Struggling to get a deposit together to buy

maxpowers

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat as myself. I am in Full Time employment for over 6 years and my OH is the same- combinded income of 70k. We have 1 child and pay for a creche on a full time basis. We pay monthly rent of 1250. We are getting married in May so any savings etc are been used for that. We want to buy in the next 12 months or so but its so so hard to save 400/500 a month when you have so many outgoings. Even at the low end of the market you still need around 20k - 25k of a deposit and thats before the other costs aswell - We would be 4/5 years trying to save that! Obviously we are lucky to be both working but its quite disheartening to think of the long road ahead! Maybe we should cancel the wedding!!

It seems like a vicious circle for people who rent but would like to buy unless you earn a very good salary

ntlbell

rent somewhere cheaper.

cut out all unesssary spending

buying coffee's out/papers/mags blah blah

don't say your not wasting money, 70k a year should be fairly easy to put a deposit together if budgeting properly

write down what you spend for a month or so _everything_ and remove what's not needed.

leonidas83

maxpowers wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat as myself. I am in Full Time employment for over 6 years and my OH is the same- combinded income of 70k. We have 1 child and pay for a creche on a full time basis. We pay monthly rent of 1250. We are getting married in May so any savings etc are been used for that. We want to buy in the next 12 months or so but its so so hard to save 400/500 a month when you have so many outgoings. Even at the low end of the market you still need around 20k - 25k of a deposit and thats before the other costs aswell - We would be 4/5 years trying to save that! Obviously we are lucky to be both working but its quite disheartening to think of the long road ahead! Maybe we should cancel the wedding!!

It seems like a vicious circle for people who rent but would like to buy unless you earn a very good salary

Thats a very high rent, no matter where your living in the country, you could much more reasonable rent for a two bed apartment or even three bed house, thats the first issue.

Is there anyone that could help you with the childcare, a relative that could take the child a few hours every week, save some money that way.

Finally, why the rush, the market may not have bottomed out yet, this need/obsession with us to own our own property needs to stop, just look at most countries on the continent, they have nowhere near the same amount of property owners

maxpowers

leonidas83 wrote: »

Thats a very high rent, no matter where your living in the country, you could much more reasonable rent for a two bed apartment or even three bed house, thats the first issue.

Is there anyone that could help you with the childcare, a relative that could take the child a few hours every week, save some money that way.

Finally, why the rush, the market may not have bottomed out yet, this need/obsession with us to own our own property needs to stop, just look at most countries on the continent, they have nowhere near the same amount of property owners

We live in Dublin and both work around the outskirts of the city centre. I wouldnt think that its overly excessive myself. Living where we do makes our daily lives much much easier and cheaper than living somewhere for 1100 a month and paying more on petrol/transport etc

We are not from Dubin so pawnig off the kids is not an option - i wish it was sometimes!

snubbleste

Start looking around for a cheaper place to rent
Follow ntlbell's advice.

Just reading your post reminds me of the demand from the public for 100% mortgages.

djimi

leonidas83 wrote: »

Finally, why the rush, the market may not have bottomed out yet, this need/obsession with us to own our own property needs to stop, just look at most countries on the continent, they have nowhere near the same amount of property owners

I completely agree with this. Why rush into buying now when you could keep saving for the next say two years, get together a bigger deposit and require a smaller mortgage as the houses you are looking at now are almost certainly going to be a good bit cheaper. I have never understood this obsession with having to buy immediately.

I also agree that if you really are looking to save then your rent is the first thing you need to look at. I fail to believe that you couldnt shave at least 150-250 off that if you really wanted to. I dont know which outskirts of Dublin you work in but you could rent a decent apartment in Naas for example for about €900 (or less even), and surely a €350+ a month saving would make the commute worthwhile?

maxpowers

djimi wrote: »

I completely agree with this. Why rush into buying now when you could keep saving for the next say two years, get together a bigger deposit and require a smaller mortgage as the houses you are looking at now are almost certainly going to be a good bit cheaper. I have never understood this obsession with having to buy immediately.

I also agree that if you really are looking to save then your rent is the first thing you need to look at. I fail to believe that you couldnt shave at least 150-250 off that if you really wanted to. I dont know which outskirts of Dublin you work in but you could rent a decent apartment in Naas for example for about €900 (or less even), and surely a €350+ a month saving would make the commute worthwhile?

appreciate the advice but a Naas to Clonskeagh commute every day stuck in traffic would drive me to drink. When you have to bring a child to creche and collect that child as well before 6pm you cannot be stuck in traffic all day.Saving 1k a year in rent is all well and good but its not going to make a massive difference if you need 20k - Petrol costs are massive. You could easily save 100 quid a month by not living so far from work.

trishasaffron

maxpowers wrote: »

We are getting married in May so any savings etc are been used for that.

