Table of Contents
- What’s your property like?
- How a lot did you pay for it?
- How did you save up for the deposit?
- How did you determine on the world?
- Did you encounter any issues with the acquisition?
- How have you ever renovated your home?
- How did you afford to furnish it?
- What recommendation would you give to different first-time consumers?
MARRIED couple Erik and Tania Jakovenko, each 30, managed to purchase their £282,000 two-bedroom terraced home outdoors Brighton by chopping again on holidays and consuming out.
The primary-time consumers managed to bag the property in Could 2018 after placing down a deposit of £30,000, and so they’ve since been joined there by three-month-old son Niko.
Married couple Erik and Tania Jakovenko, each 30, purchased their £282,000 two-bedroom terraced home outdoors Brighton in 2018
The property was 55 miles away from the place they initially deliberate to purchase in London, however Erik satisfied his boss to let him work at home to save lots of on commuting prices.
After Erik and Tania received married in April 2017, the couple realised they’d spent a big chunk of their financial savings on their marriage ceremony, which value just below £20,000.
So in an effort to pace up the method of lastly getting on the property ladder, Erik and Tania stopped happening vacation altogether.
Additionally they reduce on dinners out, cooked extra meals at dwelling, and introduced packed lunches to work.
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Erik instructed The Solar: “If we did exit, we had been wise with our spending as a result of I understand how simple it’s to spend £100 every week on drinks in the event you exit together with your mates.
“After a month, you realise that’s about £400 a month that would simply go in the direction of the deposit, so we had been very frugal when it got here to issues like that.”
The terraced home comes with two bedrooms and two bogs
Because the couple moved in, they’ve retiled the lavatory on the highest flooring
By additionally transferring in with Erik’s mum for 2 years, it meant they may save £1,500 altogether every month.
On the time, undertaking developer Erik earned round £35,000 a 12 months whereas Tania was paid £25,000.
We caught up with Erik for The Solar’s My First Home sequence.
What’s your property like?
It’s a terraced home in Burgess Hill, a city 20-minutes from Brighton.
The property is unfold over two flooring with two bedrooms and two bogs.
The bedrooms and one lavatory are on the highest flooring, and every part else is on the bottom flooring.
The home is positioned in Burgess Hill, 20 minutes from Brighton
The couple say one of many few issues they have not modified is that this conservatory
The home was constructed within the Nineteen Fifties, so it wasn’t notably trendy after we moved in.
The earlier homeowners had executed numerous renovations, however we determined to do up the whole place and just about begin once more.
There’s nonetheless fairly a little bit of constructing work happening after two years.
How a lot did you pay for it?
We put down a suggestion for £282,000 in February 2018 and received the keys in Could 2018.
The property was really available on the market for £285,000, however we received it down round £3,000.
It was fairly simple to haggle as a result of it’d been available on the market for fairly a little bit of time.
The earlier homeowners left the Rangemaster cooker after they moved out
We initially put down a suggestion of beneath £280,000, however we agreed to pay £282,000 so long as they left the Rangemaster cooker and fridge, which had been very nice.
We took out a mortgage over 35 years and now pay £900 in repayments a month.
How did you save up for the deposit?
To avoid wasting up for our deposit, we didn’t go on any holidays in any respect.
And if we did exit, we had been fairly savvy with our spending as a result of I do know that in the event you exit together with your mates, you may simply spend £100 every week simply on drinks.
And also you realise after a month that is about £400 that would simply go in the direction of a deposit.
So we had been very frugal when it got here to issues like that, and I hardly ever purchased any new garments.
We additionally at all times tried to cook dinner at dwelling and take packed lunches to work.
What assistance is on the market for first-time consumers?
GETTING on the property ladder can really feel like a frightening job however there are schemes on the market to assist first-time consumers have their very own dwelling.
Assist to Purchase Isa – It is a tax-free financial savings account the place for each £200 you save, the Authorities will add an additional £50. However there is a most restrict of £3,000 which is paid to your solicitor once you transfer. These accounts have now closed to new candidates however those that already maintain one have till November 2029 to make use of it.
Assist to Purchase fairness mortgage – The Authorities will lend you as much as 20% of the house’s worth – or 40% in London – after you have put down a 5% deposit. The mortgage is on prime of a traditional mortgage however it could actually solely be used to purchase a brand new construct property.
Lifetime Isa – That is one other Authorities scheme that offers anybody aged 18 to 39 the prospect to save lots of tax-free and get a bonus of as much as £32,000 in the direction of their first dwelling. It can save you as much as £4,000 a 12 months and the Authorities will add 25% on prime.
Shared possession – Co-owning with a housing affiliation means you should buy part of the property and pay lease on the remaining quantity. You should buy something from 25% to 75% of the property however you are restricted to particular ones.
“First dibs” in London – London Mayor Sadiq Khan is engaged on a scheme that may limit gross sales of all new-build houses within the capital as much as £350,000 to UK consumers for 3 months earlier than any abroad advertising and marketing can happen.
Starter Dwelling Initiative – A Authorities scheme that may see 200,000 new-build houses in England bought to first-time consumers with a 20% low cost by 2020. To obtain updates on the progress of those houses you may register your curiosity on the Starter Homes web site.
Tania and I additionally moved in with my mum for about two years, which meant we saved the £950 we beforehand spent on lease every month.
Fortunately, we didn’t need to pay for issues like payments, so the one factor we’d do extra of was cooking.
We might in all probability have purchased our first dwelling earlier however we additionally largely paid for our personal marriage ceremony two years previous to this.
A piece of the cash that we’d saved up went in the direction of the marriage, which value just below £20,000, so then we needed to begin once more.
