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How much savings did you keep after deposit?

54 replies

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 00:06

Bit of a personal question, but if you bought a house recently (maybe in the past 5 years or so) how much savings did you keep back after you paid your deposit? Eg. for house things/emergency fund? And did it turn out to be enough?

We're trying to figure out how much of our savings we should put into a deposit for our first home, and how much would be sensible to keep back for house things/a rainy day.

We're hoping to buy somewhere that needs minimal work if possible so no need for big renovation funding - happy to do some general decorating and modernising if necessary, and expect to have to do some kitchen/bathroom upgrades over time.

OP posts:
therejustbarely · 02/06/2024 08:43

I've just completed today and have 1.5m as backup, just in case we need that stables loft conversion after all.

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 08:53

eurochick · 02/06/2024 08:16

Perhaps the OP could explain why the last five years are relevant but anything before that deserves rudeness?

Many, many reasons. The house market, the cost of renovations, and the cost of living was a different ball game 20 years ago.

A lot of MNers are too keen to wade in with how great they are, or how hard they suffered in comparison to people today, without reading the OP. It's tiresome to be honest.

OP posts:
SoEmbarrassed2024 · 02/06/2024 08:54

By the time we had paid stamp duty and all the fees, we had about £500 left. But as the mortgage was broadly the same as our rent had been we soon built it back up again

User364837 · 02/06/2024 08:57

Rudey McRude Face

obsessedwithfreshbread · 02/06/2024 09:01

We kept back £150k just so we could slip the neighbours some cash to look the other way from how rude I am for zero reason 🙄

Devilshands · 02/06/2024 09:01

I bought in 2022 (May) as a FTB.

My deposit was £200K. My mortgage was £150K (3x salary - could have gone up to 4.5x). I kept back £20K.

Some would probably say I was ridiculous to keep 10% back. But TBH given my deposit was so much larger than the mortgage I needed, the £20K made very little difference to the repayment or the % (0.99). Plus, I can remember my parents struggling to put food on the table when I was younger (2008 financial crash) so I've always been very conscious not to overstretch.

Personally, I think anyone who doesn't keep back about £5K needs to give their head a wobble. So much can go wrong with a house that even a proper survey won't have picked up on, plus the economy is a mess, that leaving yourself with no safety net is irresponsible.

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 09:03

I'm not rude, just pointing out the poster didn't answer my question at all so they can think twice before wasting their time posting another pointless reply on other threads 😘

OP posts:
CellophaneFlower · 02/06/2024 09:06

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 09:03

I'm not rude, just pointing out the poster didn't answer my question at all so they can think twice before wasting their time posting another pointless reply on other threads 😘

Yeah, you carry on digging! I'm just hear for all the pointless replies you're about to receive 😂

CellophaneFlower · 02/06/2024 09:06

Here*

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 09:09

Thanks very much for this really helpful response @Devilshands

We're being quickly priced out of the market the longer we spend house hunting, and wondering if we need to chuck some more money at the deposit. Was wondering if around 10k savings would be reasonable (we're hoping to buy a 3 bed semi or terraced).

OP posts:
Devilshands · 02/06/2024 09:14

Happy to help, @Talldaisy.

I think £10K is enough for most starter homes-semis (assuming boiler etc will all be fine) up to about £400K. If it was a £750K house I'd think differently!

Twiglets1 · 02/06/2024 09:15

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 09:03

I'm not rude, just pointing out the poster didn't answer my question at all so they can think twice before wasting their time posting another pointless reply on other threads 😘

How did she not answer your question at all? She gave the example of her children who both bought in the last 5 years.

One child used everything they had to secure the sale so had nothing left over. That is an example of an approach shared by many FTBs, both now and in the past.

You could have just said thank you and waited for other examples, even if you are someone who prefers to always have a safety fund.

Elisabeth3468 · 02/06/2024 09:15

None 😬😬 we put everything we had into the house

Musiclover234 · 02/06/2024 09:19

Bought 7 years ago ( sorry if that’s above your 5 year limit!) starting from scratch so had a few grand between us to buy what we needed but very little left after that.

INeedAnotherName · 02/06/2024 09:23

Talldaisy · 02/06/2024 09:03

I'm not rude, just pointing out the poster didn't answer my question at all so they can think twice before wasting their time posting another pointless reply on other threads 😘

She answered you. You were rude for no reason and owe her an apology. I hope you are actually less rude in person otherwise your new neighbours are in for one hellava ride Shock

Since you missed it:
My dc have both bought in the last 5 years.
One used everything they had to secure the sale so had nothing.
The other bought a 'do-er-upper' so kept back enough money for re-wiring / putting heating in and putting flooring down.

