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

daheff · 11-02-2019 12:48pm

Nomis21 wrote: »

I came to Ireland 12 years ago at the age of 53 with nothing. I still have nothing but I have had a good time.

You can't take it with you so just enjoy your life and stop getting fixated on house purchasing and a mortgage which will be a ball and chain round your neck for 25 years.

Cant wait to see your pension plan. Most people need to have their mortgage paid by the time they retire because income drops by at least 30%...which should be the same proportion you are paying in mortgage/rent. If you still need to rent in retirement be sure you wont be having a good time. Especially if you need to keep moving every couple of years because the rent increases beyond what you can afford.

bucketybuck wrote: »

Basically the take away from this thread is that if you want to buy a house you need to make it your entire life's focus, give up everything that costs money, work every waking hour and then eventually in the next decade you will have a deposit and can start looking at houses. Though you won't get your dream house, it'll be some apartment or crappy starter home.

Wonderful.

Take from this thread that you need to make some sacrifices for a while to save a deposit. The more sacrifices you can make, the quicker you have your deposit.
Budget & stick to it. Decide how much you need to save each month and work around that figure. Even when you get your mortgage/home keep saving every month...otherwise what do you do if you lose your job/get sick/have kids to pay for?

professore · 11-02-2019 12:49pm

Pussyhands wrote: »

I honestly don't know what some people spend their money on as I'd struggle to spend all my salary in a month if I tried.

Try having kids.

dowhatyoulove · 11-02-2019 12:51pm

Me and the hubby moved away - we both left college the year of the recession hit and tbh not one of our friends have bought a house yet - we are all early thirties.

Been away a few years - managed to pay off wedding, had kids and now have about 40K put away for deposit. All within 5 years so it’s doable but it’s been a tough ride being away from Ireland.

professore · 11-02-2019 12:57pm

daheff wrote: »

Cant wait to see your pension plan. Most people need to have their mortgage paid by the time they retire because income drops by at least 30%...which should be the same proportion you are paying in mortgage/rent. If you still need to rent in retirement be sure you wont be having a good time. Especially if you need to keep moving every couple of years because the rent increases beyond what you can afford.

Devil's advocate - you get dementia at 70. Your family put you in a nursing home. You live 10 years not knowing your own name. Meanwhile Sinn Fein win a majority in the Dail and tax on pension income and property tax on "rich" people like yourself - after all you are the "rich" they are talking about - goes through the roof to pay for people like our friend. You lose your house on the "fair" deal scheme. Or you get sick younger or lose your job and you eat through your savings and the bank take your house, and you still owe them 100 grand. Where is your "security" now?

Our friend has a good social life, a few drinks with friends, doesn't have a car. Driverless cars are common now so that's not an issue. Medical card pays for healthcare. Gets social housing in new specially designed areas for retired people. His family visit regularly. Lives a full, healthy and happy life till 85 because he took care of his health and didn't stress out too much about everything.

Kidkinobe · 11-02-2019 1:01pm

dowhatyoulove wrote: »

Me and the hubby moved away - we both left college the year of the recession hit and tbh not one of our friends have bought a house yet - we are all early thirties.

Been away a few years - managed to pay off wedding, had kids and now have about 40K put away for deposit. All within 5 years so it’s doable but it’s been a tough ride being away from Ireland.

Thats why house prices will remain high and continue rising...there is a huge backlog of first time buyers wanting to get into a house and wages have only started to go up 2 years ago, lots of first home buyers will be in the 30/40 age group will be seriously looking for a home in 2 years, and they will be competing with the younger generation 20/30 years old wanting to buy the same houses.

pwurple · 11-02-2019 1:18pm

Like the others said, go make some money. Work work work work work.

When I was in my twenties, I worked for a corporate, and also did web design work at the weekends for some extra dosh. Even when I was in school, I had two or three jobs on the go. Working in a bookshop during the holidays, babysitting, and a weekend job at the cinema. Same all the way through my 30's. Worked a normal job, and did some extra contracts on top.

Didn't spend on disposable crap, and that's it. Simple as.

No inheritances, no windfalls. Just hard graft and a plan.

GoneHome · 11-02-2019 1:25pm

This is primarily a problem if you're aspiration is to buy in one of the cities or in one of the commuter towns around Dublin. I live in rural county Limerick, under an hour from Limerick city and a little over that from Cork city. A lovely three-bedroom bungalow on an acre of land down the road from me sold a couple of months back for €125,000.

upinsmoke · 11-02-2019 1:36pm

I'm on 39k, 500 goes to renting a one bed apartment. Rest is free cash.

Saving roughly 1200 a month at the minute to buy a house. I'll get something around the 175K. In three years thats 43,200 saved.

