What is your disposable income now and what do you spend it on? I.e. is there anything you'll need to give up on the new budget.

If you aren't feeling a bit nervous you wouldn't be a FTB on your own. You honestly will be fine and you have spare rooms you can always rent out, you'll do great I promise!

Agree with that. Completely normal feeling. You sound sensible. You’ve done the calcs and the bank thinks you’ll be ok. You can rent out as you say if need to