Hello all, So the short story is that I'm getting increasingly frustrated by not being able to buy a property with the deposit required. I'm 28, earn 85,000 as a senior manager in a Big 4 and still can't think of a way that will get me away from paying off someone's mortgage before I'm 31!Anyone got any ideas as to how to buy/ short cuts that actualy work? There must be thousands of us consultants with decent paying jobs in the same boat I think?

Plenty of mortgage companies (such as the Post Office) out there offering decent FTB rates for low deposits. Rather than going with the "life ain't fair" mantra, why not ask yourself why you haven't saved a deposit yet if you are earning such a big salary?

Anon, Phew, thanks for your response, that really helps. I wasn't coming from a 'life ain't fair' mantra at all and perhaps I have financial circumstances that I chose not to detail on here that have prevented me from saving a deposit!?I'll look online at the post office, I didn't think of that.

Time to stop your whining mate. Life is tough for all of us.Have a look at this:http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/mortgages/first-time-buyer/

Not sure the whining point is fair. I think he has a fair point considering - well paid (at least way above national average income) people in London can't afford to purchase property.It does beg a big questions about quality of living in London. Seems only big bonus bankers can afford to buy - or those of the past generation who got in before it all got silly.

Thanks latest anon, That was the point I was trying to get at. I was specifically looking for anything out of the ordinary other consultants might have done in the past to source finance / save deposits etc..which by definition will take a couple more years to reach the 10 - 15% minumum to get! And exactly...without a one off hit of a decent bonus it doesnt seem likely i'll have the funds anytime soon, despite doing reasonably well in a well paid sector!

How much mortgage do you want i.e how much house are you looking to buy?

I earn... about a third of your salary. I bought a house last year in London. Not too big, not too flashy, not too modern, not too IN but I can get to the city in 15 mins. It's actually a very cute house. I'm 25 and put up a good deposit, got a great rate too.. anyway I digress. I don't know about your detailed financial situation that you dont want to discuss but I managed to save 10k a year trying not too hard, going away long haul 2+ times a year over 3 years to put up my deposit. Earning like 1800£ a month. Okay so I lived at my parents but I'm sure your rent on ur Clapham flat isn't 3k. You should still have been saving something. There's not cheats way. Save your money, eat out less, go away less. Not quite sure why you've waited so long to try and buy but you really should have been putting away, no other way to say it :S. However, I know 2 people last year with 100k deposits that couldnt buy but that's because they were earning the same as me. You should be in a good position...

to get a min deposit, try and liquidate non essentials- unwanted jewellery, etc...If you plan on buying next to work, then sell your car.An alternate would be to buy a property in foreign countries and rent them out. Some countries such as australia offer 0% downpayment on the home loans. Others in the UAE for instance offer no capital gains tax upon sale.The added advantage of buying in a foreign country is of course that it allows you to be there and if you wish, makes is much easier to get a job there ( if international experience is important to you).It all depends on what you are seeking to accomplish and the level of risk you are willing to take.Id imagine a young fella like you with a good job and salary should be willing to chance your arm a bit in order to chase some good returns.

Well said by oh dear - I was on £36k for 5years at age 25, earning £2200 post taxes, living in a rented appt with the missus and no kids but all the parties, short/long trips etc - we still managed to save £10k a year and had £50k in the bank when we had to put the deposit down - and nothing flashy but a lovely house indeed!

To the OP: You can't have it all. If you can't find an affordable house in a nice area, look for a smaller house. Or look for a different area. There are plenty of less-than-nice areas in London where property is cheaper but not a Starbucks in sight. It doesn't have to be forever, but consider taking a hit an living in a scummy area for 5 years before you up-size. And if you need even further motivation to get on with it: if you're struggling to save now, just imagine what it will be like when you have to start buying nappies and baby clothes and paying for baby sitters, a nanny and nursery.

OP,As I'm sure you are aware, a salary of 85k a year leaves approximately 50k after tax. That means that you are currently burning 1000 pounds a week (just under 150 punds a day). Is all of that really unavoidable expenditure?

