How can someone in their 30s afford a house - PLEASE READ MOD WARNING IN OP

Eric Cartman wrote: »

and if you dont mind, the price of the house, or ballpark. Were you paying rent at the time and if so how much, A few people have posted these success stories , none so far are about dublin or their conditions paying >500 a month in rent while saving.

Was renting at the time 475 a month and had been renting for over 10 years at that stage. Parents helping out was not an option or living with them at the time House was also one that needed some work done to it but was still liveable.If it was today I would be paying over 500 a month and wouldn't have a hope of buying in the same area now. Cork was getting expensive by the time I left. But as I said in another post it's still a good idea to try saving coz you never know where life will take you or where you will end up. Also they way we work in certain industries is changing ie IT and finance to name two examples so maybe in time less need to live in our major cities

Kidkinobe wrote: »

House prices do indeed go up and down over short periods...But show me a house that is cheaper today than it was in the 1980s, 70s, 60s,50s etc..House prices will always go up and its foolish for you to say otherwise..

while this is very true, i did read something around the time of the crash that the average apartment owner had bought with a view to selling/trading up within 5 years..... so you do need to be cognisant of shorter term price fluctuations if you are buying a starter home. Otherwise you might be stuck in a starter home for a lot longer than you want(like many celtic tiger couples).

Little Less Conversation wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. How do people have what they have at such a young age? What do ye do in life to get paid a decent wage? I kind of started saving last year but haven't saved since last September. Haven't touched it either. But it's such a miserable amount, about 1k. Guess it's a start but I'll be in my 40s by the time I get anything if I'm lucky.

For me I was quite lucky in that I figured out what I wanted to do young enough so have been in the same career for the past 10 years with a professional qualification earned 8 years ago. Obviously staying in the same career has led to steady wage increases over the years.

That said, I know someone who changed career mid to late 20's and earns more than me because they have a natural aptitude for the new career (IT related) and continuously up-skilled themselves plus gained a good reputation so are now in high demand and can name their salary practically. Took a lot of effort on their part though for a few years and there were social sacrifices to get to the point now that they can do what they want both professionally and socially.

Eric Cartman wrote: »

and if you dont mind, the price of the house, or ballpark. Were you paying rent at the time and if so how much, A few people have posted these success stories , none so far are about dublin or their conditions paying >500 a month in rent while saving.

I posted before and I bought in Dublin last year. I was paying over €500 a month in rent (plus bills etc) sharing with my OH. Based on savings history/job history (increasing salaries year on year) we were able to ask for an exemption on the salary multiple. While both of us get bonuses each year, these weren't counted as they are not contractual. Was it easy - nope not at all and there were some things I just had to stop buying (expensive cosmetics etc) but I still went on holidays (in the years saving I've been to New York twice, San Francisco and all around Europe). Those holidays were well thought out though in advance and saved for prior to going.

Little Less Conversation wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. How do people have what they have at such a young age? What do ye do in life to get paid a decent wage?

Average earnings in Ireland are 46k approx.

I know people aged 25 on 45k in 2018, not uncommon.

These would be in skilled roles, in demand.

Skilled people need to be aiming for 60k by age 40.

We bought our home 2 weeks before my 36th birthday in 2016 as a single-income family of 4 where both myself and my wife had pissed away every cent we earned in our 20's and early 30s.

We had a few things going for us, or things I think we did well. Some of them might be tips others could take on board, other just factors of our good luck:

