Can I manage?

[bartholomew]

Do you think that I can manage to pay
all bills including the mortgage repayments?
I earn 19,000 a year and the flat costs 69,000.

[flipflop104]

I reckon you'd be ok (so long as you'renot a party animal going out all thetime and frittering your cash)

[Ethel]

It will be tight - do you know how much council tax, gas, electric and so on might be?


Boring I know - but keep a record of EVERY penny you spend. It will give you an idea of how much money you need and will help you to see where the money goes.

And shop around for the best mortgage and insurance deals.

[Sammy Snake]

Wee you earn more than me and I pay mortgage plus bills and still afford new clothes / going out etc so I reckon you'll be OK as long as you are careful.

Do you know how much the monthly mortgage will be?  Add this and all approximate bills together and see if you think it's affordable.  At the end of the day, no lender will give you a mortgage if they don't think you can afford it.

[Sammy Snake]

Well you earn more than me and I pay mortgage plus bills and still afford new clothes / going out etc so I reckon you'll be OK as long as you are careful.

Do you know how much the monthly mortgage will be?  Add this and all approximate bills together and see if you think it's affordable.  At the end of the day, no lender will give you a mortgage if they don't think you can afford it.

[Sammy Snake]

Oops sorry, don't know what happened there, I didn't mean to post it twice (why is there no facility to delete??)

[Oneeyedvic]

Does rather depend:

1) Is that �19,000 a year before or after tax, and what tax code do you have

2) What area are you living in, what would the council tax be? Has it ever been flooded and what are the insurance costs?

3) Is it a leasehold and are there any service charges?

4) Does the property have decent insulation and how is it heated?

5) Do you run a car - if so how old / what insurance group / how many mile to the gallon. Is the area you're looking at more expensive for car insurance?

6) Are you secure in your job - and is there any prospect of pay increases

7) Is this a fixed rate or variable rate or discounted mortgage? Would you be able to afford repayments if interest rates increased?

etc etc etc etc

An 'average' person can get a mortgage from certain banks for 3.75 times their salary - which would be �71,250. Other banks will only give 3.5 times - �66,500. You obviously fall on the higher scale. Some people think that they can afford payments at 4, 5 or 6 times salary but this is very ill-advised (by me at least) under normal circumstances.

Sorry to give you more queations, but if you are going to be tight, it is better to think of as much as possible to start with.

[chazza]

Yes you should be ok.  I earn �17.5K a year and have recently bought a house at �90K (my mortgage is roughly five times what I earn).  My monthly payments at the minute are �315 a month, and will go up to �450 after 2 years.

 

Many banks/building societies are now offering low start mortgages for new buyers as their wages are not increasing as quickly as house prices are rising