How old were you when you bought your first house

4ensic15

cronin_j wrote: »

You need to listen to this OP, trust me you will have plenty of time to be saving for a house. Go out and create some memories, you'll regret it if you don't.

You may have plenty of time to regret not buying a house too. Far too long. Many a middle aged or older person regrets having literally no home to go to when a relatively small deposit years ago would have left them with a house paid for at a lower cost that the rent they have paid out over the years.

Maireadio

hairyslug wrote: »

23 I think, I bought into the having to own property dream. It was far to far away from work, sold it two years later. Overall, I lost out losing my 1st time buyers grant and not making enough of a profit on it

Making any profit if you only owned it for two years is pretty good!

2rkehij30qtza5

Hollister11 wrote: »

I'm 20, in college, and i'm working part time to fund life in general but I'm also starting to save for a deposit. Now i don't have much, but i have 3K saved.

I'm living at home, and plan to for a good few years anyway. When i graduate, hopefully i start with a 30K salary. I ideally would like to save 20K for 6 years, So my deposit will be 120K plus. I will be 28. Hopefully then im on 45K.

This will leave me with enough for a house worth 277500K. Not loads, but decent.

So my question, when did you move out and buy your first home.

I was 22 and just out of college. Made about €40k profit 2 years later (pre boom years). Bought a more expensive house..made €50k profit. Bought even bigger place and lost my shirt in the recession.#nightmare

Ursus Horribilis

What do your parents think about you planning to live under their roof until you're 28? Maybe by then they'd like to have the place to themselves again or might want to downsize.

I'm all for people putting money aside, especially these days if you want to buy in Dublin down the line. But I don't think anyone should sacrifice their 20s just for a house deposit. You've got to live too. Living frugally at home with your parents is no life. You're stunting your growth as a young adult, especially if that bratty teenage brother of yours continues to be a pain in the backside.

Once you buy your house you'll find that it's dictating your finances to quite an extent. It won't just be the mortgage and the heating and the esb. There will always be bills and maintenance - things that just snipe away at your money. Especially at the start when you're getting your house set up. You'll find yourself thinking "new kitchen or holiday in X" and making choices based on how many bills are coming your way this month. That's why is its important to have lived a life free of these commitments and not to have had a house colouring your decisions.

duchalla

23 back in 1996 for £24,000 in old punts...

mariaalice

I don't think you can really compare now with the past. I has a house at 20 with my first husband. Friends of mine got their first house aged 20 and 21 with a loan of 200 punts for the booking deposit from a family member that was 1984.

Toots

20 back in 2006 got a 100% mortgage. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd have forked out an extra 40k and bought a 2 bed instead of a 1 bed. We intended to trade up after about 5 years but the old recession put the scuppers on that. Don't know when we'll ever be able to afford to move, and with a 4 yr old and a dog in the mix, it's possibly a little crowded, but thanks to IKEA we make it work.

mariaalice

Toots wrote: »

20 back in 2006 got a 100% mortgage. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd have forked out an extra 40k and bought a 2 bed instead of a 1 bed. We intended to trade up after about 5 years but the old recession put the scuppers on that. Don't know when we'll ever be able to afford to move, and with a 4 yr old and a dog in the mix, it's possibly a little crowded, but thanks to IKEA we make it work.

You live in one bed accommodation with a 4 year old and a dog? sounds hard going but then again it would be common in places like New York.

SarahMollie

Toots wrote: »

20 back in 2006 got a 100% mortgage. With the benefit of hindsight, I'd have forked out an extra 40k and bought a 2 bed instead of a 1 bed. We intended to trade up after about 5 years but the old recession put the scuppers on that. Don't know when we'll ever be able to afford to move, and with a 4 yr old and a dog in the mix, it's possibly a little crowded, but thanks to IKEA we make it work.

They were giving 100% mortgages to 20 year olds? I'm roughly the same age as you but I suppose I wasn't really in the market to buy back then as I hadn't yet finished college by the time the bubble burst.

screamer

Was 25 bought in early noughties. OP don't mind the advise on here do what will make you happy. I'll have my mortgage paid off at 45 whilst others will be shackled to them till they're 60 plus...... not my idea of fun but each to their own.

