How the heck do people my age and younger afford to buy houses?!

Original post by ByEeek

Fair enough. But you never know, you might meet new friends in Berlin, end up meeting that person in your life and before you know it you have lived there most of your adult life! That is what happened to me when I decided to move to Manchester for a couple of years.

Maybe, but equally I might not. Buying means you're in a sense trapped in that location whatever happens. That is too big a risk for me. I'd rather buy somewhere I feel comfortable, or at least somewhere relatively near people I know. Unfortunately with the way prices are, it may not be possible for me.

Reply 102

username1799249

Original post by Snufkin

Maybe, but equally I might not. Buying means you're in a sense trapped in that location whatever happens. That is too big a risk for me. I'd rather buy somewhere I feel comfortable, or at least somewhere relatively near people I know. Unfortunately with the way prices are, it may not be possible for me.

Yeah - that was how I felt in 2000 when I graduated. Worst decision of my life! :frown:

Reply 103

hippieglitter

Many things can mean they can afford this step, if they have been in position where they are able to save a considerable amount of money, death of a family member from which they have inherited financially, assistance from parents, there is also the new idea of help-to-buy ISA's. My fiance and I have been renting for the past 6 years and we are looking to buy in the new year. I have £10,000 cash ISA filled with the money I inherited for my dad and my fiance's parents have a similar amount put away for him each of which are being slowly trickled into help-to-buy ISA's so when the time comes we will get something from the government. If you can afford to pay regularly into this I definitely recommend one, it could be your best chance of getting onto the property ladder.

Reply 104

IronicalMan

11

I know a lot of you are left wing and hate the Conservatives, but if you're buying first time they will give you an extra 25 percent of what you have saved. Eg i am 18, and when at the bank talking about some money I am going to get, my 7 grand will mean I would have just under 10

Reply 105

hippieglitter

Original post by IronicalMan

I know a lot of you are left wing and hate the Conservatives, but if you're buying first time they will give you an extra 25 percent of what you have saved. Eg i am 18, and when at the bank talking about some money I am going to get, my 7 grand will mean I would have just under 10

Only if you have a help-to-buy ISA. They are not going to hand out cash to people who just have any old savings account and you are only allowed to put £200 a month in a HTB ISA so if you only have it for a few months you will only get 25% of whats in there. It would take three years to put my whole cash ISA into my HTB ISA and we intend to buy in less than a year. You can have savings all over the place but you will still only get 25% or what is in your HTB ISA not 25% or whatever you have as a whole.

Reply 106

IronicalMan

11

Original post by hippieglitter

Only if you have a help-to-buy ISA. They are not going to hand out cash to people who just have any old savings account and you are only allowed to put £200 a month in a HTB ISA so if you only have it for a few months you will only get 25% of whats in there. It would take three years to put my whole cash ISA into my HTB ISA and we intend to buy in less than a year. You can have savings all over the place but you will still only get 25% or what is in your HTB ISA not 25% or whatever you have as a whole.

That's the one, still I'll have one of those! LOL

Reply 107

Little Popcorns

Erw probs bank of mummy and daddy

Reply 108

Original post by hippieglitter

My fiance and I have been renting for the past 6 years and we are looking to buy in the new year.

Aren't you worried about buying at the top of the market? I've heard a lot of people say that they expect prices outside London to go down, and that was before Brexit!

Reply 109

3121

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

40k EACH?! Post tax?! That's ridiculous who earns that much*

I meant combined salary lol sorry for not being clear

Reply 110

Bill_Gates

Original post by Snufkin

Aren't you worried about buying at the top of the market? I've heard a lot of people say that they expect prices outside London to go down, and that was before Brexit!

Prices have started to drop in London not sure about the rest of the country. Think this is the peak for London.

Reply 111

Bill_Gates

I was running a business throughout college, uni and purchased a house in my early 20s. Mid 20s now and looking for another one (selling another business) *fingers crossed* lol.

Reply 112

IronicalMan

11

Original post by Bill_Gates

I was running a business throughout college, uni and purchased a house in my early 20s. Mid 20s now and looking for another one (selling another business) *fingers crossed* lol.

Well done, what sort of business was it? Can't imagine there's a lot you can do in college, I imagine it was buying or selling something, like my parents sell for amazon, basically buy the stock from china and package it lol

Reply 113

DorianGrayism

It is called being stupid and buying a house with an insane mortgage.

Reply 114

fallen_acorns

20

Right now, move away from the UK.. if you are serious about saving.

I mentioned my circumstnaces earlier in the thread.. but serriously, if like me, you are expecting the Uk to go through a turbulent few years with brexit, then being outside is amazing.

