We are a couple looking to buy our first home in the South East. As we're not high, or even particularly moderate earners, we are balking at the high prices that bear no relation to incomes.
The maximum amounts quoted by the high street are depressing and basically mean we're staring down the barrel of being economically cleansed from our town.
We could scrape just about afford a grubby too-small flat studio/1 bed if we went with Nationwide. Really we want to buy something 20k or more over this limit to get the bare minimum of what we want. We know that the monthly payment for this would only be £100 more than our present sky-high rent, which we comfortably pay each month.
We wonder if any of the specialist lenders of '6-times-your-income' Daily Mail front-page fame, are any good? Alternatively, can high street lenders have their arms twisted if you give them more of your personal circumstances? For example, we both walk to work and have zero travel costs and no car, only one modest loan between us, no 'we-spend-like-crazy' store cards and credit cards, no overdrafts, save plenty each month, etc. We also both earn sporadic extra cash freelancing and tutoring, but it's hard to put a figure on this as it's informal word-of-mouth stuff.
Anyone experiences/insights from people who've tried to punch above their weight in the South East property market?
Cheers D