How To Save For Your Dream House
One of the biggest things you’ll ever do in your life is buy a house. But finding your forever home takes imagination, research and lots of hard work to earn the money to make that dream come true. It also requires the ability to save up enough of that money to get a mortgage, and that can be the hardest part for many people.
When the bills are piling up it can be hard to set money aside for a big goal like buying a home, especially if you are already paying rent or an existing mortgage. Staying focused and motivated on a long-term saving target can be difficult, but it’s essential if you want to make that dream come true.
Here are some tips to help you get your savings on track so you can speed up the process of buying your dream house.
Plan your budget
Research and planning are key for saving for your dream home, particularly when it comes to the finances. You need to work out how much you are aiming to save in total and then how much you can save each month towards that target.
You will also need to consider additional costs as part of the buying process beyond the mortgage deposit, which can include: stamp duty, the valuation fee, mortgage arrangement fees, search and survey fees, legal fees, buildings insurance, council tax, money transfer fees, land registry fees and even the cost of hiring a moving van.
Finding savings where possible
This means looking at your income and what your current outgoings are (like your bills, taxes, rent, mortgage payments, shopping, etc.) and working out not only what you can currently afford to save but also where additional savings can be made.
Investigating whether you can save money by switching energy provider, cancelling unused subscriptions (yes, even that gym membership you’ve been meaning to make proper use of this time)
If you’re planning to buy with a partner, friend or family member, this may be the time for an honest discussion about priorities to make sure you’re both on the same page and ready to work together to achieve your target.
Be a smart saver
If you are serious about saving as much money as possible, it pays to do your research into the best places to build up these savings. Accounts that don’t give you ready access to your money often offer better rates than instant access accounts, as well as removing the temptation to withdraw money.
To make sure you continue to pay into your savings, it might help to set up automatic payments to move the money on your regular payday rather than rely on doing it manually. Doing it this way helps you to focus on that money being for savings rather than part of your regular earnings.
Don’t ignore your debts
If you have big credit card bills or loans, this can impact your ability to get a good mortgage rate, so even though it might be tempting to minimise your payments towards these debts in order to save more quickly, a more patient approach might work out better.
Paying off those debts will leave you in a better position to save more while also boosting the mortgage rate that will be available to you.
Get help where you can
Saving for a dream home isn’t easy when there are so many other things that need paying for in our lives. There’s no shame in receiving help to get there, so it’s worth investigating the options that are available for you. Nearly one in four home buyers in the UK get help from ‘the Bank of Mum and Dad’ but there are other possibilities.
The Shared Ownership scheme means that you don’t need as much of a deposit as usual because you are only purchasing between 25% and 75% of the home and afterwards paying monthly rent on the rest.
It’s open to both first-time and second-time buyers, you can find out more about it here or you can talk to one of our Sales Advisors for more information about the support we can give you as you save up for your dream Laurus home.