I'll be going down the county council route I reckon with the first time buyer option.

Cuddlesworth · 11-02-2019 1:46pm

pwurple wrote: »

Like the others said, go make some money. Work work work work work.

You can work all you want but every holiday, takeaway and unnecessary expense sets you back.

For us as a couple, it helped to work out the amount we needed, the amount we could in theory save and how long it would take to get there.

When she wanted the holiday, did a quick check and it turned out it would set the savings plan back by 3 months. Killed that idea pretty quickly.

Maximus277 · 11-02-2019 1:56pm

As you get older you should be deacumulating your assets not accumulating them.

Rent an appartment and go to Amsterdam and get laid.

Go to the pub and watch the football and order yourself a steak.

Visit Australia and go surfing.

Don't listen to all this frugal nonsense.

You're only young once and when you're in a nursing home the HSE will take your house anyways.

Aim to die with nothing but stories.

klaaaz · 11-02-2019 1:57pm

Kidkinobe wrote: »

Thats why house prices will remain high and continue rising...there is a huge backlog of first time buyers wanting to get into a house and wages have only started to go up 2 years ago, lots of first home buyers will be in the 30/40 age group will be seriously looking for a home in 2 years, and they will be competing with the younger generation 20/30 years old wanting to buy the same houses.

Not necessarily, watch when interest rates go up and then prices will stall or even fall. Credit will become more expensive to obtain and savers for that house will be the bigger winners over someone who hardly saves.

upinsmoke · 11-02-2019 2:24pm

Maximus277 wrote: »

As you get older you should be deacumulating your assets not accumulating them.

Rent an appartment and go to Amsterdam and get laid.

Go to the pub and watch the football and order yourself a steak.

Visit Australia and go surfing.

Don't listen to all this frugal nonsense.

You're only young once and when you're in a nursing home the HSE will take your house anyways.

Aim to die with nothing but stories.

I'd rather sacrice two years of my life to be honest to have a house instead of pissing it away on rent, drink and things that are not necessities to be honest. Nice asset to have when you retire

Kidkinobe · 11-02-2019 2:29pm

klaaaz wrote: »

Not necessarily, watch when interest rates go up and then prices will stall or even fall. Credit will become more expensive to obtain and savers for that house will be the bigger winners over someone who hardly saves.

Interest rates have zero effect on the psyche of a first time buyer...especially ones that have been saving for 5/10 years to get a home. They want a home and they will pull out their own teeth to get it...

pwurple · 11-02-2019 2:31pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

You can work all you want but every holiday, takeaway and unnecessary expense sets you back.

For us as a couple, it helped to work out the amount we needed, the amount we could in theory save and how long it would take to get there.

When she wanted the holiday, did a quick check and it turned out it would set the savings plan back by 3 months. Killed that idea pretty quickly.

That's why the rest of my plan contained "don't buy disposable crap" and "have a plan".

By the way, we travelled as well, as long as the plan was being met. Just changed the way we travelled. More road trips, camping and hostels, less 5 star or package resorts.

Some of the current peeps seem to think a 500 euro handbag, 1000 euro phone and 5 star weekends away are an expected basic. I didn't start doing that (well, not the handbag or the phone yet, or maybe never tbh!), until I was nearly 40.

James Bond Junior · 11-02-2019 2:33pm

Some of the responses here are reckless. Spend what you like and the government will pick up the tab later. No wonder the country is funked when there is a sizeable portion of the population devoid of personal responsibility. Scary.

alexmalalex · 11-02-2019 2:46pm

The OP has obviously provided enough information on his/her circumstances to make a realistic assessment.

Most of the responses offered are self-righteous and ignore the trade-offs that are required in life IMO. In this regard, I think you should pay heed to Baz Luhrmann: "Advice is a form of nostalgia dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth" Its not that people are telling you untruths, its just that they are exaggerating the truth, to rationalize their own choices. They also want to make themselves feel good. Once they have acquired their little box, believe me, it makes them feel good that you can't and that you have to suffer to try. I mean, come on, they are working so hard that they have the time to post on boards on a Monday morning. Complete BS.

The truth is that buying a house inside the M50 is now out of bounds for most of the population. The only ones doing it are those who (a) have net income of 100k+ per year, (b) have wealth, (c) have acquired the property from family, or (d) are drug dealers, criminals, or taxi drivers

. The houses at the fringe of the M50 are now seeing rapid inflation of house prices due to the fact that the folks who would usually buy a house for half a million, can't afford the three quarter of a million price tag. So their strategy is to move to less desirable locations, and that is why house prices are being driven up for houses that would ordinarily be worth 200k-300k. In turn, the people who would pay for houses in the 200-300k range are being driven out of Dublin...and so the cycle continues.

