Realistically, at what age should you have bought your first home?

MakeEmLaugh

I believe the average age of first home ownership in Ireland is something along the lines of 33 (according to Bank of Ireland last year).

What do people think is the latest possible time to buy your first home? If you are 45 and still renting, have you realistically missed the boat, and should you expect to be renting forever (I'm still in my twenties, by the way)?

johnnyskeleton

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

I believe the average age of first home ownership in Ireland is something along the lines of 33 (according to Bank of Ireland last year).

What do people think is the latest possible time to buy your first home? If you are 45 and still renting, have you realistically missed the boat, and should you expect to be renting forever (I'm still in my twenties, by the way)?

Nothing wrong with renting forever as long as it fits your circumstances. The main reason to buy is security for e.g. young children etc. So if you want to buy, do it because your circumstances dictate.

As such, i would expect the average age should be a few years after the first kid is born

Eric Cartman

i dont think theres any right time. Im in my mid 20's and have friends who've gotten on the property ladder at 19-20 buying former council houses or 1 bed apartments just to get on the 'property ladder' at the other end ive had friends in their 30s still renting because theyre saving for an adequate house to suit them for the rest of their lives rather than try 'trade up'

there is no right time, depends what suits you. Id like to buy a site and build , but unless banks get wreckless again or somehow 500k winds up in my lap , ill be 34-35 before a sod is turned on that project.

pwurple

There's no right time. I bought my first place in my twenties, but I am the type of person who still my had communion money in a savings account.

When you have 20-25% deposit saved is the right age.

myshirt

The saving of the deposit is incredibly difficult. I suppose as an economic indicator you would expect a median income to allow for a house purchase at potentially 28 to 30ish if that's the way you went with your life.

With that issue, and the lack of pensions for upcoming young people, the baby boomer generation really are the ones that saw the fruits and benefits for the next few generations to pay for.

If you have one of those to inherit from or get a gift from, accomodate you while you save, or whatever it may be, you should expect 28 to 30.

In my position, I was 100% on my own from 16 paying my own way in this world. Saving a deposit = an incredibly challenging issue in those circumstances for people.

How in god's name can an average couple save a 60k deposit while renting in Dublin today? Or save 20k while on the dole in the hovel that is Leitrim for example.

OP, if you got there by 35, you would be doing well.

efb

I was 32! Yeah for the property crash!

James Bond Junior

I'm in my mid to late 20's and I'm buying on my own. It more depends on when you start saving I think.

Jellybaby1

We started to save for the deposit in the 70's when we were 20. By modern indicators we should not have been able to afford it at the time but we did without a lot of things, holidays, nights out etc., in order to save as much as possible as fast as possible. I was a secretary, he was a storeman so not very highly paid jobs. We were offered a flat by a relative at very low rent but we knew that even at the bargain rent we would find it hard to save for the deposit and pay the rent as well, so we declined. We had the 20% deposit saved within four years and we were married and in the house by age 24. Had we rented instead I'd be worried now wondering how, nearing OH's retirement, would we pay rent. We are now in a different house and all paid off years ago. I always recommend saving hard early and enjoying the fruits later, so worth it.

NSAman

I travelled a lot as a young guy, saved most of my cash and purchased my first and only house at 34. Bought it with a large deposit with a tracker after doing a huge amount of research on whether I could afford it if the interest rates went up and other factors. Will never move again.

jimmycrackcorm

I think it's a pity that mortgages have gotten to the point where 30 or 35 years are the norm. Albeit I do think it would be possible over that period to get to a point where it would be practical to overpay.

But I think the age to do it is driven primarily by how long you need to take your mortgage out for.

lukesmom

I was 33 and that was a couple of years ago when prices were lowest. Got there with the skin of our teeth.

Hollister11

lukesmom wrote: »

I was 33 and that was a couple of years ago when prices were lowest. Got there with the skin of our teeth.

If you sold now, how much would you be up, if any ?

ted1

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Nothing wrong with renting forever as long as it fits your circumstances. The main reason to buy is security for e.g. young children etc. So if you want to buy, do it because your circumstances dictate.