1) I earn a shade over the average gross household income so while not spectacular or anywhere near 6 figures, it's a decent wage.
2)We both took on additional part-time jobs, me doing a few bar shifts, my wife doing some babysitting.
3) We were lucky enough to be able to borrow some of the deposit from parents (they took out 5 year loans, lodged the amount our accounts 6 months before we applied for the mortgage so it wouldn't show on our bank statements at that time and we made the repayments out of cash from the nixers).
4) We clearing all our previous debts and saved our asses off for two years by living frugally: driving a single 12/13 year old car, have never had health insurance, cancelled the TV package (just kept an internet connection and Netflix / On demand services / torrents etc), bought an annual pass for the zoo and used it almost every second week instead of bringing the kids to the cinema / play centres / swimming pools etc., wouldn't go to the doctor unless absolutely necessary, refused invitations to a few weddings, stags dos etc., meal planned as much as possible to reduce what we spent on takeaways and waste on grocery shopping (which was always done in Lidl or Aldi), took 1 short, cheap family holiday to the UK in that time availing of loyalty points I'd accumulated from business travel to cover 3 nights of hotels, invited friends over and drank in our home instead of the pub (though having 2 small kids, the pub wasn't a big factor in our lives anyway!)
5) We threw the net very wide when looking at areas we'd be happy to live in and found somewhere we absolutely love in North County Dublin that I wouldn't have initially thought of at all.
6) We focused on finding a fixer upper that didn't involve structural work and found a solid, 4 bed / circa 110sqm house that had been neglected for years was horrendously decorated but was on a lovely small road in a small village surrounded by green space and beaches.
7) We accepted that we couldn't fix everything about the house immediately. Some rooms we've gutted (bathroom and kitchen), most we've just given a good lick of paint, I've a list of DIY jobs that'll keep me busy for years to come (and a major job planned for 3 or 4 years time to replace the ancient, misted up double-glazing with more appropriate sash windows).
8) When it came to fitting out the house we gratefully accepted some hand me downs from friends and family, bought stuff second hand off adverts (the washer / dryer cost all of €50, the bathroom sanitary ware was free and got tarted up with new taps etc., we salvaged an "upcycling gone wrong" kitchen table for free etc.), the rest came from the lower ends of the IKEA catalogues.
9) I did as much of the work as I could, learning from youtube, the DIY forum here and so on.
10) We went to builders providers or wholesalers for paint, fittings, materials, etc. they can be less than half the price than the big DIY chains and the products can often be of superior quality.
11) We took the first mortgage we were offered, gave the place the afore-mentioned cosmetic facelift over the first year we lived there and were able to change our LTV to avail of a much better interest rate for our second year in the property after getting it revalued.

A neighbour's house in comparable condition to what ours is in now has just sold for 40% more than we paid (in an area that's increased by an average of slightly over 11% in that time) so I'd hope we're fairly safe in the event of a crash: we've almost 35% equity in the property and the mortgage is manageable even if I have to take a 50% cut in salary at some point. Sure, the BER rating is nowhere near what we'd have in a new build and the heating/electric bills reflect that. I could easily spend 50k modernising the place further but I've actually discovered that I enjoy DIY as a hobby and it'll get there over time. Time that we'll be spending paying down our own mortgage instead of a landlord's.

There was a lot of talk about how much easier it was to buy a property in the 70's on this thread without remembering that properties in those days weren't done up to anything like the same standard as people expect these days. Couples buying in the 70's/80's often lived with the decor for years before they could afford to decorate it to their own tastes. Rooms were furnished as the money to furnish them was earned and saved. Many of what we now consider household "essentials" were luxuries only the very wealthy had back then (tumble dryers, microwaves, second television sets, heated towel rails, burglar alarms). I can still remember the excitement of our family getting our first VCR when I was 4 years old and it costing my Dad a full month's wages!

Augeo wrote: »

Did the nixer money cover the loans? Or are the repayments running for the next couple of years too?
I doubt many can get the deposit like that tbh....... and that was crucial to your plan/project

No, the nixers covered the loans until after we'd drawn down the mortgage. Will be paying them back for another couple of years still. The repayments, if added to our mortgage repayments, would still be lower than market rent for the area though.

I'd imagine a lot more than you'd expect could get a chunk of their deposit that way (it was about 40% of our deposit and initial redecoration budget). The only real requirements are parents that are willing and able to take out a home improvement loan and the forward planning to arrange it. It's some creative accounting and I'm sure it would be frowned upon by the banks but there's nothing too dodgy about it.

klaaaz wrote: »

The vast majority of replies here are from dual income buyers, the question was "someone" not "couples" I think we know the answer for a single person, it's extremely hard to afford a house on their own presently. Maybe easier to afford an apartment though.

I was originally applying as a sole applicant but because we weren't married, it made sense to do a joint application so both names on deeds and mortgage. It was more from that point of view than the financial cost that we went for it. I could have gotten the mortgage on our house by myself (deposit wasn't fully there solely though).

Amirani wrote: »

I don't see any reason why a single person wouldn't aim to live in a well spec'd apartment.

Honestly if I was single and buying, I probably would look more at apartments rather than houses. But being in a couple and planning a family, it made sense to get a house so as not to have to look at moving in a couple of years (I hate moving).

Live with your parents for as long as possible. Don't drink, don't smoke, don't take holidays, don't eat or go out more than once every two weeks. Buy one year old used phones and keep them for 4 years at least.