How We Fund This: A paraplanner moving up the property ladder
We catch up with our How We Fund This participants on their progress six months in. This week it's the paraplanner who has been hoping to buy a new house.
How We Fund This looks at how real people across the globe manage and spend their money. We’re kickstarted the year by putting a spotlight on a handful of people with different goals. Now, we’re catching up with them on their progress.
This week, we check in with the paraplanner from Bristol who is hoping to sell her flat and buy a house with her partner. She was worried about being priced out of her desired areas. Continue reading to see how she’s been getting on. Missed the first interview? You can catch up on it here, first.
What progress have you made with your goal of moving home?
The flat sold almost immediately, which I kind of expected and I'm selling it to a first-time buyer which was a great feeling as I want someone to love the flat as much as I have! Then we started searching and barely anything was coming up for ages which was a bit nerve-wracking. As I predicted, my ideal location was just that bit more expensive than I'd hoped so we started looking elsewhere but then by sheer chance the estate agent we sold through offered us a first viewing of a property nearby and I loved it. It wasn’t on the market yet, and we managed to secure it before it got listed so that was a huge win, although the sellers wanted over the asking price to secure it which rattled me. All things considered, it’s still a fairly reasonable price for the area, but I (maybe naively) hadn't anticipated this so I think it unsettled me. We then had a survey which brought up a few issues, and the sellers weren’t open to budging on price which was frustrating. We did consider pulling out and we even went to view another property. But eventually I accepted that despite the costs, I preferred the original property so we've stuck it out! We're now just a few weeks away from being in there!
You mentioned that your partner is more of a spender than you, and that keeping him focused can be a struggle. How has having a joint goal like this opened up the way you talk about money together?
All things considered, he's been pretty focused and considering his previous dealings with money I'm really impressed by how much he's achieved. He does still spend completely differently to me which blows my mind at time, but I think thats possibly more of a ‘me’ problem than a ‘him’ problem if I'm honest with myself!
Have you had any significant curveballs since January that have affected your progress?
The sellers have been paying hardball throughout, and I think that's really thrown me. There is going to be some structural work required as well as some cosmetic work to get the property to its full potential and that’s likely to cost £10k to £20k over the next couple of years. Although some of that be so things are to my taste - a new kitchen and bathroom, for example - I think this has been a real stumbling block for me mentally. However, I get that this is just the nature of the game and it'll be worth it in the long run! To balance that out I got a generous bonus at work which I wasn’t anticipating so that was fortunate!
What have you learnt about yourself in the process?
I think I've always known I'm fairly anxious about money but this has really hammered it home. I'm not really sure where it stemmed from, other than perhaps comparing myself to others and putting pressure on myself as a result of that. This is something I really want to work on as I think I've lost my way in terms of enjoying things I've worked hard for.
What do the next six months look like for you?
The next few months are going to involve a lot of elbow grease and money getting the house looking how we want it. I'm excited to get to it but I know it will be daunting seeing the bank balance dwindling (even though this is literally what we've been saving for!) Hopefully I can rewire myself to enjoying the spending side of things again! I've told myself to give myself a break on that front but who knows how that'll go!
We’ll be catching up with all our How We Fund This participants at the end of the year. If you’ve got an interesting money story you want to share anonymously, I’d love to hear from you. Reach out to me jessie@howifundthis.com and I’ll be in touch.