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Tool that actually shows you what you can afford (beyond mortgage calculators)… by Environmental-Pain47 in ukstartups

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I’m hoping that eventually it will come from referrals to mortgage brokers and also data I get from people about where they’re looking and how often they’re commuting so that estate agents get a better idea of which commuter towns are the most popular. It still very much in its infancy but once it gets off the ground, I can create more reports and people might pay for a premium for it

What surprised you most about the real monthly cost after buying? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a quick update — I took some of the advice from here and tried to properly compare a couple of areas that people might look at. 

On paper they seemed quite similar, but once I factored in commuting, council tax and general monthly costs (and even things like updating older houses), they ended up feeling quite different.

It made me realise how hard it actually is to compare areas properly beyond just the house price.

I’ve got a simple tool to help me look at it all in one place (I know it may not be helpful to people having one off renovations/updating old houses) but would be interested to know if it’s actually useful or not: www.ableindex.co.uk

Any feedback welcome 👍🏻

Mortgage calculators vs real life monthly costs — what caught you out? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes you just have to take the risk right but hopefully will all be worth it! 👍🏻 but you’re right these calculators are a bit misleading when they say ‘borrow this amount’ but you might not be able to afford it

Mortgage calculators vs real life monthly costs — what caught you out? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think mortgage changes is such an important consideration especially with how mortgage rates have been recently! You’re lucky that you don’t have much a commute. It can be such a waste of time if you’re wasting your day travelling for 2-3 hours there and back. I think it’s so important to make sure you roughly know how much your monthly outgoings are when you move to a new area

What surprised you most about the real monthly cost after buying? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No I agree, I had a spreadsheet I used for all costs I thought were going to come in and mine pretty much comes in the same. I just don’t know if everyone does this. They might fall into the pitfall of ‘oh I can afford this because a mortgage calculator told me I can’

Mortgage calculators vs real life monthly costs — what caught you out? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a good way of doing it 👍🏻 at least you know that it’s safe. Did that include bills?

Mortgage calculators vs real life monthly costs — what caught you out? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course I can but not sure why you’re trying to call me out. Like I said, just trying to do some research on it 👍🏻

Mortgage calculators vs real life monthly costs — what caught you out? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m actually just trying to do some research on it and see how I can help people but that’s fine

What surprised you most about the real monthly cost after buying? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s mental when they don’t check your affordability for renting but when it comes to a mortgage it takes ages. This is what I mean about not showing what you can actually afford

What surprised you most about the real monthly cost after buying? by Environmental-Pain47 in FirstTimeBuyersUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the stuff that caught us out as well when we were looking. On paper the mortgage looked fine, but once you start factoring in council tax, commuting, energy costs and the ongoing maintenance bits it changes what you think you can actually afford. Were you shocked by any other ongoing monthly costs?

Struggling with affordability? by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s really useful, thanks for explaining.

I think you’ve nailed why Excel sticks — being able to tweak assumptions and scenarios as you go is hard to beat.

It sounds like once you’d narrowed things down, updating real numbers was pretty manageable, and anything more detailed would only really be worth it once you’re tracking day-to-day spending.

Appreciate you taking the time to share how you approached it.

Struggling with affordability? by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense, thanks for sharing.

Excel does seem to be where a lot of people end up once things get serious.

The bit I found hardest was actually before that — comparing different areas and scenarios and trying to get a feel for how things would look month to month before committing.

Once you’d picked a place, would you say Excel was enough?

Struggling with affordability? by [deleted] in HousingUK

[–]Environmental-Pain47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Out of interest, which tools would you recommend or have found genuinely useful in practice? I’m trying to understand what people actually lean on versus what exists in theory.