It's hard on us isn't it? 85k a year with 30-large deposit can easily get you into a £400k micro-home, but you poor thing, no room to swing a rat, let alone a cat.Oh, a FLAT you say? Oh...ewwww....

What a moronic thread this is......reading about someone who earns 85k per year struggling to get a brogue on the lowest rung of the property ladder. Sorry dude, if you need this kind of help to achieve what thousands of people manage every day with much less dough, then you’re asking the wrong question here.

3 times 85K plus 30K deposit suggest a first time buyer might get a 285K property.To get a 400K property on 85K would require a four times salary mortgage on an LTV of 92% - can you let me know where that is available?

If you really were an IFA you'd know exactly where and how.

hm I felt like I wasn't quite helpful enough and a little rude.OP start saving this month. Forget the quick fix, you can make it happen in 2 years, unless you're a gambling addict with a penchant for horses you can do it. Even if you want a quick fix you're still going to need some capital, so liquidate some assets like someone else suggested. I know people who've sold cars to buy houses, you just go without for a while. You need to learn to live within your means BEFORE you buy a house, so if your mortgage payments are going to be the recommended percentage of your salary (a third? half? i forget) you need to practice living without that money now to simulate the life you will HAVE to live once natwest or whomever own your soul. That doesn't even include bills and such but you can get the idea.In all honesty I'm not sure there are as many people in your situation as you think, not at 28 and not at that level, most of the people I know from work live in one house and rent the other out, they have savings, families, nice cars. Yes a few people paid debts and such in the first 2 years but by 26ish the smart ones were buying somewhere to live.I hope you can glean some advice from this forum, it's probably only what some of your friends and family have already told you but now you're hearing it from people who work in the industry so hopefully that'll make it stick.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned getting an unsecured loan for say £25K. Repayments at under £500pm should still be affordable on that salary. Should certainly shortcut the "saving for a deposit" bit. Then you only need another £15K for £40K to put down.

Suggest you stick to trading from your barrow. A loan would show up on his credit file and would reduce the amount the mortgagor was prepared to lend (both in terms of advance and in looking at his outgoings in servicing the existing debt).

"So the short story is that I'm getting increasingly frustrated by not being able to buy a property with the deposit required. I'm 28, earn 85,000 as a senior manager in a Big 4 and still can't think of a way that will get me away from paying off someone's mortgage before I'm 31!Anyone got any ideas as to how to buy/ short cuts that actualy work?There must be thousands of us consultants with decent paying jobs in the same boat I think?"-----------------------------------------------------You make me physically sick. You earn probably 4 times what most people your age earn and you have the nerve to come here and moan! What do you define as a 'decent paying job'? Just be thankful that a spotty kid like you who barely needs to shave every day is already earning as much as a GP who has a lot more years of training and does a far more socially important job than yours. People like you are enough to turn me into a hard core communist.As for any shortcuts, yes, beg your father/uncle/grandfather or elese get married and beg your wife's equivalents!

Agree completely that if he has problems then the rest of us have real problems. If you can't work with £85K at age 28, then something is WRONG.HOWEVER.. lets consider the other edge of the coin. This guy is a high achiever. He earns a fortune. I'm not being sarcastic by the way, he really is a big earner by anyone bar the richest people's standards. YET... what does such a high income buy you these days? A 3 bed semi in north kent? A 2 bed flat in a not so great part of zone 2?So despite being a very high earner, he can't even afford to get the type of house that a school teacher would have lived in during the 1950's (such as a 4 bed detached in a leafy suburb near the station).I share and can feel the guy's frustration.Basically my advice to him is to slash all unnecessary expenditure and look further out of london, and lower his standards. We were screwed over by the baby boomers and there's nothing we can do about it.

