A hopeful first time buyer has revealed how she bought her first home at just 23 – without any financial help from friends or family. Jade Vanriel, a vlogger said she is always been a prudent saver – working since she was sixteen and even saving to buy a house while at university.
Whether it was putting little and often away or sacrificing on things like going out for dinner or shopping for clothes, she pulled out all the stops to make sure she hit that goal and bought her own flat, single handedly, in her early twenties.
‘I started saving at university’ In revealing her top tips to making it on the property ladder, Jade said stripping the emotion out of it is crucial – as is learning how to curb any impulse spending. The buyer, who hopes to stay in her new flat for at least two years said while she’s been working since the age of 16 – it wasn’t until she started university that she realised it was a dream she desperately wanted to make a reality. “I’ve always saved but it wasn’t until university that I really saw buying a property as a goal I wanted to achieve. “I’ve worked since I was sixteen and have always been a workaholic – my parents instilled this in me. I already had some savings from then but I made an active decision to seriously put money away for a house in my last year at university. “I was in the position to buy 2 years later making my dream come true.” But it’s not all been fun and games.
Jade said if she could go back in time, she’d “been more patient and less emotional”. “I thought the process would be quick and easy but in reality it took me a year to find the right place. I also got very caught up in the process so I would have taken the emotions out of it when things didn’t work out and been more practical,” Jade added. She managed to save up £30,000 for a deposit – equivalent to a 20 percent deposit for the home she wanted. “I saved everything and essentially had no life for the years following university; my friends can certainly vouch for that. “In total I was saving for seven years – there were no holidays and no luxurious treats, aside from paying for the basics!” She also took control of her bank accounts, labelling each one separately for different savings elements to make it really clear what she was raising funds for. It IS possible
Jade may be one of the 18 percent that believe they can get on the ladder alone – but she admits it was no easy feat. “I would advise hopeful buyers to put themselves first. I didn’t worry about what other people were thinking because I knew what my goal was – to buy that first house. “I wanted to be very independent from a young age so I had to keep that focus. First-time buyers need to view saving as giving to your “future self”. “When you see your money increasing over time, it gives you that feel-good factor as your goals become tangible. Saving for nothing is hard but having a goal will always help focus yourself.”