How many people here have bought property on their own?

jayjay2010

The reason I ask this is because I have a friend who is working in BOI for over a year now and she said she has never come across a solo mortgage applicant. I was pretty surprised to hear this.

I bought on my own back in April 2015. I have a friend who is looking to buy on his own this year.

Just curious to see who was able to buy on their own and why they did or did they buy with a partner/friend etc...

Bought on my own 2009.
Most of my friends bought on their own before I did.

titan18

I'd imagine the mortgage rules will make buying on your own very tough. 3.5 times your salary will make it very difficult to get a decent sized loan.

Like, I've been looking recently and whilst due to savings, I could easily afford the deposit needed, 3.5 times my salary wouldn't be close to enough. If I had a partner earning similar, it would be though.

You'd really need to be earning 50k + to have a chance at a decent place imo

Stealthfins

I was one of the lucky ones,in 2003 I was able to buy a 4 bed detached for 169,000 euros off the plan's.

Back in the early 00's it wasn't uncommon for single men and women to buy their own houses and sites.

Just a head's up,higher ground is the new frontage,and yes I bought mine on higher ground 😉

Ursus Horribilis

I bought my house on my own last year. Not with BOI though. Off the top of my head I can think of at least a dozen friends /relatives /acquaintances who bought on their own as well.

amtc

Bought on my own with boi.on 2004

D_D

I bought on my own with BoI at the end of 2013 in Dublin.

Jen44

Bought a house on my own in 2005 just bought a second property with my husband end of last year

xband

Really says a lot about the unrealistic Irish property market.

If one income slips, boom : you're into mortgage crisis.

Looks like property bubble 2.0 is being set up as we speak.

The J Stands for Jay

Stealthfins wrote: »

Just a head's up,higher ground is the new frontage,and yes I bought mine on higher ground 😉

That'll change at the first sign of frost or snow...

I don't know of anyone who bought on their own. You'd want to be earning at least €70k to get a loan for anywhere decent.

heroics

Bought my own in 2007. Still remember didn't go with BOI as they wouldn't ring me back. Even tried 2 different branches as all my banking was with them at the time.

One of the reasons I don't bank with them any more for anything.

spurious

In the 80s I had to put up with all sorts of sexist nonsense trying to borrow on my own as a woman.

mansize

Me 2012

Ush1

Bought on my own in 2012, mortgage with ulster bank.

mcgovern

Got one on my own in 2008, but got something like 8 times my basic salary.

Supercell

Bought on my own in 2011 and don't earn near 70k! Helps to save..

JustAThought

When I was looking to get mortgage B of I were a total nightmsre todeal with - with all their paperwork completed they wanted 2 to 3 weeks to set up a first meeting - wouldn't acccept documents by email or fax : it had to be by meeting -- the house you would want would be gone by the time they opened their first envelope. AIB, Irish Permanent & Ulster Bank had an approval turnaround of about a week ( or a day if you were being rejected!) Small wonder your friend had so little diversity of applicants.

BOO here - thank God - as did about half of my mates. It seemed that all I knew who bought to invest with partners ended up badly - which is a shame.

Uriel.

bought on my own in 2008.
The madness still existed at that time - I applied for and received mortgage approval (subject to giving the bank copies of various documents) in 25 minutes on loud speaker driving home from work... mad.

jayjay2010

jayjay2010 wrote: »

..............

Just curious to see who was able to buy on their own ..............

Bought on my own twice, once in 2005 and the 2nd time more recently, still have the 2005 purchase but don't live in it.

James Bond Junior

Bought on my own last year. Was all ready to go with boi but switched to kbc as they were cheaper.

Icaras

Most of my friends bought as couples during the boom years as did I more recently - on reflection we were all the partying type rather than the saving type.

Jaketherake

We are going back to the days when it was a huge ask for a person to be able to buy a property.
Arguably thats no bad thing.
It was only after everybody in the country could walk into the bank and get a mortgage that prices took off like nobodies business.

But I think the days of one wage buying a property are well behind us.
One example of a huge change in affordability is
Women are now an important part of the workforce and not made or expected give up work as soon as they get married anymore.
This change is a major factor in house prices and here to stay.

mydarkstar

I bought on my own in 2004 with EBS. Mortgage repayment was more affordable then than the going rate for renting a place. 12 years later my "35 year mortgage" now has only 10 years left on it. As an aside, the reps I spoke to in BoI and Bank of Scotland were both rude and obnoxious to me on the phone which put me off them completely.

mel123

I am in the process, nearly there. The new rules were a bit of a blessing and a pain in the @rse.

