Advice on buying a house in my situation

job seeker

Hi all, I am in a situation where I am not sure what to do.

So I was living in Kildare for the past 9 months, commuting and working in Dublin. Four weeks ago I got a transfer back closer to home, and have moved home to Sligo for now. I was considering going renting again, but to be honest if there was even the slightest chance I'd get approved for a mortgage I'd try my best to buy.

I am a 30-year-old single male and I am currently employed in the public sector for nearly a year. I'm only on 27k, but on the higher CO payscale. As I said, I have currently moved home to my parent's house for the time being as I put a long-term plan in place which would hopefully enable me to buy at some stage. I have 20K in savings which really isn't much, but it's a start I guess.

I had a look at the first home scheme, which I may qualify for and it would leave slightly more affordable. If I was to buy, I'd like to buy in Sligo town, or on the outskirts.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/owning-a-home/help-with-buying-a-home/affordable-housing/#l2755f

Granted, I wouldn't know a whole pile about buying property, so any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

JCN12

Without knowing property values in Sligo, I would say you might need to keep saving if interested in a 3 bed type house. By the way, 20k is a lot of money, so go easy on yourself. You're doing great.

Go to the local authority loan website, and have a try at their loan calculator to give you an idea of what may or may not be possible, and what your savings target should be for the next year or two.

RichardAnd

Based on your salary, you would probably qualify for a mortgage of about 108k (4 times your salary). You may be able to get a little more, however as some banks will make exceptions. With your savings, this will bring you to about 130k

Realistically, you will struggle to find something in Sligo town for that price. You could possibly find something in the surrounding country-side, if you're prepared to live rurally.

howiya

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120598093#Comment_120598093

Just to add to this. I've no idea what the salary scale the OP is on and whether this would be much help. Some lenders eg ICS will take the OP's salary at now plus a further two points on the salary scale. So if scale goes 27, 28, 29, 30 etc, then the OP would be able to borrow 4 times 29.

Downside obviously that ICS rates aren't competitive at the moment.

riclad

look on myhome,ie ,daft.ie / sligo. Save as much as you can ,be consistent, eg save x amount every single week, open a deposit saving account with tsb or aib

https://www.permanenttsb.ie/mortgages/first-time-buyer-mortgage-overview/

https://www.permanenttsb.ie/mortgages/first-time-buyer-mortgage-calculator/

PhoenixParker

You should probably check what your salary actually is as a start.

Higher CO starts at 29.5k and normal CO starts at 26.6k

Assuming you're a few years in because you've done mobility and if you're thinking about a mortgage you're off probation, so you'd be on more than that again. . .?

You should also skip the 4th and 8th Increment if either is coming up for you.