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Saving for a house at 39- comments from family getting me down

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,630 ✭✭✭PoisonIvyBelle


    You are absolutely not wasting your time!!

    I also spent a large portion of my life looking after others in my family and it meant I couldn't focus on myself and building my own life until recently. To be honest, for a while I never even considered buying because I was happy enough renting but also it seemed impossible for me to do.

    But here's the thing - IT'S VERY POSSIBLE! :) I got referred to a broker on here who was so helpful and answered all of my Qs and I'm not even anywhere near the being able to apply point, but he gave me great advice to help me make sure that when I do want to apply I've all my ducks in a row. Happy to pass on his info. I'm 35 and around the same income and although in a relationship I want to do it alone as that was my plan from the outset. I wouldn't be looking to apply for another 2 years when I have both the deposit and extra saved to cover me for other things that come up and other expenses so that makes me even older applying.

    You can do this. There are various schemes available and you never know which might work for you. Lots of the comments from people saying it's harder on your own are likely people on a lesser income that could only buy what they wanted on a combined income.

    Don't pay any heed to the naysayers. If you want to buy a house then you go and do it. And by the way - fair fcuking play to you for doing it on your own. This is your time to live your own life for you now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 965 ✭✭✭SnuggyBear


    Nevermind what anyone else says. Work hard and carry on with the saving quietly. No need to tell anyone your plans.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,290 ✭✭✭✭Supercell


    The best time to buy a house is always yesterday/last year.
    OP I bought mine at 40 on a salary similar to yours. Congratulations on coming this far, you make your own path in life - keep saving, be realistic what your eventual goal is and you'll get there.
    I'm married now with three kids and able thankfully to overpay my mortgage by a few hundred extra monthly, I'm hoping to have it paid off in 18 years total (the initial mortgage was for 25 years). My celtic tiger friends that slagged me for missing the boat before will still be paying off their 30 year mortgages long after I'm done.

    Have a weather station?, why not join the Ireland Weather Network - http://irelandweather.eu/



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,505 ✭✭✭tscul32


    I have a friend in similar situation but she's 45. As her friends all we're doing is encouraging her.
    You'll have no problems, don't listen to the negative comments.


  • Registered Users Posts: 254 ✭✭forestgirl


    Of course you are not to old and whoever said that are probably jealous because you got to travel have a great time and fair dues to you.
    You are only 39 years old and you seem good with saving money so onwards and upwards.
    I think your best bet would be to tell them nothing?
    Someone said you missed the boat,what boat would that be then?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 303 ✭✭.42.


    I bought my first house last year at 41. Go for it


  • Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭Rachiee


    The age is not an issue at all, the fact that you are a single buyer means that the maximum you can borrow is 210,000 so a purchase price of 231,000 that's doable depending on where in the country you are looking for.
    I think its fair to say most single earners would not be a approved for 210,000 which may be where you are getting the negativity from. I was lucky and bought on my own in 2010, I wouldn't be approved enough to buy anything on my own these days


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Rachiee wrote: »
    the fact that you are a single buyer means that the maximum you can borrow is 210,000

    Where are you getting this from? I'm a single buyer right now and I'm approved for more than that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,603 ✭✭✭YellowLead


    Where are you getting this from? I'm a single buyer right now and I'm approved for more than that.

    Exactly! It’s down to your income - makes no difference if you are a single applicant or not. It’s 3.5 times your salary, or up to 4.5 times if you can get an exemption. There’s no cap for single people that I’ve ever heard of.


  • Posts: 18,749 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    I'm a single buyer and I'm approved for 5 times my salary.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,322 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    bubblypop wrote: »
    I'm a single buyer and I'm approved for 5 times my salary.

    I was a single buyer and worked for a company where there was potential to do a lot of travel every year. Mostly I dealt with people by phone and only met them by attending a few key conferences annually - but my contract had a per diem rate for being away from home and I really raised the bar by calculating that in as annual earnings.

    I was approved for a sum considerably higher than what I needed (or was prepared to borrow thank God) because I also argued that I would rent at least one, if not 2, spare rooms out a year - because I was a single person. So this was factored in on a one room rent-a-room tax scheme also into my projected earnings - I’m Dublin based and quoted the stats on house scarsity, demand for the type of place & location I was buying, tax free earning status etc

    So be creative but don’t paint yourself into a corner.

    Isn’t there also that rebuilding ireland single person low interest loan plan that was in the newspapers today being voted on? And other schemes with v low interest of 2.0% or less for the first five years... lots to be positive about!

    Keep up the great work and keep saving! and focus on your dream - it will pay off. Never mind the naysayers and cautious susans and begrudgers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 510 ✭✭✭SupaCat95


    I am going to get a lot of flak for this but here goes...........

    OP, you are looking too far into the past and not enough into the future.
    You also dont disclose your salary or sector.
    We are entering the 4th industrial age. Many things are going to be automated going forth. I have even seen videos of robots putting up dry walling. There is so much machine learning.
    You also need to recognise the World Economic Forum. "You will have nothing and you will be happy". All these people telling you about the past and getting house for half nothing and clearing mortgages in 10 years were in very very different economic times. Smart people dont save money, smart people invest money. Interest in savings never keep up with inflation. Start reading and following smart people like Robert Kiyosaki, Ray Dalio, Dr Michael J Burry and the like.

    In the next three weeks, the seeds of global recession will appear. By September we will be in a full depression. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 went down about 3% in a day and the Federal Reserve quickly corrected it with FIAT currency. There is way too much credit out there. If you can barely afford a mortgage today when interest rates are at their lowest, imagine what would happen if a mortgage went up 1 or 1.5 %?