I second what another poster said. I am banking with BOI for all my life and they were a nightmare to deal with. They were only short of asking me what I had for dinner honest to god. The questions they asked and all the paperwork they wanted (like i bank with them, they can see all my financial activity), totally turned me off. Anyway they made me an offer, i asked them for a bit extra, no way, didnt matter that i was a loyal customer among other financial benefits. At the same time i went thought a broker to see what else was on the market. I got offers from different banks, and they were also offering me a little stretch on the 3.5 rule. BOI came back looking for my business, anyway long story short they made me two more offers with more money. Like why not offer me the most they are willing to give me in the first place instead of all the messing. I didnt go with BOI in the end.

On a side note, I think the new rules are eliminating a very large chunk of sole mortgages, I think we will see less and less of them.

adocholiday

I can't even begin to think how you'd buy a house alone now, especially in the Dublin region. My partner and I, both working full time jobs with well above industrial wage salaries, feel like we are years away from buying our own place in Dublin. Would I be wrong in assuming that most single income mortgages are outside of the Dublin region?

pawrick

Bought on my own at the end of 2013, went to 3 banks incl BOI which I had my accounts with since a teenager to get pre approval and no problem even with a small deposit before finally settling on a different bank who offered a better rate at the time and were better to deal with. Glad I bought when I did and didn't take the jump like so many people I know at the height of the boom with apartments in Dublin or homes in the commuter belt and also with the way rent prices have gone since.

I checked the flood maps of the area I bought in and the ordinance survey maps to get a height level before making the bid as I'm well aware of the flooding issues around Athlone where I eventually bought and didn't want to buy in a risky location but still wanted to be near enough to the river. Had to laugh at some homes advertised as not having flooded in 2009 which would require a boat to get to in any bad winter and people wondering why they were difficult to sell, many of these are ones you now see on the news which should never have been given permission including apartment blocks in known flood spots.

McGrath5

Bought on my own in 2014, haven't looked back since!

jackhammer

Bought on my own in 2013. Initially dealt with BoI who turned out to be a complete nightmare. Got mortgage approval with them, went sale agreed on a house and when I went to draw down the mortgage, BoI pulled the plug (they got cold feet as I was self-employed, but why approve me in the first place). Got in touch with a broker, who got me my mortgage through KBC.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

sugarman wrote: »

...€70k, are you joking?

Should be easily done at half that if you've been saving away

Not in Dublin. Let's look at somebody on an average wage.....€35k * 3.5 = €122,500. 10% deposit is obviously €12,500, but lets just say the person had €22,500 saved. So this person has €145k to spend. You'd be doing well to even get a one bedroom apartment in Dublin for that price (unless you want to live in very undesirable areas)

Earleybird

Bought on my own in 2010 with EBS.

BoI were, and continue to be the worst bank to deal with for mortgages for many reasons but you could argue that at least their comparative prudence in lending effectively yielded a positive result for them after all the carnage!

purplekitty

I bought my house on my own September 2015... in AIB, mortgage applied for in July, moved into house September.

cormie

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who has bought on their own, to give an indication of how much they actually got approved for in terms of their salary VS property price VS deposit. Actual figures not necessary if you don't wish, but % would be interesting to see. All the posters saying they bought on their own above could be all high earners and fortunate beneficiaries. Also to indicate whether you used a guarantor etc.

The 3.5x salary is definitely going to limit the amount of people who can put themselves in trouble financially, but it's also restricting those who would be able to pay it back no problem through the likes of renting a room, airbnb etc ever getting their own place if they are only on an average salary. Not all 3 bedroom houses are going to be occupied by non paying kids for the next 20 years.

*I realise the above may come across as ignorant, my economics knowledge is very limited :pac:

lanos

Augeo wrote: »

Bought on my own twice, once in 2005 and the 2nd time more recently, still have the 2005 purchase but don't live in it.

Thinly veiled I'M A SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY INVESTOR post

Earleybird

cormie wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who has bought on their own, to give an indication of how much they actually got approved for in terms of their salary VS property price VS deposit. Actual figures not necessary if you don't wish, but % would be interesting to see. All the posters saying they bought on their own above could be all high earners and fortunate beneficiaries. Also to indicate whether you used a guarantor etc.

