In recent years it has become increasingly tough for first-time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder, especially for those who are doing it alone. Relying solely on one income and one pot of savings means that getting a mortgage and a good enough deposit together can often feel like an impossible task for solo buyers.
But one first-time buyer, who managed to buy her first home in Stockport on her own aged 24, shows that it can possible with good money management and some sacrifices along the way. Sarah Yates, 27, spoke to us as part of our Where I Live series, where each week we hear from a different homeowner to find about their home-buying journey, the costs involved and look at how they've made their home their own.
Sarah from Hazel Grove has been eager to save money ever since starting her first job as a 'paper boy' at just 14. She continued her paper round right up until her first year of college, but the embarrassment of being spotted by one of her classmates made her quit.
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"I’ve been an avid saver since I was young. When I was about 14 I had a paper round and I didn’t stop doing that until I was in the first year of college," Sarah, who is now a journalist, told the Manchester Evening News.
"People used to take the mick out of me. I remember one of the boys said that they’d seen me one morning and I told him it wasn’t me because I was so mortified and embarrassed. I then quit and I got a job at Clarks, then I got my first job as a journalist when I was 19. I've just always tried to save."
Aside from a year living in a flat down south, Sarah has always lived at home with her parents, which she acknowledges has helped her to be able to save more.
She always had ambitions to own her own home, so at 24, she began looking at what she could afford on the property market.
“I was fortunate enough to live with my mum and dad up until I bought my first house. I started looking to get on the property ladder when I was about 24," Sarah said.
"The first house that I put an offer on was £120,000. It was a really gorgeous little terrace house in Hazel Grove and it even had a driveway but unfortunately I lost out on that.
"I put offers on about five different houses over the course of a year but my offers kept getting declined and that's when I realised that people were offering quite a lot more than the asking price."
Having grown up in Hazel Grove, Sarah wanted to buy her own home in the area but soon realised that she was being priced out with her £145,000 budget.
"The house prices around there are obviously high because it's a more desirable area. I couldn't afford to offer anything more than more than £145,000, so the more I was getting turned down on these houses it pushed me to look elsewhere.
"I wanted to stay in Stockport and in the end I started looking at houses in Edgeley, it was an up and coming area and it's by the train station and the motorway."
Sarah came across a two-bed terrace house in the suburb that was in a run-down state, but it was exactly what she was looking for.
"I found this house that was on the market for £140,000. It was in an absolute state, it was run down and everything needed doing to it, but that appealed to me because I liked the idea of being able to put my own stamp on it.
"I wanted somewhere where I could completely do up the kitchen and bathroom, paint the walls and put new flooring in everywhere."
Sarah offered the asking price of £140,000, but once again, her offer was turned down.
"They turned me down because they wanted more, so in the end I just asked them what they would accept. They said £141,000 which was a no brainer as it was an extra grand which was nothing in terms of the mortgage," she explained.
"Once the survey came back there were a few issues so I ended up buying it for £139,000. I was really lucky to get it for that.
"My offer was accepted in March 2020 which was right at the start of the pandemic. I think that’s one of the reasons why I got it for the price that I did because of the uncertainty at the time, people weren’t sure if they could buy because they weren't sure if their jobs were safe."
As Sarah is money-savvy, she didn't get a broker and instead relied on Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert site for help with her mortgage.
"I didn't get a mortgage broker because I feel that I’m quite savvy with my money. I'm big on Martin Lewis so I used his mortgage calculator tool and I looked on there to find the best mortgage deal for me.
"I then went straight to the bank which cut out the broker and saved me a bit of money. I was lucky as well with the rates back then, I think my mortgage rate is 1.7 or 1.8."
Sarah got the keys to her first home in August 2020 and began renovating right away.
"I knew it was a state but I didn't realise until I had bought it that the concrete below the house would need completely relaying because it was so uneven. There was a lot of work to do," she said.
"Because we were still in and out of lockdown restrictions during that time, and the house needed a lot of work, I lived at home whilst I worked on it and I put the majority of my income straight into the house.
"Over nine months I ripped everything out and the whole house was re-plastered, I got all new doors and I had a window put in the front bedroom to open it up."
As a first-time buyer Sarah wanted to cut costs which meant she did a lot of DIY on the house.
Sarah added: "I didn’t have a never ending pot of money so I had to be sensible and budget for everything. I just had to gradually buy things as we went along.
"I bought whatever I needed from wherever was cheapest, whether that was Screwfix, B&Q or Toolstation, even if it was cheaper by pennies I didn't care because they all add up.
"A lot of work I did myself to cut costs such as stripping walls, tiling and painting. YouTube was my best friend during the renovation. The windows all needed resealing so I just thought rather than paying someone, I can learn how to do it myself.
"Anything I needed help with I paid my family and friends to do which helped to keep the costs down, and my cousin who rents one of the rooms off me also helped too.
"I definitely saved around a few grand by doing what I can by myself. I also found that utilising zero percent credit cards was a good way to pay for things in the house that I needed to pay for upfront."
Describing her interior style, Sarah said: "It's very simplistic and minimalist, I like a lot of light colours and earthy tones. I just like to try and keep the space as light and airy as possible.
"I initially wanted a shaker style kitchen but the cost was a lot more expensive so I went with handle-less and then to make it look a bit nicer I invested in Quartz workshops rather than laminate.
"I also couldn't afford real wood flooring but I shopped around for laminate which I got from B&Q which looks almost like real wood."
Sarah added: "There’s still work to do, for example, I want to get the front of the house re-rendered eventually. Also the fireplace is waiting to be finished, that's another job that I am doing myself, I've got the tiles they're just waiting to be put down.
"I want to get a nice mantlepiece and then an electric log burner to give it the look of a log burner without the £2,000 price tag."
Walking us through the layout of her house, Sarah described: "I’ve got a tiny yard at the front, then you through the front door and you're in the living room, then you pass through into the kitchen. There's a small extension at the back with a bathroom in it which is great because it saves space upstairs.
"Upstairs I've got two double bedrooms, and then you go up another set of stairs and there's the loft conversion, which is being used as an office currently."
Sarah says she is extremely proud to be a solo home owner.
“I just love that it's mine, I'm proud that I have managed to buy my own house and do it all up," she said.
"Everything that's in here has come down to my choice and my decisions. It’s exactly how I wanted it to be, it’s homely and it's got a very clean aesthetic. I just love it.
“I reckon I will be here for another three or four years and then the plan is at that hopefully then I'll have a good deposit for a second home. I don’t ever want to get rid of this, I’d like to rent it out.”
Giving advice for first-time buyers who may be struggling to save to buy their own home, Sarah said you 'have to make sacrifices'.
"I know it's really, really tough at the minute but you just have to make sacrifices, you have to miss nights out and you just need to be really sensible.
"Penny-pinch and be that tight friend that everyone kind of laughs at because it will pay off in the long run when you own your own house.
"If you can get a second job and you can still enjoy a decent quality of life, there they are a lot of little jobs where you can pick up a few extra hours a week which can then go straight towards saving for a deposit."
You can see more of Sarah's home on her Instagram account @ourhouseinstockport.
Want to get involved in Where I Live? If you are interested in featuring your home in our weekly series, please email your name and details to phoebe.jobling@reachplc.com.
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