    There are going to be massive house repossessions and the banks will ask the government to step in and the Central Banks will become co-owners at the very least.

    Time is not also on your side you are going to have very heavy repayments even if you are working at something like an engineer. Plus you are lacking the double income fail safe the bank looks for. A lot of people are telling you all the positive vibes and go for it and be brave, but its not their money or risk. Banks will give you money no problem, then bleed you dry and then reposses it. I am going to buy a house too soon but I have about 80-90% of the money I need.

    I am not saying dont buy but go in with your eyes fully open to what is happening in the real world and what plans are being laid out in the future.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,603 ✭✭✭YellowLead


    Perhaps in addition to ignoring negative family members...take conspiracy theorists advice with a pinch of salt...


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,856 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hannibal_Smith


    Mod Note

    Supacat95, welcome to Personal Issues, where posters are asked to offer advice to an OP when replying to their thread. If you wish to discuss what may or may not happen with the economy, there are plenty of other places on boards for that. You've offered your advice to the OP now its up to them whether to heed or ignore it, but the general discussion should end here.

    Thanks

    HS


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,322 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    There is some junior cert level eye watering gibberish on here.

    OP - keep saving, follow your dream. I eas chatting to a guy parked outside the neighbours house today & he was waiting to view the home. I was so happy for him - I knew the area he currently lived in and he kept saying with delight he was ‘going up in the world’ and moving on in life. It was brilliant to listen to someone talking about how they had never dreamed to be able to buy there & was now hoping to make it happen and would be able to bid if he liked it. It was so refreshing to hear. Ordinary old fashioned excitement & achievement & pride in what he had done with hard work & determination.

    Don’t give up - keep on keeping on. You’ll soon be there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭Rachiee


    Where are you getting this from? I'm a single buyer right now and I'm approved for more than that.

    Central Bank lending criteria 3.5 x 60,000


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,216 ✭✭✭Tork


    From the Central Bank's website
    Loan-to-Income limits
    The LTI limit restricts the amount of money you can borrow to a maximum of 3.5 times your gross income. So for example, a couple with a combined income of €100,000 you can borrow up to a maximum of €350,000.

    Once again banks and other lenders have the freedom to lend a certain amount above these limits. In any one calendar year they can give an allowance to:

    Up to 20% of the value of mortgages to first-time buyers
    Up to 10% of the value of mortgages to second and subsequent buyers

    Unless somebody knows something I don't, single people can borrow up to 3.5 times their gross income.

    OP, don't pay any heed to what other people say. This is your life and your decision to make. Back in the mid-2000s I was in a position to buy my first home but I decided against it because I believed the property bubble was about to burst. That didn't stop me from having well-meaning relatives in my ear, urging me to buy before it was too late. Rent was dead money, I was paying somebody else's mortgage, there's never a bad time to buy a house etc. As it turned out, I was right and I was safer renting when the economy went to hell in a handcart. I didn't hear a peep out of these relatives after that. I know that some of my cousins/their kids ran into problems with their jobs or saw the value of their houses take a nosedive. What I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is that you'll have no shortage of people offering opinions on what they think you should or shouldn't do. This isn't their decision to make - it's yours. It's your life and you are the one who has control over what you do with it. From now on it'd be better to keep your cards close to your chest and quietly continue to save.

    As you can see, buying a first home is doable. You'll need to cut your cloth to suit your measure but I'm sure you'll get there. The one thing I'd advise you to do from now is to get your bank accounts and credit card statements into a "mortgage friendly" condition. If you have any overdrafts or loans, clear those if you can. Set up a direct debit and ensure a fixed amount of money goes from your current account to a savings one every month. Avoid online gambling or anything else that might attract attention. When the time comes to buy a home, you'll need to leave around €5k aside to cover solicitor's fees, surveyor etc.


  • Posts: 18,749 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    Tork wrote: »
    From the Central Bank's website

    Unless somebody knows something I don't, single people can borrow up to 3.5 times their gross income.

    .

    They can get an exemption to the rule.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,216 ✭✭✭Tork


    bubblypop wrote: »
    They can get an exemption to the rule.
    They can, yes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 965 ✭✭✭SnuggyBear


    It's 3.5 your salary max. Then they stress test that number so you may not even get the max. Best to talk to the bank really.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,078 ✭✭✭salonfire


    bubblypop wrote: »
    I'm a single buyer and I'm approved for 5 times my salary.

    You know well you are in a more privileged position than most with a multitude of allowances, guaranteed increases, overtime and secure job so know that 5x approval is the very rare exception.

    Dunno why throwing it out there as if it is a regular thing is helping the OP


  • Posts: 18,749 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    salonfire wrote: »
    You know well you are in a more privileged position than most with a multitude of allowances, guaranteed increases, overtime and secure job so know that 5x approval is the very rare exception.

    Dunno why throwing it out there as if it is a regular thing is helping the OP

    I dont have guaranteed increases or overtime, I don't know where you get that impression.
    Which btw, are not all accepted by all lenders.
    How would I know whether it's a rare exception or not? I'm merely telling the OP my experience.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,216 ✭✭✭Tork


    I lurk in the Accommodation and Property forum here. The 5 times thing isn't dished out like popcorn. Maybe our OP, if they're still reading, might get the 5 times their salary when the time comes. It'd be more prudent to operate on the basis that they'll get 3.5 times their salary.


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