The 3.5x salary is definitely going to limit the amount of people who can put themselves in trouble financially, but it's also restricting those who would be able to pay it back no problem through the likes of renting a room, airbnb etc ever getting their own place if they are only on an average salary. Not all 3 bedroom houses are going to be occupied by non paying kids for the next 20 years.

*I realise the above may come across as ignorant, my economics knowledge is very limited :pac:

Deposit of 15% was required due to EBS underwriting rules for apartments over a certain story, needed a bit of help from the folks as a result but had been approved for nearly x5 of salary which I subsequently didnt need to fully draw down.

The x3.5 is obviously quite restrictive but I would think the 20% deposit is a bigger problem for young people trying to get their own place. Will be interesting to see what impact Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee insurance could have if the scheme was adopted here.

lanos

lanos wrote: »

Thinly veiled I'M A SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY INVESTOR post

Not at all, 2005 purchase is in negative equity and has cost me (out of my pocket) circa €5K/annum every year it's been rented out.

Recent property is literally a humble abode.

pkvader

Bought on my own in 2004,an apartment that I still have and rent,bought a house with my wife in 2009.

Leogirl

I bought on my own in 2011. Got it at a great time+ never went into negative equity, it's about worth about 40k more now than what I paid for it. It's a struggle at times but it was a good time to buy+ its a good investment I think. I'd pay more than double to rent similar.

Mrs OBumble

BDJW wrote: »

Not in Dublin. Let's look at somebody on an average wage.....€35k * 3.5 = €122,500. 10% deposit is obviously €12,500, but lets just say the person had €22,500 saved. So this person has €145k to spend. You'd be doing well to even get a one bedroom apartment in Dublin for that price (unless you want to live in very undesirable areas)

Also worth noting that in Fingal (for example), the social housing eligibility threshold for a single adult is 35k. ref: http://www.fingalcoco.ie/housing/social-housing/apply-for-social-housing/

This means that if you earn less than 35k in this area, then there is no expectation that you are able to buy a property by yourself.

The issue is, of course, that earning 35,001 makes you totally ineligible for all housing support, while earning 34,999 makes you eligible for a council house (sooner or later, probably later!).





As a sideline, all the people here posting about buying on their own and now years later having more than one property. I hope ye all have good income protection insurance: if you ever get sick or unemployed for more than a few months, then owning a property that you don't live in seriously adds to how "wealthy" Welfare see you as.

froog

interesting discussion. i'm looking to buy next year on my own, short of living way out in the country it looks like smallish 2 bed apartments are the only thing i could afford (i'll be buying in cork). i often was told over the years never to buy an apartment as you'll never sell it again, is that good advice? worst case scenario if you move up later on you could just rent it out no?

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

.....................


As a sideline, all the people here posting about buying on their own and now years later having more than one property. I hope ye all have good income protection insurance: if you ever get sick or unemployed for more than a few months, then owning a property that you don't live in seriously adds to how "wealthy" Welfare see you as.

I'm oh so sure that you honestly hope that :pac:

I'm self employed so realistically have no expectation of getting anything off the state until OAP time. I don't even expect that.

If I'm ever sick to the extent that I cannot work for more than a few months how wealthy I am (or deemed to be) will be very low on my list of concerns.

johnnyskeleton

Jaketherake wrote: »

But I think the days of one wage buying a property are well behind us.
One example of a huge change in affordability is
Women are now an important part of the workforce and not made or expected give up work as soon as they get married anymore.
This change is a major factor in house prices and here to stay.

So basically two incomes means it costs more to have the same quality of life?

Higher prices in 2007 was due primarily to artificially low interest rates. High prices currently is due to artificially low supply.

If we have gone from needing one income sustaining a family to two, then we are running to stand still.

What next, will a couple have to work two jobs each just to afford somewhere to live and that will then become the status quo?

heroics

cormie wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who has bought on their own, to give an indication of how much they actually got approved for in terms of their salary VS property price VS deposit. Actual figures not necessary if you don't wish, but % would be interesting to see. All the posters saying they bought on their own above could be all high earners and fortunate beneficiaries. Also to indicate whether you used a guarantor etc.

The 3.5x salary is definitely going to limit the amount of people who can put themselves in trouble financially, but it's also restricting those who would be able to pay it back no problem through the likes of renting a room, airbnb etc ever getting their own place if they are only on an average salary. Not all 3 bedroom houses are going to be occupied by non paying kids for the next 20 years.