As such, i would expect the average age should be a few years after the first kid is born

When you buy your mortgage is usually paid before you retire so you can continue to live in your house. If you rent how do you propose to pay your rent upon retirement ?

As for the ops original question. A standard mortgage now a Days is 25-30 years, which would be expected to be paid back before your 65. So anything after 35 to 40 is very late

ted1

Hollister11 wrote: »

If you sold now, how much would you be up, if any ?

From 2012 many places would be up by more then double. In my case 210 is up to 460( based on similar house a few days up in Dec 2014). But the cost of replacment has gone up. So unless your exiting the market the current price is irrelevant .

Mongfinder General

I don't know about a right time. The wrong time is when everybody and their granny is piling in.

alibab

ted1 wrote: »

When you buy your mortgage is usually paid before you retire so you can continue to live in your house. If you rent how do you propose to pay your rent upon retirement ?

As for the ops original question. A standard mortgage now a Days is 25-30 years, which would be expected to be paid back before your 65. So anything after 35 to 40 is very late

I don't think 35 to 40 is too late . I have just started a mortgage on my own will be 40 next month . Circumstances change and it's my 3rd mortgage but I got divorced etc so had to start again aged nearly 40 . I have a 23 year mortgage which is very affordable on my wage and I plan to overpay and reduce hopefully to 15 years . The reason it's over 23 in first place is the banks being cautious with a single applicant and 2 kids and said themselves I can change term in the future. I am still doing her up so suits me at the minute.

There are a lot like me starting again after divorce etc with no choice. I have 2 kids and wanted stability. I plan to be retired by 60 all going well . You never know where you will find yourself I bought my first house with ex at 26 etc and never thought I would be starting again at 40 . For this house I literally had deposit no equity from the last so I was starting from scratch.

tigershould

Bought my first place at 30. Had to beg borrow and steal the deposit. I think I wished I'd bought earlier and hadn't wasted the previous 5 years renting. But I never got myself organised to save. It depends on circumstance I guess, some people may not be ready to own, want to travel, haven't found their partner, haven't found their ideal job etc.

mickman

35 years old. on 3rd house now.

first was apartment at 25, made a packet on it and lost it all on second house :-)

so basically i have broken even on the boom / bust and this house is hopefully my last one and is a family home that suits our needs

I have enjoyed the roller coaster of being in the property market and have learned loads , but i have been lucky really

Victor

Take your age of retirement. Take off the duration of the mortgage.

Banks currently take 65 as age of retirement (that may change), so if there is a 30 year mortgage, that would mean age 35. For a 20 year mortgage, it would mean 45.

Dr Strange

Not sure when I should've bought but I bought my first house at 26 when I was still single, sold it and bought the next one together with my fiance at 29 and now in my late 30s looking to sell and buy the next one with my wife.

Michael D Not Higgins

ted1 wrote: »

From 2012 many places would be up by more then double. In my case 210 is up to 460( based on similar house a few days up in Dec 2014). But the cost of replacment has gone up. So unless your exiting the market the current price is irrelevant .

That must be an outlier as double 2012 prices would be the height of the bubble again. This is the current situation in Dublin. SCD has jumped 50% since 2012 but even that's a different beast. There's some in Dublin in this graph rising 25%.



Sure, this graph is on averages and you're talking about a specific case, but such a large deviation from average is an exception.

Sleepy

I'm seeing asking prices of over 600k for small 3 bed terraces in Clontarf that were going for approx 300k a few years ago so there are definitely pockets where things have doubled...

seamus

The "right time" is when you can afford to buy it, when you've found a place that you like, and you don't see any need to go anywhere in the next ten years.

Whether that happens at 25 or 45 is somewhat irrelevant. I live in hope that Irish people will get past this, "Everyone must buy" mentality, but I won't hold my breath.

John Mason

seamus wrote: »

, "Everyone must buy" mentality, but I won't hold my breath.

but where do you live when you are on the state pension?? Will there even be a state pension in 30 years?

Even if you have a private pension, it could be worthless when you retire. Ireland first needs to sort out the private pension situation.

I bought my house by myself when i was 29. It was a 5 year plan house but that has now changed to being my forever house.