This makes me really nervous for you! Why on earth are you using all your savings for a single day - the very very best weddings I have been at have cost very little but have been lovely small warm events.

IMHO if you re-examine this and your priorities you will find that a house deposit is vastly more important than a bling event.

maxpowers

trishasaffron wrote: »

This makes me really nervous for you! Why on earth are you using all your savings for a single day - the very very best weddings I have been at have cost very little but have been lovely small warm events.

IMHO if you re-examine this and your priorities you will find that a house deposit is vastly more important than a bling event.

who said i was having a bling or a big wedding!

most of the expensive is the honeymoon - only the best for the missus eh:D

snubbleste

most of the expensive is the honeymoon

I dunno what to say.

Cavehill Red

maxpowers wrote: »

most of the expensive is the honeymoon

This thread exemplifies a condition I thought was no longer viral in Ireland - what I call 'Freddie Mercury syndrome': I want it all and I want it now.

Here's the problem - banks no longer lend to clients who pose any risk whatsoever, which means in reality everyone (as the economy is so dire we could all lose our incomes nowadays.) Result? They'll only lend to those who can cover the shortfall with a deposit in the event that property, as is likely, falls further. Hence the deposit requirement.

Now, if you want the deposit and don't have it, you either borrow it from someone else (family most likely) or you save it. If you have savings and you spend them on other things, like the best honeymoon, then you don't get to have the deposit. Simples.

This scenario needs triage. The OP may feel that the time is right in their lives to purchase a home, but the numbers don't stack up to cover that, commuting, daycare, rent and bills, and a wedding and honeymoon. Something's got to give, and the way to decide what is to look at what's needed and what isn't.

Daycare, rent, etc are non-negotiables, or rather, can only be slightly negotiated downwards by shopping around. That brings us to wedding v house. I say take a slice out of both - trim down the wedding and honeymoon and leave at least the start of savings for a deposit, so that in a couple of years time, when property is cheaper again, you're in a position of strength to buy.

Many people were too keen and eager to buy a few years ago and now live with the lengthy aftermath of their rash decisions. Think this one through carefully. There is no rush.

Giblet

1250 is too high, especially considering you can get decent 2 beds for around 1,000 euro in Dublin, hell I pay 900 for a place in Rathmines, and there are plenty of places in the likes of Stillorgan and Sandyford which wouldn't take you too long to get to Clonskeagh from. You can't spend what you are spending and expect to save, so you will need to cut down. I agree you sound like you want to have everything without compromise. 70k won't get you that.

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1165123

Random gaff I found for 1000 euro.

maxpowers

Cavehill Red wrote: »

This thread exemplifies a condition I thought was no longer viral in Ireland - what I call 'Freddie Mercury syndrome': I want it all and I want it now.

Here's the problem - banks no longer lend to clients who pose any risk whatsoever, which means in reality everyone (as the economy is so dire we could all lose our incomes nowadays.) Result? They'll only lend to those who can cover the shortfall with a deposit in the event that property, as is likely, falls further. Hence the deposit requirement.

Now, if you want the deposit and don't have it, you either borrow it from someone else (family most likely) or you save it. If you have savings and you spend them on other things, like the best honeymoon, then you don't get to have the deposit. Simples.

This scenario needs triage. The OP may feel that the time is right in their lives to purchase a home, but the numbers don't stack up to cover that, commuting, daycare, rent and bills, and a wedding and honeymoon. Something's got to give, and the way to decide what is to look at what's needed and what isn't.

Daycare, rent, etc are non-negotiables, or rather, can only be slightly negotiated downwards by shopping around. That brings us to wedding v house. I say take a slice out of both - trim down the wedding and honeymoon and leave at least the start of savings for a deposit, so that in a couple of years time, when property is cheaper again, you're in a position of strength to buy.

Many people were too keen and eager to buy a few years ago and now live with the lengthy aftermath of their rash decisions. Think this one through carefully. There is no rush.

i was only winding yee up with the honeymoon part btw

maxpowers

Cavehill Red wrote: »

This thread exemplifies a condition I thought was no longer viral in Ireland - what I call 'Freddie Mercury syndrome': I want it all and I want it now.