We did open a Assist to Purchase Isa however we weren’t eligible for the bonus as a result of our property value greater than the utmost threshold outdoors London of £250,000.
However the charges had been fairly good on the time – round 2% – so we nonetheless received an additional £150 to £200 a 12 months in curiosity, so it was nonetheless value having it despite the fact that we didn’t get the top-up.
General, I at all times saved round £1,000 a month and Tania would put away round £500.
We had very common salaries. On the time I used to be incomes about £35,000 a 12 months, whereas Tania earned 25,000.
How did you determine on the world?
We had been initially trying in Dartford or Erith outdoors London however then for what we may afford, we simply thought no means.
It’s simply not well worth the cash, so we determined to type of enterprise out additional.
Clearly that is a bit harder, since you then need to determine whether or not the home transfer goes to be value the price of commuting.
The primary components we checked out had been the commute time to work, crime ranges within the space, flood danger, and the modifications to deal with costs within the final ten years in an space.
Erik has a big sufficient desk to work at home in the lounge
The kitchen can be greater than sufficiently big for the household of three
Tania is on maternity depart now, however on the time she was working in Farringdon in London and there’s a direct prepare from the place we stay to there. So it was very simple for her to commute.
On the time, I additionally spoke to my employer and we agreed that I may turn into a distant employee as soon as we moved in so I solely wanted to commute into London as soon as every week.
We miss our associates in London however we even have numerous mates which are type of scattered round.
A few of our shut associates are solely within the subsequent city over so it isn’t so unhealthy.
The second bed room is at the moment used as a visitor bed room
The terraced home additionally advantages from an enormous backyard on the again
Burgess Hill is sort of a hotspot that we discovered that’s solely an hour away. The prepare ticket wasn’t overly costly, in order that’s what we’re pleased with.
From the start, the mindset we had was the present home we bought was by no means meant because the “it” home, since our precedence was to get on the property ladder, and have some fairness behind us in the direction of our subsequent home.
We don’t have a location in thoughts, however probably both in Burgess Hill or someplace in Hampshire.
This implies we will likely be seeking to transfer in round seven to 10 years.
Did you encounter any issues with the acquisition?
Not likely, the problems got here after we purchased the home and moved in.
There weren’t any main points that made us assume “oh god, why did we purchase this home?”, however there have been surprising prices after we realised how outdated issues had been.
We thought we had been going to deal with beauty modifications, however then we realised the whole home needed to get rewired.
Erik and Tania has created extra of an open plan between the kitchen and lounge since they moved in
They took down just a few partitions and put in a blue beam as a substitute
As a result of even when the electrics had been high quality on the time, they weren’t going to be as much as customary after just a few years.
Equally with the plumbing, we began to interrupt down packing containers and located random pipes that went to nowhere.
How have you ever renovated your home?
We’ve modified just about every part. The one issues we didn’t contact had been the conservatory and the storage.
We’ve ripped out the flooring, knocked down just a few partitions and closed up the fireside.
The bogs have fully modified as nicely. The one on the highest flooring has been fully retiled, and the underside one I’m at the moment within the means of retiling.
To economize, we began to discover ways to do quite a lot of issues ourselves.
For instance, we put down the stable hardwood flooring in the lounge ourselves with the assistance of YouTube tutorials.
The one factor that we realised you don’t wish to low cost out on is instruments.
Erik and Tania have largely renovated the home themselves with the assistance of YouTube tutorials
The’ve ripped up the ground within the bed room and put down a carpet
It will not at all times be to an expert stage however the usual that you will be pleased with and it’ll final.
The one factor I’d at all times advocate for individuals to not contact is electrics and core plumbing anyway.
If it goes incorrect, it could possibly be a hazard to you and might actually screw issues up and your insurance coverage as nicely.
We’ve thus far spent round £10,000 on renovating and adorning the place.
There have been positively moments the place it was very tense, however I wouldn’t say I remorse it because of the expertise I’ve gained.
I reckon we’ve saved round £15,000 by renovating the home ourselves reasonably than rent somebody to do it for us.
How did you afford to furnish it?
We’re nonetheless shopping for stuff however the issues we did get had been both from my mother and father or we purchased it second-hand on web sites similar to Gumtree and Fb Market.
We additionally used eBay for brand new gadgets, as some retailers together with Currys PC World promote issues for lower than what they often value on their very own web sites.
We additionally received within the behavior of utilizing cashback web site TopCashback for payments and home equipment.
Once I took out a brand new broadband deal, I’d get fairly an honest quantity of cashback of round £100.
However then once you get that cashback, you shouldn’t simply routinely spend it on booze or no matter.
What I might do is use that once more to spend on home equipment, for instance, so it is type of like a circle of cashback.
I’d get it for the utilities, however then I’d spend the cash in the direction of shopping for an even bigger equipment, like a washer, which was about £300 to £400.
You’d get round £30 to £40 in cashback, which supplies you that additional bit of money.
What recommendation would you give to different first-time consumers?
I’d advise individuals to spend time researching the price of the precise mortgage versus the price of your commute to work.
The period of time I spent on the Nationwide Rail web site completely different stations and season tickets is simply ridiculous. However by doing it you may work out which areas you need.
In the event you’re confused by the method, take the time to sit down down, learn by means of every part and in the event you don’t perceive, you may at all times ask.
Our property agent Cornells had a mortgage advisor who just about defined every part for us.
Additionally, in the event you’re pondering of buying a home however you’re probably not certain about how outdated it’s, it could possibly be a good suggestion to get a full Rics survey.
It’s a bit dear, we paid round £500, however it’s value it if it is a property that you simply actually, really need however you are simply probably not certain.
That is how we type of came upon about among the issues, such because the plumbing and electrical, in order that was very useful.
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