Any of you consider that the OP may have been being a bit disingenuous. Whilst 28 as SM in Big 4 isn't unlikely it is quite rare...Regardless as most have said there are no real short cuts, rather - either continue to save shrewdly (at least time is on your side) or look in other areas you may haven't considered before... I hear Brixton is up and coming these days

Any of you consider that the OP may have been being a bit disingenuous. Whilst 28 as SM in Big 4 isn't unlikely it is quite rare...Regardless as most have said there are no real short cuts, rather - either continue to save shrewdly (at least time is on your side) or look in other areas you may haven't considered before... I hear Brixton is up and coming these days

Wow! Before I respond I honestly wasn't trying to wind people up on here about this or by any means moan about my situation. So the background: * I haven't always been on my current salary and have been fortunate enough to get promoted to SM very quickly via a combination of moves and my work actually being focused on restructuring, rather than consulting (hence a massive boom over the last couple of years). * Student loans and an overhead at home with family financial woes have been sorted so that has prevented me saving that much to date on a lower salary but I have managed to save at a reasonable rate to date; on the curve you might say. * Currently live in North london - average rent (all in just shy of a £1000). Unfortunately I need to live within 30-45 mins of the City with long hours almost every week requiring cabs rather than the last tube home. My original point was innocently asking if anyone has managed a short cut to a deposit or sourced wierd and wonderful mortgages etc...? I will be well on my way to a deposit in time, I appreciate that, and I'm not moaning about it, I just wondered if there had been any tricks pulled (consultants are meant to be quite innovative people I thought). To IFA...you hit the nail on the head. With LTV issues at the moment to buy in an area where I'd actually like to live (and I am 'allowed' to live somewhere where I'd 'like' to live people...i.e. within zone 4) it will be very difficult to buy a two bed flat for c.£300k + without the £45k and c.£15k stamp duty and fees etc.. (£60k). Totally appreciate its tough on everyone, it wasnt long ago that I was on a much lower salary remember. And to be honest, its very unlikely that it'll increase any time soon and nor should it really...i'm more than aware of average salaries and am grateful for my progress and current position.

Ah, what a refreshingly considered response, all the best for the future

Hi Hate-a-rent, does your budget stretch up to £350K? If so, and you would like to live in a desirable zone 3 area just minutes away from a mainline station and the tube, do let me know. I'm in the process of selling my maisonette - nice 2 bed place, very pleasant area (conservation area), very close to all the amenities, excellent for commuting. What do you think? Regarding deposits, the banks are still lending if you shop around... I can't imagine a Big 4 SM on £85K having too much trouble getting a mortgage?

Fluff me, what time do you finish? Last tube goes about 0030.45 minutes in a cab from the City covers most of London, incidentally, at night.No more criticism for me as I appreciate that even with a high salary and reltively modest property requirements (£300k for a 2 bed does not suggest you have your head way up your bottom) it is difficult with the mortgage situation as it currently is.Had you been born just a few years earlier (like me), then flats were available in London in acceptable if not great areas of zone 2 for £60k and you would have been nicely on the ladder. Unfortunately people your age are now suffering from the ridiculous inflation of the early 2000s and now the fall-out in the mortgage market.

General advice would be.Minimise expenditure in the very short term – no expensive holidays etcDirect debit into dedicated savings account – sadly your need for access in a few years means the return will be limited, but it drives a savings mentality to do this each month by DD (you’ll never notice the money not being there to spend)Get no more than 10% deposit plus fees together – better rate deals don’t then kick in until deposit is substantially more (e.g. 30%)Consider buying a knackered property at 250K – then spend what you have saved in stamp duty on getting it done up.Consider an off-set mortgage. The %rates are not normally the best on these, but they do allow consistent overpaying which is good for people with high incomes but minimal deposits.Over-pay like mad until you have 30% equity, then remortgage onto a better deal.If you’re rarely there take the spare room and rent out themain bedroom – preferably to a hot Scandinavian of your personal sexual preference who occasionally forgets her towel when coming out the shower – and make further overpayments on the mortgage with the rent.I am not actually an IFA (surprise!) but I have bought and sold a dozen houses over the last 20 years.

Try South East London - Lewisham, Forest Hill You can get a 3 bed house there for £300k and still be in Zone 2

If you do move to Lewisham, I suggest you buy a really good quality stab proof vest and don't go out after dusk.

Lived in Camberwell for 5 years. Easy commute via Peckham Rye and never had any hassle. You can get a 2 double bed flat there for £200k.