Here's the problem - banks no longer lend to clients who pose any risk whatsoever, which means in reality everyone (as the economy is so dire we could all lose our incomes nowadays.) Result? They'll only lend to those who can cover the shortfall with a deposit in the event that property, as is likely, falls further. Hence the deposit requirement.

Now, if you want the deposit and don't have it, you either borrow it from someone else (family most likely) or you save it. If you have savings and you spend them on other things, like the best honeymoon, then you don't get to have the deposit. Simples.

This scenario needs triage. The OP may feel that the time is right in their lives to purchase a home, but the numbers don't stack up to cover that, commuting, daycare, rent and bills, and a wedding and honeymoon. Something's got to give, and the way to decide what is to look at what's needed and what isn't.

Daycare, rent, etc are non-negotiables, or rather, can only be slightly negotiated downwards by shopping around. That brings us to wedding v house. I say take a slice out of both - trim down the wedding and honeymoon and leave at least the start of savings for a deposit, so that in a couple of years time, when property is cheaper again, you're in a position of strength to buy.

Many people were too keen and eager to buy a few years ago and now live with the lengthy aftermath of their rash decisions. Think this one through carefully. There is no rush.

ur right about a lot of this i admit - good post.

Zamboni

This is purely guesswork.

Net roughly 50K after tax/pension contributions?

Rent €15k
Creche €12K
Groceries €1k
Commute (car/tax/fuel) €6

Leaves roughly €15k for a variety of things from pubs to hairdressing.

So what you save will really depend what you priortise between wanting your own house and standard or living and luxuries.
Get the wedding out of the way and I reckon you could easily save €5k a year for 4-5 years without too much sacrifice. That timeframe may sound daunting but if you are around 30 years old (guess) it shouldn't be a problem.

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials and enjoy the honeymoon.

Giblet

They pay bills too

MagicMarker

maxpowers wrote: »

i was only winding yee up with the honeymoon part btw

To be fair you said yourself in your OP that your savings are going on the wedding. You can hardly complain about not being able to save for a deposit when your putting your money towards something else.

Pick the one you think is more important and focus on saving for it.

okiss

I few years ago I had a reduction in my income so I had to make my money go further. If you want to buy your own home you need to decide do I have a big wedding/expensive honeymoon or do I cut costs here.
See if you can get some family member to make the wedding dress, wedding cake or do the flowers for the wedding - you can make a saving here.
I would look at every area of expense you have. Start to shop in Aldi/lidi, make out a shopping list, buy things when they are on offer ie washing powder ect. Use money off coupons. Bring your lunch to work - spend €5 a day at work = €25 a week = €25x48 weeks a year at work = €1200 a year. Don't buy newspapers or magazines, dvd or other impulse buys.
Look up the nca.ie website for budget planners for your wedding/every day.
If you have a mobile phone look up callcosts.ie to see if you could be getting a better deal. If you have health insurance look up the hia.ie website and see if you can get you cover cheaper. Look at every bill your paying at the moment and see can you get the same service cheaper. I would look for a place with cheaper rent or get a place where you could rent out a room.
When you rent out room you can make up to €10,000 a year without having to pay tax on this. Cut down on buying new clothes. Go for cheaper bands of the everyday products that you use and your partner uses. Cook from scratch and have dinners frozen so you have something quicker to eat in the evenings rather than buy takeaways. These are some of the things couples I know did to buy a home. Hope this is of help and good luck with the wedding and saving.

StillWaters

maxpowers wrote: »

It seems like a vicious circle for people who rent but would like to buy unless you earn a very good salary

Its not a vicious circle, you have a decent household income and capacity for savings, and could buy if you wanted to. You have just decided to prioritise spending your savings on something else.

Zamboni

Giblet wrote: »

They pay bills too

Are you contributing or just picking holes for the craic?

ProudDUB

1,200 euros a month is an INSANE amount of money to be paying on rent imo. Even more so if you are this upset about not being able to save up for a deposit. There are much, much cheaper parts of Dublin to live in than Clonskeagh. But if you are determined to remain there, how about this place?

