Having almost saved up £10,000 towards a deposit on my first house, I’m currently hoping to move into my own place early next year.
However, since I only started working full time two years ago (I was a student and part-time supermarket lass before that) I’m not on the type of salary yet that allows me to buy in an area that I’d really like to live.
Thankfully, there are a few affordable places on the outskirts of Manchester city centre that I’d be okay with living in for a few years, particularly since they’ll allow me to get to work quickly each morning and start saving for house number two. In many cases, you can get a decent amount of house for very little money. But the areas aren’t great. And many of the houses are in significant need of some TLC.
Although these places aren’t my dream locations, I’ve been telling myself that maybe it’s best to buy somewhere sooner rather than later so that I can start building up equity in a property before moving to a more desirable part of town in a few years’ time. I can’t live with mum and dad forever and saving while renting would take a long time. Besides, after a few more years I’ll hopefully be on a higher salary and, if he’s not gotten sick of living with me by then, Jake might be in a position to buy with me.
I’ve known for a while how expensive it can be to buy a house. Not only have you got to save up for a deposit, you’ve also got things like surveys, solicitor fees and valuations to take into account. Oh and then you’ve got your moving and decorating costs on top of that. It’s just occurred to me though, that if I decide to move house again after just a few years, I’m facing all these charges all over again. Sure, the mortgage repayments I will have been paying should have improved the amount of equity that I’ll have in the house, but when I pay mortgage arrangement charges and electronic transfer fees (bloody robbing bastards), this is money that I’ll never see again. In fact, I’ve done a bit of research and found out that it can cost £12,000 to move house once you take all the fees into account! This isn’t the kind of money I want to be spending AGAIN in a few years time when I’m finally able to afford a nicer property in a better area!
So as you can probably imagine, I’m feeling a bit torn at the moment. Saving money has been tough, but actually getting on the property ladder on a young professional’s salary without making an investment I may later regret seems like it’s going to be even tougher. I probably will still buy a property next year if I can, but I am starting to think that I’ll be there longer than I originally thought. This just means that when I’m in a position to start house hunting, I’m going to have to be extra careful to make sure the house will be right for me for a few more years to come.
Photo credits: Essie, Flickr