Goodness me. If you do choose to live in Camberwell, then forget the stab proof vest. Instead I suggest you get yourself some 24 hour armed security and only go outdoors in an armour plated Hummer.

Notting Hill was considered rough at one point, so was Old St, Balham etc If you are looking for a cheap place then of course the more salubrious attractive areas are gonna be expensive.

Tedious comments, only revealing the ignorance of the posters.

I can help with a couple of fixers I know called Kirsty and Phil, you could be the jam in their jelly roll.

So what's your suggestion then, DCF?

I think some good advice has been given on this thread, I would say the following:- getting a loan for the deposit shortfall might not be such a bad idea. The fact is that you can talk to banks / IFAs and ask what impact that would have on your available credit. If as a previous poster has so confidently assumed, it really would completely shut you out of any acceptable mortgage offers, why not ask family or (very close) friends to take the loan for you, and you pay them back the interest and capital plus some extra as a sigh of appreciation.- don't just look in AE windows. Look for auction sales, also why not identify friends of friends who are selling? It's a long shot but hey..- don't follow the crowd and look in popular well-well trodden areas. You could find an ex-LA house with a garden in shoreditch complete with parking, if you are quick to close the purchase when it comes on. - look in hackney and east London. Stoke newington, clapton, dalston etc. Or perhaps around Greenwich / lewisham. Why? Olympics! Many would scoff at such a dodgy area but look at the police.Uk website and you will see massive variations in crime levels within those areas. Look for areas where the council is investing (not just the olympics, take the east london line as an example)

Move south of the river and shave off 50k. Obviously dont move to blackheath or dulwich! The new East London line has loads of up and coming places near it, Lewisham borough is a great start and you can try looking in one of the in between areas that doesn't really have a name e.g. between Catford and Honor Oak is nice, not as rough as Catford not as expensive as Ladywell. Lewisham/Brockley, again the same. Just some ideas.I left a nice house in a conservation area on the isle of dogs (where i cant afford to live now!) to move to South london. I'm getting used to the overground and all sorts! You just have to consider other areas.

People like this 28 year old drive me mad. OK, he might have a 1st from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard, but what the fu*k?? Did he win 'The Apprentice' or what?? How anyone can earn £80k+ in a salaried occupation while being aged under 35 simply baffles me. I could understand an entrepreneur who takes big risks with his own money, but an employee??

MarcusWas your post a joke? The majority of 1st year analysts in IB earn between 65-90k (all in) at the age of 21.I assume you are joking and therefore will not lecture you to research the job market. M

Marcus,You are out of touch with salary levels. The winner of The Apprentice has normally been rewarded with a 100K salary, and one of the reasons that the quality of the applicants has been in decline is the simple fact that anyone that is any good is already earning that or close to it (certainly in consultancy where there is a premium for the unsociable/travel aspect of the job). LOTS of under-35 years olds earn 85K.

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£1000 pcm on rent? On your own? Wow. I had heard that rents were on the increase but that is crazy. Can't you get a house share for half that and save and extra £6 per year?

[quote]I earn... about a third of your salary. I bought a house last year in London. Not too big, not too flashy, not too modern, not too IN but I can get to the city in 15 mins. It's actually a very cute house. I'm 25 and put up a good deposit, got a great rate too.. anyway I digress. I don't know about your detailed financial situation that you dont want to discuss but I managed to save 10k a year trying not too hard, going away long haul 2+ times a year over 3 years to put up my deposit. Earning like 1800£ a month. Okay so I lived at my parents but I'm sure your rent on ur Clapham flat isn't 3k. You should still have been saving something. There's not cheats way. Save your money, eat out less, go away less. Not quite sure why you've waited so long to try and buy but you really should have been putting away, no other way to say it :S. However, I know 2 people last year with 100k deposits that couldnt buy but that's because they were earning the same as me. You should be in a good position...[/quote]+1

London is a very big place so to get a home is really a big problem. You are right that we can not reach at the new launch or construction so we can't get the proper home. But one of my friend had suggested me one Kalmars which really provided me a great information about every new launch of London. I think it will also help you a lot.http://www.kalmars.com/Kalmars-residential-sales.php?searchtype=residential&largearea=0

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