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1149497

Given the state of the economy and the rental market these days, I bet you could bargain them down from 950 to 900. That is a saving of 300 quid a month. Times 12 is a saving of 3,600 quid a year. That is over seven grand over 2 years. That is far from being chump change. Yes, it is an apt and perhaps you are used to renting a 3 bedroom house with a garden. It may even be in a crappier part of Clonskeagh than you are used to living in. But at least it is still where you want to live. If you are not prepared to make some sacrifices some where, how do you plan on ever being able to save up for a deposit?

WhatNowForUs?

Wait until you see where the economy is going first and then buy. to many unknowns at the mo.

RATM

As others have said OP rent somewhere cheaper- I'm renting a 2 bed in Dublin for €650 per monrh. You might find it difficult to get something for that but you will find places for €750-850 in okish areas. €1250 is way too high, by the time you pay bills you're probably past €1500 per month, you need to cut your rent bill in order to save €400-500 pm.

Giblet

Zamboni wrote: »

Are you contributing or just picking holes for the craic?

I'm obviously contributing by first posting in the thread offering suggestions and then making you aware that they have bills too when working out their expenditure?

ntlbell

It seems any soloution that is put to you in this thread you'll find an excuse why you can't do it.

pointless thread.

djimi

ntlbell wrote: »

It seems any soloution that is put to you in this thread you'll find an excuse why you can't do it.

pointless thread.

Agreed. A combined income of 70k should allow more than enough room for saving for a deposit.

As far as I can tell the OP has two issues that need sorting. First their rent is too high; they could easily shave 250+ a month off it if they were willing to downsize for a short time while saving.

Secondly, the wedding/honeymoon is taking up all of their savings. This is fine, but they have to accept that if that is their priority then they are not going to be able to save for and buy the house this year. Have the wedding, pay off the honeymoon and then start saving for the deposit. Accept that they will not be buying in the next 12 months, but that instead their patience will be rewarded by a bigger deposit and a smaller mortgage when they go to buy a house which will undoubtedly be cheaper in two years time than it is now.

BostonB

+1 djimi

Dr. Dodger

djimi wrote: »

Agreed. A combined income of 70k should allow more than enough room for saving for a deposit.

As far as I can tell the OP has two issues that need sorting. First their rent is too high; they could easily shave 250+ a month off it if they were willing to downsize for a short time while saving.

Secondly, the wedding/honeymoon is taking up all of their savings. This is fine, but they have to accept that if that is their priority then they are not going to be able to save for and buy the house this year. Have the wedding, pay off the honeymoon and then start saving for the deposit. Accept that they will not be buying in the next 12 months, but that instead their patience will be rewarded by a bigger deposit and a smaller mortgage when they go to buy a house which will undoubtedly be cheaper in two years time than it is now.

Absolutely, you need to be patient and accept that you have made your decisions and you have a kid etc. that are the priority. Wonderful that you can still afford your rent and for that to be convenient to everything you need.

Owning a house isn't a 100% possibility for everyone, I'm not saying you never will but you are restricted at the moment in terms of income/expenditure. It will probably take you the guts of 3-5 years to save up your deposit and that's the way it should be. Patience is definitely required but owning is house is something that has to be worked for, not handed to everyone on a plate (for the common working man anyway)

QuiteInterestin

At the risk of putting a downer on things OP, have you considered the fact you're finding it difficult to put savings together for a deposit as a sign you may not be able to manage a mortgage? While your mortgage may be similar/less then your current rent, when you add in all the extra expenses that go with property ownership, maintenance, household charges, increased travel costs (depending on where ye buy), would you be able to manage this? What if interest rates go up or ye have another child (increased child care bills) and one of ye decides to stop working?

Though if its definitely what ye want, as others have said before, start making small savings in small every day items and don't go too mad on the wedding.

johndaman66

okiss wrote: »

Start to shop in Aldi/lidi, make out a shopping list,

I'd be inclined to suggest that its a serious misconception that Lidl/ Aldi are the cheapest because they most certainly aren't. I'm not saying don't shop there, what I am saying is don't do your full weekly shop in either of them and assume you are getting the best bang for your buck (as many seem to do)

djimi

johndaman66 wrote: »

I'd be inclined to suggest that its a serious misconception that Lidl/ Aldi are the cheapest because they most certainly aren't. I'm not saying don't shop there, what I am saying is don't do your full weekly shop in either of them and assume you are getting the best bang for your buck (as many seem to do)

Depends on what you are buying I suppose. I can get stuff for my lunch there that will last 3 days and cost less than what one lunch would cost in most other shops. Generally Id say they are cheaper than most other supermarkets for most things, or certainly a good percentage of items.