So, in all realism, living like a monk is unlikely to make a big difference, and the people on this forum know that. Best to look outside Dublin, or better yet outside Ireland. Or just wait for the next crash - which is imminent.

Ursus Horribilis · 11-02-2019 2:51pm

Having the discipline to save up the deposit is an invaluable life skill for after you buy your own place. Many people, including yours truly, will tell you that the first couple of years are the toughest. Even if you don't go mad spending money, getting a house up and running is surprisingly expensive. That's before you add in extras like maintenance, replacing white goods, TV licence, property tax etc.

DublinWriter · 11-02-2019 2:59pm

pwurple wrote: »

Like the others said, go make some money. Work work work work work.

..and forget all about live, live, live.

There is something bonkers going on, not just in Ireland, but in UK and US culture generally.

I don't know if many of you remember the setup for most of the 70's, but only one parent had to work outside the house.

My parents bought their own house through the Dublin corporation rent-to-buy scheme. I think the house originally cost £4000 back in 74, and it was a 30 year scheme with repayments of £5 a week right to the end of the term.

These days everyone seems to be an indentured mortgage slave, both parents working like dogs to pay off a mortgage and pay to have the kids in a creche from 8am to 6pm.

abcabc123123 · 11-02-2019 3:15pm

DublinWriter wrote: »

..and forget all about live, live, live.

There is something bonkers going on, not just in Ireland, but in UK and US culture generally.

I don't know if many of you remember the setup for most of the 70's, but only one parent had to work outside the house.

My parents bought their own house through the Dublin corporation rent-to-buy scheme. I think the house originally cost £4000 back in 74, and it was a 30 year scheme with repayments of £5 a week right to the end of the term.

These days everyone seems to be an indentured mortgage slave, both parents working like dogs to pay off a mortgage and pay to have the kids in a creche from 8am to 6pm.

Only one parent /could/ work up until 73 so prices obviously could only rise so far. My parents had to sell our home in the early 90s and downsize because high interest rates and college fees were crushing them. A significant rise in housing costs relative to income has occurred in recent years for sure but let's not pretend that people didn't have housing difficulties in the past as well.

Ursus Horribilis · 11-02-2019 3:18pm

How do people in continental Europe pay their rent once they retire? The ones who've rented all their lives?

Wanderer78 · 11-02-2019 3:19pm

abcabc123123 wrote:

Only one parent /could/ work up until 73 so prices obviously could only rise so far. My parents had to sell our home in the early 90s and downsize because high interest rates and college fees were crushing them. A significant rise in housing costs relative to income has occurred in recent years for sure but let's not pretend that people didn't have housing difficulties in the past as well.

Each generation has its difficulties in obtaining access to their most critical of needs, such as housing, it would be disingenuous to say otherwise, but our current situation is somewhat disturbing to watch, with very little acceptance that something serious is going wrong. This has the potential to become a serious problem for all, including current homeowners, including landlords.

pwurple · 11-02-2019 3:20pm

*eyeroll* Sure, I'm dead already. I've never been across africa, syria, or iceland,or lived in the US and switzerland. Never abseiled a glacier, never saw a sunrise over a hawaiian volcano. Never had a family, never rode motorbikes across europe. Never stood on standby in Austin texas for 40 hours waiting for jumpseats to be available, and heard some crazy stories. Except, wait, yes I did all those things. Within my means, while working.

Only one parent works in our house too. To do that, you need to spend less. Kinda like the 70's.

Back in the 70's (and yes, I was there too) we all had way less. We had one car, that didn't have back seats. Family of 7. All shared bedrooms. No mobiles, no internet, no meals out, no cafe coffee, no holidays to anywhere on an airplane. I didn't see an elephant in real life until I was 24. The Zoo? Don't be silly, that's crazy money.

You want more, like people generally have now, you pay more for it. That's how it works.

There was a thread in PI recently where the whole of boards seemed to think it was ludicrous that a guys new girlfriend didn't think a telly and a subscription was necessary in her house. She's right, it's a luxury. I remember my parents buying their first one.

And actually, if you want to be a bit more like people who you think have what you want... a house, a lifestyle, whatever, read and pay attention to what they say about getting there. Learn from their experience. Also also learn from people who f-ed it up. Most of the time they are bitter , but you can learn from that too.

I used to read heaps of books on this when I was in my twenties, and now, I read a good bit on FatFIRE, and LEANFire, for planning my retirement. People who have money, don't spend it on unimportant stuff, and have learned how to earn it.

f@steddie · 11-02-2019 4:08pm

DublinWriter wrote: »

These days everyone seems to be an indentured mortgage slave, both parents working like dogs to pay off a mortgage and pay to have the kids in a creche from 8am to 6pm.

