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Since
I left university and joined the world of employment I have lived
a fairly nomadic lifestyle. The nature of my career has seen me
required to move at short notice for unspecified amounts of time.
This has given me the opportunity to experience living in a variety
of different types of accommodation. Within the last five years
I have rented rooms in Bristol, shared a house with colleagues in
Cambridge, lived by myself in Hitchin and now I reside with my partner
in a rented flat in Bedford.
It
has not been an easy transgression, as my career has evolved I have
seen my wages increase but the opportunity for saving towards a
deposit become more difficult. The need to pay rent, run a car and
have a social life has meant that finding extra cash to save has
not always possible.
Deposit
I've been with my partner for three years and we decided to move
in together after six months. As we both worked in different locations
we decided to choose the middle point between the two and settle
there, as a result Bedford became our home.
This
had the added benefit of allowing us both to at last start saving
towards a deposit, but still not at an effective rate.
Our
combined income is now at a healthy level, but even still it took
a concerted decision by us both last year to really start seriously
saving for the deposit.
Then
we had to decide where we actually wanted to live, this actually
proved far harder than I could have imagined. As we have enjoyed
living in Bedford it did make sense to stay but we also considered
Milton Keynes.
After
visiting a series of frankly inhabitable houses we decided on an
area of Bedford as our preferred location.
However,
we soon discovered that we were not the first to identify this area
as ideal for a young professional couple. This made our choice difficult
as every new property that entered the market place already had
an extensive queue of other potential buyers.
Popular
In Bedford the property pages come out on Friday and then the rush
begins. We decide to put aside one weekend to really blitz the market
place, and as luck would have it I spotted a property which I had
not seen before on the market. We went for a viewing and instantly
fell in love and placed an offer immediately.
The current owners were looking for a quick sale as they were perched
on the end of a chain. As we were first time buyers, we were able
to be as flexible as possible and in turn were able to secure a
nice discount on the asking price.
Despite
our hard effort of saving up for a deposit we still did not have
the 10 per cent required. As we are both graduates and earn decent
wages we visited our bank and explained the situation. They were
very helpful and offered us a 100 per cent mortgage on the property.
In the course of our mortgage investigations we were surprised by
the large difference in the amount lenders were willing to offer
people in our position. But we both decided that the bank's offer
was genuine and gave us the freedom to use our savings for the inevitable
hidden expenses of moving house.
We
are still waiting for a confirmed move in date, but we hope it will
be soon. I think it is important to remember that first time buyers
can really be in the driving seat when it comes to the property
ladder.
We
have the capital investment that the rest of the housing market
desperately needs and therefore the added power that this brings.
Read
other case studies >>
Have
you had problems getting on the property ladder?
Have
you just got on it? If so, how did you manage it?
Do
you want to upgrade but will have to move away from the area to
do so?
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