I have around 250,000 rmb in savings currently, and 1 year left working out here in china,

1 year ago when I arrived in china, 250,000 Rmb, was worth roughly 24,900 pounds.
Today its worth 28,885

Extra 4k at the moment..

No idea if I should transfer my money back into pounds or not.. I thought I should a week ago, and yet its dropped again since then.

---

Anyway, point is:

Working in another country (especially an asian country)

- Lower cost of living = easier to save
- Wage premium for British workers
- Often accomodation is packaged with the job giving even more for savings
- Avoid problems with the pound/currency
- Great life experiance + Great transferable skills (depending on job) for when you return to the Uk

Honestly, if you are a single 20 something who has just graduated.. no idea why you would limmit yourself to just england when there are so many good opertunities in other countries, that can make it so much easier to save money + gain experiance.

Reply 115

Original post by fallen_acorns

Right now, move away from the UK.. if you are serious about saving.

I mentioned my circumstnaces earlier in the thread.. but serriously, if like me, you are expecting the Uk to go through a turbulent few years with brexit, then being outside is amazing.

I have around 250,000 rmb in savings currently, and 1 year left working out here in china,

1 year ago when I arrived in china, 250,000 Rmb, was worth roughly 24,900 pounds.
Today its worth 28,885

Extra 4k at the moment..

No idea if I should transfer my money back into pounds or not.. I thought I should a week ago, and yet its dropped again since then.

---

Anyway, point is:

Working in another country (especially an asian country)

- Lower cost of living = easier to save
- Wage premium for British workers
- Often accomodation is packaged with the job giving even more for savings
- Avoid problems with the pound/currency
- Great life experiance + Great transferable skills (depending on job) for when you return to the Uk

Honestly, if you are a single 20 something who has just graduated.. no idea why you would limmit yourself to just england when there are so many good opertunities in other countries, that can make it so much easier to save money + gain experiance.

What job are you doing in China if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 116

fallen_acorns

20

Original post by Snufkin

What job are you doing in China if you don't mind me asking?

I run my own business here.

I came here on a contract as an educational consultant, working with a private language business to advise students/parents about studying abroad, and help them prepare/get ready for foreign study.

1 year ago I set up my own company doing the same thing, and 5 months ago I left my job to focus on my business full time.

There are great opportunities out here for those are willing to make the sacrifice of living away from home. I think most consider that Asia = teaching English. whilst that is a nice job, and very accessible for English people who cant find work back at home, there are so many other opportunities out there to make money

Reply 117

SophieSmall

Original post by fallen_acorns

Right now, move away from the UK.. if you are serious about saving.

I mentioned my circumstnaces earlier in the thread.. but serriously, if like me, you are expecting the Uk to go through a turbulent few years with brexit, then being outside is amazing.

I have around 250,000 rmb in savings currently, and 1 year left working out here in china,

1 year ago when I arrived in china, 250,000 Rmb, was worth roughly 24,900 pounds.
Today its worth 28,885

Extra 4k at the moment..

No idea if I should transfer my money back into pounds or not.. I thought I should a week ago, and yet its dropped again since then.

---

Anyway, point is:

Working in another country (especially an asian country)

- Lower cost of living = easier to save
- Wage premium for British workers
- Often accomodation is packaged with the job giving even more for savings
- Avoid problems with the pound/currency
- Great life experiance + Great transferable skills (depending on job) for when you return to the Uk

Honestly, if you are a single 20 something who has just graduated.. no idea why you would limmit yourself to just england when there are so many good opertunities in other countries, that can make it so much easier to save money + gain experiance.

What is your job in China? How did you get the job/ what did you need to get the job? What was your degree? And do you speak any of the main languages of China (mandarin, cantonese ect)?

If you don't mind me asking/ answering of course. :tongue:

Reply 118

Original post by fallen_acorns

I run my own business here.

I came here on a contract as an educational consultant, working with a private language business to advise students/parents about studying abroad, and help them prepare/get ready for foreign study.

1 year ago I set up my own company doing the same thing, and 5 months ago I left my job to focus on my business full time.

There are great opportunities out here for those are willing to make the sacrifice of living away from home. I think most consider that Asia = teaching English. whilst that is a nice job, and very accessible for English people who cant find work back at home, there are so many other opportunities out there to make money

Oh right, sounds interesting and profitable. I'd quite like to teach abroad (not TEFL, proper teaching in proper international schools). I hear good things about the jobs in Asia but a few grumbles about smog in the bigger cities.

Reply 119

Dalek1099