There are many people who live a better version of the life your parents lead in the 70s. Good jobs and sensible spending. Manageable mortgages. More life experience due to the greater opportunities available now (for travel etc.).

Not all are indentured mortgage slaves.

Nermal · 11-02-2019 4:22pm

professore wrote: »

You lose your house on the "fair" deal scheme.

Maximus277 wrote: »

You're only young once and when you're in a nursing home the HSE will take your house anyways.

11.25% of it: https://www2.hse.ie/services/fair-deal-scheme/financial-assessment-your-payment-towards-care.html

At least make your spendthrift scenarios plausible.

riclad · 11-02-2019 4:37pm

The simple answer is save as much as you can ,
houses in rural towns are still relatively cheap, 70k and up for a 2bed unit.Look on daft.ie , dublin,meath etc
So it sounds like in your 20,s you changed jobs alot.
You went to college, now houses are more expensive.
and you had no interest in getting a 25 year mortgage at that time .
my friend bought a large caravan ,in a trailer park 40minutes from dublin .
He works in dublin , he lives with his girfriend in an apartment 4 days a week.
He paids a basic fee for acess to water and pays for his esb bill .
I think he paid 27k for his unit, its static ,not movable ,
similar to the picture i,ll upload here .
he has space to park his car .
He can stay there 12 months a year , 7 days a week if he wants .
Theres about 20 units on the site .

Banks lend about 3.5 times your salary ,if you have the deposit needed .The amount of the deposit depends on the price of the house,
it,s usually about 10-20 per cent of the loan.
The current situation is new in that there,s loads of jobs, we are in a boom, but theres not enough building going on to satisfy demand,
rents are high , In citys house prices have gone up, meanwhile the average wage has not gone up as fast as house price,s .
In 2007 there was a crash, so alot of builders went out of business , theres a shortage of building workers in ireland .
Its easier to make money building large office,s in dublin than building 3 bed house,s .
Its a bit ridiculous to worry about buying a house because of what might happen when you are 70 or 80 .No one knows .

spurshero · 11-02-2019 4:47pm

Pussyhands wrote: »

As someone who ticks most of those boxes....

If you think smoking, buying lunch at work, cycling instead of driving to work, working outdoors instead of the gym is so much of a sacrifice that you "may aswell be dead" then I don't think there's any helping you.

OP gave you a list of cost cutting measures, you don't need to do them all.

Just to be clear I’m in my 40 s and own my own house . It’s the people in my 20s I feel sorry for . My .....may as well be dead comment was half joking half serious . It’s not possible for everybody to cycle to work or with the amount of rain we get here to exercise outside all the time . I know owning a house is important but so is having a bit of fun in your 20s And early 30s and fun Costs money in most cases . Each to there own though

eviltwin · 11-02-2019 4:51pm

DublinWriter wrote: »

..and forget all about live, live, live.

There is something bonkers going on, not just in Ireland, but in UK and US culture generally.

I don't know if many of you remember the setup for most of the 70's, but only one parent had to work outside the house.

My parents bought their own house through the Dublin corporation rent-to-buy scheme. I think the house originally cost £4000 back in 74, and it was a 30 year scheme with repayments of £5 a week right to the end of the term.

These days everyone seems to be an indentured mortgage slave, both parents working like dogs to pay off a mortgage and pay to have the kids in a creche from 8am to 6pm.

I'd rather be a slave to my mortgage than someone else's.

f@steddie · 11-02-2019 5:20pm

spurshero wrote: »

It’s not possible for everybody to cycle to work or with the amount of rain we get here to exercise outside all the time .

We don't actually get that much rain. I read that if you cycled to work every day of the year in Dublin you'd get wet 20 times on average. (No link to support that comment). Anecdotally this is pretty spot on.

Of course if you're cycling or exercising your probably going to be wet / sweaty anyway so rain is irrelevant.

mariaalice · 11-02-2019 5:27pm

Maybe the op cant buy in their thirties but maybe they can buy at 40 they would still get a 25-year mortgage.

It helps if they are not the sort of person who associates thrift with meanness.

Brego888 · 11-02-2019 5:32pm

You need to start saving early. Anyone in their early 20's now reading this just start saving now even a small amount. It needs to be part of your routine, something you have to do and can't avoid. I still lived it up, loads of nights out, holidays away, nice car etc. But still topping away at the savings year on year.

Before I was 30 I had a good deposit saved and bought an apartment. Mortgage repayments were reasonable and crucially I continued to save. Now in my mid 30's myself and my partner have enough saved for a 20% deposit and an upgrade to a house.

Obviously in your 30's it's not too late to start saving now but it will take longer to get there. Start saving as early as you can people is the key. It doesn't mean you have to live like a monk.

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

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