*I realise the above may come across as ignorant, my economics knowledge is very limited :pac:

Mortgage at the time was 4.5x my salary and had 10% Deposit

pkvader

froog wrote: »

interesting discussion. i'm looking to buy next year on my own, short of living way out in the country it looks like smallish 2 bed apartments are the only thing i could afford (i'll be buying in cork). i often was told over the years never to buy an apartment as you'll never sell it again, is that good advice? worst case scenario if you move up later on you could just rent it out no?

I bought an apartment in a town just outside cork city,renting it 7 years now,have had no problem renting it out.

johnnyskeleton

cormie wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who has bought on their own, to give an indication of how much they actually got approved for in terms of their salary VS property price VS deposit. Actual figures not necessary if you don't wish, but % would be interesting to see. All the posters saying they bought on their own above could be all high earners and fortunate beneficiaries. Also to indicate whether you used a guarantor etc

Being able to live rent free while saving a deposit is also a serious benefit to some people.

cormie

cormie wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea for anyone who has bought on their own, to give an indication of how much they actually got approved for in terms of their salary VS property price VS deposit. Actual figures not necessary if you don't wish, but % would be interesting to see. All the posters saying they bought on their own above could be all high earners and fortunate beneficiaries. Also to indicate whether you used a guarantor etc.

2005 property, 95% mortgage with BOI, I was 24, property price, borrowed 4.2 times my income (my income was more than my actual salary due to shift premium which BOI accepted as my salary) at the time.

Recent property, 20% deposit, under 3.5 times income borrowed and demonstrated capacity to pay both mortgages with no rental income.

No fortunate beneficiaries & no guarantor & never lived rent free

jasonb

I bought on my own in 2001. I can't remember my exact wages at the time, but I think the mortgage was about 3.5 times my salary, and I had around 30% of the price saved as a deposit. Got the house for €129,500 in Kildare (that part I do remember 'cos I was so happy they took my 'less than asking price' offer! ). 10.5 years left on the mortgage now...

J.

Jamaican Me Crazy

mcgovern wrote: »

Got one on my own in 2008, but got something like 8 times my basic salary.

Uriel. wrote: »

bought on my own in 2008.
The madness still existed at that time - I applied for and received mortgage approval (subject to giving the bank copies of various documents) in 25 minutes on loud speaker driving home from work... mad.

Yep this ^^^

Bought in 2008 on my own. 100% mortgage, only needed €3k for a booking deposit. Madness really.
If I had waited a few more months I would have gotten a much nicer house for the same money although the mortgage would have been harder to come by.
I was also given a tracker mortgage 'by mistake' although I suspect the broker knew what she was at. I started paying €1200 per month and paying less than half that now so can't complain really.

I also know a few people who bought on their own although not very recently.

Mrs OBumble

Augeo wrote: »

I'm oh so sure that you honestly hope that :pac:

I'm self employed so realistically have no expectation of getting anything off the state until OAP time. I don't even expect that.

If I'm ever sick to the extent that I cannot work for more than a few months how wealthy I am (or deemed to be) will be very low on my list of concerns.

I'm not quite sure why you think I'm being sarcastic.

I'm not.

If you get any illness which stops you from working, but is not so bad that you need permanent hospital care, then how wealthy Welfare deem to you to be will be very important, because means-testing with determine if you are eligible for any benefits at all.

Fair play if you have provided yourself with some serious savings that enable you to live without any income for a long time. But most people haven't, can can get seriously caught if they have property assets but little cash.

NIMAN

Bought on my own in 2001, don't think I'd qualify these days on my own.

John_Rambo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'm not quite sure why you think I'm being sarcastic.

I'm not.

If you get any illness which stops you from working, but is not so bad that you need permanent hospital care, then how wealthy Welfare deem to you to be will be very important, because means-testing with determine if you are eligible for any benefits at all.

Fair play if you have provided yourself with some serious savings that enable you to live without any income for a long time. But most people haven't, can can get seriously caught if they have property assets but little cash.

Self employed people aren't eligible for social welfare.

Jaketherake

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

So basically two incomes means it costs more to have the same quality of life?

Higher prices in 2007 was due primarily to artificially low interest rates. High prices currently is due to artificially low supply.

If we have gone from needing one income sustaining a family to two, then we are running to stand still.

What next, will a couple have to work two jobs each just to afford somewhere to live and that will then become the status quo?

Its all about buying power and competition to buy (and supply of course but to a lesser extent).
Too many double income couples now for the single income to compete against. Only the very good single income can possibly hope to compete with even the average double income buyers.