MrMorooka

It's not possible for a lot of people now to do what posters on this thread have done in the last decade or so- the CB mortgage rules rule it out. Realistically home ownership(in Dublin and surrounding areas) is going to be a lot more difficult going forward, out of reach of single people on average income.

corsav6

I got a 95% mortgage when I was 18 and paid 80k for a 3 bed bungalow in the West. 6 years later I sold for 130k and split the profit with the ex. Now me and my wife are living in a 5 bed dormer sitting on just over an acre with no mortgage.

Toots

SarahMollie wrote: »

They were giving 100% mortgages to 20 year olds? I'm roughly the same age as you but I suppose I wasn't really in the market to buy back then as I hadn't yet finished college by the time the bubble burst.

Myself and my OH were working full time at that stage, and my dad went guarantor on it for us. The ridiculous thing is it worked out about €300 cheaper per month for our mortgage than it was to rent an apartment in the same complex at the time.

zarker

33

SarahMollie

Toots wrote: »

Myself and my OH were working full time at that stage, and my dad went guarantor on it for us. The ridiculous thing is it worked out about €300 cheaper per month for our mortgage than it was to rent an apartment in the same complex at the time.

Wow - obviously fair play to you for knowing what you wanted at such an early age.

Hope you finally get to trade up soon

o1s1n

I too was like you in a way OP, really wanted my own house for security, scrimped and saved like mad for years - bought at 29. Lovely 3 bed semi D in a decent suburb of Bray where I grew up.

Relationship broke down and we sold at 31. The utter liberation of being free from a mortgage was amazing. As it turns out, I was chasing security for years but in the end didnt really get that experience in having a huge 30 year mortgage around my neck.

Just remember that in many cases, things really don't work to plan. And this is a HUGE plan for you given the age you're at and your projections.

IMO just live your life for the moment and think about it again down the line in a few years. You've all the time in the world right now.

SarahMollie

o1s1n wrote: »

I too was like you in a way OP, really wanted my own house for security, scrimped and saved like mad for years - bought at 29. Lovely 3 bed semi D in a decent suburb of Bray where I grew up.

Is Bray not a suburb in itself at this stage?

OU812

Admirable objective, but completely unrealistic. Look at saving half your take-home pay & try to put as much money as possible into a pension scheme also. If you started a pension at 20 & were putting €50 a week in, raising with age & increased salary, you'd reasonable have a pension pot of about €1.25m when you get to retire giving you a lump sum of about #300k & an income of about €4,500 a month at the point in your life where your main outgoing (the mortgage) would be paid off.

I was 33 when I bought my first one (wife was 26), we stayed there two years & are now in the home that I'll leave in a box.

I was actually going through some figures the other day & realised we're now paying just €75 a month more on our mortgage than we were all those years ago despite moving to a more expensive place. Trackers are the best (& the reason I'll leave here in a box)

Try to enjoy your life first though. Youth is wasted on the young as the old saying goes...

Mr McBoatface

Bought my first house at 24. An ex council house got it through the shared ownership scheme.... didn't need a deposit. Sold it and moved on when my late wife and I decided to marry. Worked hard along with my late wife to clear mortgage early so we could enjoy our life's and watch kids grow secure that owned our own house..... didn't work out that way. Life can be cruel to noble ambitions. I really regret not living that bit more and enjoying the little time we had together. We'd a happy marriage but it would be lovely to have done some travelling with her and have those memories.

OP if I was starting out today I wouldn't be saving for years to get a massive amounts for a deposit. I'd be getting the minimum deposit required plus a bit to get the place comfortable to live in. Get a place you'd be happy to have as your home for 10 plus years and then enjoy yourself.

I've really benefited from the housing markets ups and downs, I've secured my home and other properties too. I've actually done very well and my children will do so in return but security it gives doesn't make up for the memories never made.

sKeith

What happened to 33-35 option?

Michael D Not Higgins

sKeith wrote: »

What happened to 33-35 option?

Mod: Option added

jobyrne30

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I'd be getting the minimum deposit required plus a bit to get the place comfortable to live in.

The bigger the deposit the better especially with the 3.5 times salary rules you are getting very little with a 10% deposit if you only have one normal salary.

