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

You will be eligible for a shorter term - prob 25 years. We were around that getting our mortgage. Lots of people are now. I’d have a chat with broker soon enough though just to get your ducks in a row. There might be things you can put into place to apply 6 months to a year down the line.

shtpEdthePlum wrote: »

You're absolutely not too old. They might have been joking? Or jealous.

Obviously you'll be paying back a slightly higher rate than somebody who would have gotten a mortgage ten years younger than you. That's just the way the banks operate because they want to guarantee their investment is made good before we die. But it sounds like you'll be well able on that salary given the savings and debt clearance you've done. That'll all stand to you too.

There will be no difference in rates, rates aren’t dependent on the term he takes his mortgage over ... the term of the mortgage guarantees nothing for a bank, you can repay a mortgage or you can’t...

Get yourself a good mortgage broker now and find out where you are at and what you need to do to get to where you want to go. There's no need to wait. That's what they're there for and you're an ideal customer in that you're debt free with a decent salary, a permanent job and no dependents. Banks couldn't care less about what age you are, they'll apply the appropriate rate but won't bat an eyelid.

Very old fashioned views from your family members. They've far more to be embarrassed about than you with that small mindedness!

Ignore the begrudgers, fair play , keep on saving. AMortgage broker is a great idea as lots of options open to you
I bought my house on my own (female) so glad I did, rented for 10 years with lot of different people. Wishing you all the best

25 years used to be the maximum term for a mortgage.

You won't have any issues on age and you will get up to €210,000, possibly higher if they give you an exception.

Monthly payments would be under €1,000 and the beauty is that as you enter retirement, your home will have been paid in full

OP - you sound like you really did your father credit and were a great help and son to him. So you had fantastic holidays - brilliant - I did that too - months at a time, travelling and experiencing new countries and cultures and cuties and sights and meeting like minded people and having adventures and relaxed great times. How jealous do you think the others are - VERY!!! And now - mid covid - will they or their children ever have a chance to have the same freedoms and experiences - sadly probably not. That door is half closed on them and will never be the same again. You did great. You were respnsible for yourself and your overheads and debt, you worked hard and played hard and enjoyed every minute. Now those that did the traditional things want to belittle you and make you feel small - because it looks like you will be able to have had all those wonderful times and stress free life and lovely lifestyle AND now also get to live in comfort and own your own home - just like them.

39 or 40 or 42 is NOT too old to be a first time buyer. People here have mentioned brokers a lot but I’d also get onto citizens advise and ask them about the rebuilding ireland first time buyer help to buy scheme. There is also a scheme for people who were refused a mortgage by banks - you had to have been rejected on paper three times which then made you eligable for it. It might even be more worthwhile to HAVE been rejected as the bank rates used be lower!! I’d start there and keep saving. Its hard to bank cash like you are and I’d use every opportunity to bulk save while you can.

I bought a house by myself & with it still not paid off I have every intention of aiming to buy a second house - here or elsewhere abroad. I’m saving in that direction and expect to be given a second mortgage - it’s a risk game for the banks - can you demonstrate you can save, have you a reliable job, are you steady in it, what are your outgoings etc. - and how many more years have you left to work!!

Banks weigh and reduce the amount they will loan you (regardless of income) depending on if you have a car loan, if you have a child (% per child taken off!), if you declare you have a chronic illness or a history of illness in the family (eg MS/diabetes) etc. Being A hardworking, fit, salaried steady settled man with a steady career and who has shown the ability to prioritise and save will work in your favour.

I’d look on the banks websites first to see if they state their lending criteria regarding age - and work with that in mind - it can take some time to be approved and get all your paperwork sorted. they probably won’t as it could be seen as age discrimination rather than risk discrimination .

I borrowed (the mortgage) from Ulster Bank. I was a walk in off the street and had no account with them. The normal banks I had banked with all my life refused to loan to me despite considerable savings, a good job and a healthy 5 figure savings. Because UB is now pulling out of Ireland I would apply to them asap to see if you can get in before they go. The others you can deal with in a tear or so - UB will not be here then. EBS also offered to loan to me because there was a family history of banking there and I had had a Holy Communion account there - even thou it was unused for decades - technically I had a savings account and back then they were not a bank so it was in line with their corporate goals - madness!!!

I’d open a direct debit savings account for a set large amount of money equivalent to at least a mortgage payment per month to go into every month and not be touched. I had had no history of specific savings but could show I had a regular outgoinv of 1,200 for college fees every month for 2 years (I showed them the monthly college receipts) and this was the proof that they needed to show I could guarantee I could regularly pay a large monthly outgoing and would be reliable. 1,500 or even 2k savings p/m would smoke them out for you as a great risk if it were feasible. Oddly they did not value a large regular salary going into an account for me - one with a v good end of month balance and with all kinds of bits & pieces for bills etc going out - it was the specific set amount every month that clinched it for me - a direct debit monthly saving account was really what they wanted to see.

I’d keep saving hard, let it accumulate, check eith CA and the likes of Threshold for the scheme details or who would specifically know the up to date status in schemes from an specialised perspective and work from there. The more money you have saved the more attractive you are to them. Your buying overheads will include say about 3k for a solicitor and say 1k for a surveyor and a moving van so deduct that in your head from your savings as the banks certainly will. Keep banking as much as you can and check the age thresholds discreetly quickly and get onto UB. They will all be checking your credit history ( and gave access to it) so be honest about it. You can also check your own credit history which used be updated/upgraded every 2 years if you improved your bill paying history! I can’t rememver the agency to do this with but it might be interesting to talk to them - often a one year period of paying everything promptly can erase a bad patch and make you more attractive to banks to loan on!!!

I’d be very positive about it all - you have great things going for you and are saving big amounts & know what you want ( don’t buy an appartment!!) . Keep at it and keep following your dreams - in Ireland there will always be begrudgers and cautious nancies paralysed by the past — don’t let them put you off or ruin your future!!!

Age IS important in this as you’ll want to have 20 years to pay it off and work - and have a few quid put by to save for the 2 years the government won’t pay a state pension in. I’d also ask do you have a pension plan? You don’t want to buy a big house and them live in poverty once you pay it off and retire. Is your brother being the shrewd on in staying in the family home and being able to save and bank all that money for when he us old/retired.10k a year on a state pension win’t pay a mortgage and certainly won’t float a great lifestyle in retirement - the banks may ask about this too.

Don’t mind your family and relations and their bitter nosey or semi well intended comments. It is probably the only thing they ‘have’ going on in their lives and houses are a media frenzied hot topic for anyone. Hold strong, be nice, and if needed say you find it stressful and would rather not talk about it . Or answer Indeed to any mean comments - that might help.

Airyfairy12 wrote: »

I dont see what age has to do with it? My mother is 60 and got a mortgage last year and she's on half your wages.
Ignore your family, I have aunts & cousins like yours and if I mention starting anything new or making a plan for the future, without a thought they put me down and tell me that's never going to happen. If I had listened to them id never have achieved anything.
The only opinion that matters is yours, you know whats best for you.

Age has plenty to do with it, but at 39, it won't affect them.

Your mother probably got maximum 7-8 years of a mortgage and probably has shown she will most likely be in gainful employment for the period

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

bubblypop wrote: »

They can get an exemption to the rule.

They can, yes.