RedBulb · 02/06/2024 09:31

Had 4K left over and started saving again as soon as I had completed. Needed new windows so had to split that into deposit + interest free, which was annoying but not the end of the world. Renovations took a long time because I had to build the funds back up. But honestly, it was fine, I just did things as and when I had the money.

eurochick · 02/06/2024 09:33

"Many, many reasons. The house market, the cost of renovations, and the cost of living was a different ball game 20 years ago.

A lot of MNers are too keen to wade in with how great they are, or how hard they suffered in comparison to people today, without reading the OP. It's tiresome to be honest."

I don't see how those reasons make anything beyond the past five years irrelevant. If you are buying a doer-upper you will need to keep enough money aside to do the renovations. The amount will differ depending on the house and area. The housing market affects the price of the house; I don't see how it makes any difference to how much you need to keep aside. The cost of living being higher will affect affordability but doesn't affect the amount you need to keep aside.

Needmoresleep · 02/06/2024 09:33

I thought your comments were rude.

The answer, as always, is it depends.

We have been helping DD buy her first home, both with a deposit and, because she works long shifts, with looking. (The estate agent assured me I was not the first mum to do this.) She completed 4 days ago, so pretty recent.

She discussed finance with the mortgage advisor. It was a really fast moving market with many properties going for over asking.

As it turned out she paid exactly the theoretical figure discussed with the mortgage advisor, the mortgage valuation was exactly the amount she was paying (unusual), the survey did not throw up any unknowns (the roof will need work, and the kitchen extension is a bit dodgy, but almost all her neighbours seem to have done the first as part of replacing/extending the second. A project for when she is promoted and can afford to extend her mortgage.) She was also lucky that the vendor sold her white goods, curtains, beds, sofa and dining table for £2,000.

After costs she still has some savings (roughly 2.5% of the purchase price). It is unusual for everything to be on budget. She might have had to pay more for a property, the mortgage valuation might have been lower, the survey might have thrown up urgent works, she might have had to fork out immediately for white goods curtains and a bed. The flex would have come first from her savings, then by increasing the money borrowed (on less favourable terms) or by squeezing the reluctant bank of mum and dad. This did not happen in part because she had worked out in advance where she could afford to buy and because she lives in an area where property prices are relatively low. If she was in London it would be completely different. Just to get a first step on the ladder it would have to be a fixer upper, full use of savings, maximum mortgage, and old mum and dad would be looking at a summer staycation.

WitchyWay · 02/06/2024 09:37

We're in the process of buying now. We have £25k in the bank and took out an extra £15k on our mortgage. Some of that is earmarked for future renovations (it's a dated house) but hoping £10-20k will be held aside for a rainy day as our mortgage repayments are high and one of us is a higher earner than the other.

I wouldn't buy a house with zero reserves. I've seen what redundancies can do to families, always make sure you have options.

Needmoresleep · 02/06/2024 09:45

Witchy makes a good point.

DD has a secure public sector job and an established career path so can be confident of promotion with the next year or so. She will also take in a lodger. If everything went belly up she could rent the property out and almost certainly cover her mortgage. So is in a position to extend fully.

If she had a family and a less secure job it would be different. Her flatmate’s rent payments will be used to rebuild savings.

LittleBearPad · 02/06/2024 09:48

Interesting choice to double down there OP particularly as the poster had answered your question

TeenLifeMum · 02/06/2024 09:50

We planned to keep £10k back but then the small car died 2 weeks before moving so we spent £6k on a car and kept £4k back.

Menomeno · 02/06/2024 09:52

My DS bought 6 months ago with nothing left after the deposit. I even had to lend him the solicitors fees. He’s saving hard now for renovations/emergency fund.

Abovemypaygrade · 02/06/2024 09:58

You owe an apology to @NewName24 and if you didn’t know you were being rude you need to review your manners

as previous post said your question can only be answered with it depends , on buyers circumstances, house being bought, cash purchase or mortgage, work needed , size of house , personal income etc

I have bought and sold 5 houses in the past 8 years , all without a mortgage, all various states of extensive work needing to be done all with at least 500k left as funds for work

However if I was in your position and I was buying a fairly small property with little or no work to be done I would want a minimum savings of £25k to 35k left over after estimated works and all costs because I like to feel safe with what I have and if anything goes wrong ( house , work, life , whatever ) then at least I have a small safety net

Namechangedforthis25 · 02/06/2024 10:05

Very rude reply - she gave you 3 examples and you knocked her down. Feel sorry for your neighbours

anyway - 2 years ago, £150k deposit and stamp, retained £30k for living costs. Wish we retained more in hindsight