Also the bigger deposit will get you a lower interest rate, better chance of getting an exemption on the 3.5 times salary rule, lower monthly repayment (which can be overpaid in order to clear mortgage quicker) etc etc.

Mr McBoatface

Everleigh Echoing Mermaid wrote: »

The bigger the deposit the better especially with the 3.5 times salary rules you are getting very little with a 10% deposit if you only have one normal salary.

Also the bigger deposit will get you a lower interest rate, better chance of getting an exemption on the 3.5 times salary rule, lower monthly repayment (which can be overpaid in order to clear mortgage quicker) etc etc.

The 3.5 salary rule isn't something I'd personally look to break.... I imposed a 3x rule on myself during the mad days. Interest rates can be reduced by having a larger deposit but how much would the value of the property rise while the OP saves up a larger deposit, would the value of the interest rate reduction be blitzed by property price increase?

The OP could always continue to save and remortgage at a later point and look to reduce interest rates then. Assuming the property had increased in market value the loan to value rate might actually mean a bigger interest rate reduction could be achieved.

All depends on what the OP wants. I'm just really applying the present day scenario as I would play it out.

jobyrne30

jobyrne30 wrote: »

The 3.5 salary rule isn't something I'd personally look to break.... I imposed a 3x rule on myself during the mad days. .

The 3.5 rule is quite strict, particularly for those with larger deposits I wouldn't be afraid of exceeding it at all. I'm personally asking for just under 4x my salary but even that limits options at current prices. Even a 5x my salary would leave a mortgage repayment far far less than the equivalent rent and very affordable. I now that's never going to be granted but just an example.

Mr McBoatface

Everleigh Echoing Mermaid wrote: »

The 3.5 rule is quite strict, particularly for those with larger deposits I wouldn't be afraid of exceeding it at all. I'm personally asking for just under 4x my salary but even that limits options at current prices. Even a 5x my salary would leave a mortgage repayment far far less than the equivalent rent and very affordable. I now that's never going to be granted but just an example.

The current market certainly is more complex for first timers. I understand that some people can most definitely go 4 or 5x as they can afford it because of thier disposable income but the danger is when that's applied to the masses.... we've seen what that done previously.

Anyway I wish you and the OP best of luck in your property pursuits.

wokingvoter

Bought first house at 29 £IR41750 22 years ago
My brother was 23 and married with a baby on the way wen he bought his. He and his wife are both 50 in 2016 and have just finished their mortgage and their youngest child is 20. Let the good times roll!

amos13

SarahMollie wrote:

They were giving 100% mortgages to 20 year olds? I'm roughly the same age as you but I suppose I wasn't really in the market to buy back then as I hadn't yet finished college by the time the bubble burst.

Yep I was 23 fresh out of college and they offered us a cool half a million Euro, 100% mortgage, on a combined salary with my boyfriend of 50K. Thankfully we weren't idiots and told them we wanted a house not a palace.

Toots

amos13 wrote: »

Yep I was 23 fresh out of college and they offered us a cool half a million Euro, 100% mortgage, on a combined salary with my boyfriend of 50K. Thankfully we weren't idiots and told them we wanted a house not a palace.

I don't know would you have gotten a palace for 500k back in the boom! :pac: You'd have been doing well to get a 2 bed apt for that in South Dublin!

L1011

eviltwin wrote: »

I was 24 but was lucky I didn't have rent to pay while I was saving. I started working at 22 and saved everything I could for the deposit. I think it was worth it.

Similar enough - 25 and was house sitting (bills/maintenance but no rent) for my sister for a fair while before as she was out of the country. Allowed much more deposit saving.

I turned down an absolutely ridiculous mortgage offer shortly before the crash on a well over 200k house in Kilbeggan. Bought for a lot less in Maynooth, and within the new central bank ratios although as it was still during the crash it was harder again to get a mortgage.

pwurple

First house, 22, with deposit saved from working through college. 90% mortgage, 3 bed place, rented out space on the rent -a-room scheme which entirely covered the mortgage, so I overpaid the mortgage rather than pocketting the rental income. That worked out reasonably well, I'd recommend it.