Michael D Not Higgins

Sleepy wrote: »

I'm seeing asking prices of over 600k for small 3 bed terraces in Clontarf that were going for approx 300k a few years ago so there are definitely pockets where things have doubled...

But I'm talking statistics here. Taking individual cases doesn't describe the whole. The graph from daft is showing 20-30%, with exceptional areas (SCD) up to 50% higher. If there are cases going up 100% then there are others only rising 10%, so saying houses are double 2012 prices is not showing the true story.

Larbre34

I have friends who missed out on much of their 20's life through meticulous saving to buy larger outlying properties which they are now stuck with and indebted from until at least their fifties.

My partner and I bought a large apartment in 2004 with a 100% mortgage then topped that up to cover lifestyle expenditure in 2007. Despite that, there is a approximately 50k of equity in the place now and the mortgage is very manageable. For the future, we intend to hold onto the place as it is has excellent transport links, and move into a home I am due to solely inherit.

The only right time for anything is the right time for you, never by guided by herd mentality and hysteria, ive seen it be the rock too many people perished on.

Snickers Man

Forget house buying. It's not for most of us any more.

Owning one's own house is not the norm in Europe. People are far more likely to rent throughout their lives. It's the sign of a modern advanced economy. Many people in basket case countries in Africa own their own houses. Little good it does them.

The new regulations on deposits, if they are enforced, will have a major impact on owner occupancy. They will price most middle income earners out of the market for ownership. The sort of people who will be able to afford house purchases will be the very wealthy or the institutions. Residential property will increasingly become the focus of long term investors looking for stable unspectacular returns on investment.

To some extent, this will push out the worst of the speculators, those looking to make a quick buck. Speculators thrive when prices are rising quickly. Buy early, hold for a short time, sell for a spectacular profit. If there are fewer and fewer people able to buy, the subsequent slowing in demand will discourage speculators. Instead they will be low-risk long term investors more interested in stable steady returns than fast bucks.

What we need are regulations and practices to reflect the fact that, in the cities at any rate, renting rather than buying will become the norm.

It could work out all right in the long run.

Electric Sheep

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Nothing wrong with renting forever as long as it fits your circumstances. The main reason to buy is security for e.g. young children etc. So if you want to buy, do it because your circumstances dictate.

As such, i would expect the average age should be a few years after the first kid is born

A few years before the first kid is born would be better. Easier to save, expenses are lower.

Eugene Norman

The whole you have to buy at a certain age actually does create and maintain a panic. People should be looking for 25 year mortgages anyway, I think.

The pension age will be 68 for most people at the least, in any case. And some lenders do take that into consideration. That gives most people lots of time.

Mrs OBumble

John Mason wrote: »

but where do you live when you are on the state pension?? Will there even be a state pension in 30 years?

For people who don't have a private pension that lets them afford private rental, the answer is (and has been for a long time) "in a council flat".

That's why the councils / voluntary housing associations have specific budgets for elderly-and-disabled housing.

And yes, there will be a state-pension: the social disorder if there wasn't one would simply not be tolerated.


For some older people, owning a house is a real problem, and they would be better off if they'd never purchased. Mr OBumble and I have both met people who own houses that have developed serious problems which the owners can't afford to fix. In a case, there was no working toilet in the house, the owner used the one at the pub down the road instead. Don't even ask what he does at night/Christmas/Good Friday!

These folks are trapped: they can't sell because they won't get enough to afford to buy anywhere else. But because they've owned a house, they aren't eligible for council housing. And they're scared they will run out of money before they die if they rent privately. One answer is a reverse mortgage (the bank lends you money now, and gets the house when you die) - but these are expensive, and not well understood here.

magicmushroom

I'm 28 and I don't honestly think I will ever be able to get a mortgage.

I live alone and pay quite a high rent each month and whilst I can afford to put a bit away in the credit union for a rainy day, I could never save the amount I'd need to get a hefty deposit together.
The annoying thing is, a mortgage payment would be about the same as my rent and I've never once been even a day late with the rent in the 3 years I've been in the house.

So I could comfortably afford a mortgage, no problem at all - it's just getting the mortgage that would be impossible.