Buying your first house is a big life achievement. It can be very exciting taking your first steps onto the property ladder. But before you can start picking paint colours and choosing a new sofa, you need to save for a house deposit first.
Not only does saving for a house demonstrate to lenders that you can commit to mortgage repayments, but it also helps you to get into a useful saving habit too. Saving for a deposit doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. But there are ways to make it easier. Here are some of our top tips to help you save to buy your first home.
Research
Do some thorough research and this will give you an initial understanding about what is involved in purchasing a property. You will also realise that there are additional costs besides a deposit, such as legal and surveyor’s fees. Other things you may want to consider is the location of the property. Is it affordable? What do you require from a property long term?
There are lots of online resources available to help you get started, from online mortgage calculators to our regularly updated news blog.
Planning
It is important to have a look at your monthly income and outgoings as it will help to give a clearer picture of how much you have available to spend or save each month. Consider writing down your commitments, such as bills, add up the total and take it away from your monthly income. This allows you to easily be able to monitor what you have left and then you can start planning a monthly budget depending on how much you want to save each month.
Savings account
We recommend opening a separate bank account that is dedicated to depositing savings for your house. This is an easy way to start putting money aside in order to build up a deposit. Most banks should simply allow you to open a savings account to transfer money in to, or alternatively you could open an ISA account.
Cutting back
You can do some very simple things that will help to save for your house deposit. Think of simply cutting back on some expenses. For example, start bringing your lunch into work instead of buying a sandwich, or doing your food shop in Aldi and other discount stores. You could even consider selling some clothes you no longer wear. This are simple things that can build up over time. It may not feel like it will make a big difference, but all the pennies soon add up.
Expert Advice
A mortgage advisor can explain all the options available for you including current government schemes, what is affordable for you, and everything involved with buying a house. We’re here to help guide you through the mortgage application process, answer any questions you may have and will help you understand everything you need to know.
Just remember, it takes time to save a deposit for a house and to go through the house buying process. But it’s all worth it.
