Hi everyone, I'm Sarah-Jane and I’ve been an Aster shared owner since March 2023, living in our 2-bedroom home with my husband Rob and our recent addition - a little Kitten called Kit (as in, KitKat)!

                                         

My journey.. 

So we found shared ownership completely by accident if I’m honest. The plan originally was to relocate to Derby as we were certain we couldn’t afford to stay in Surrey and were convinced we had been priced out of the area. We fell flat on our face with the Derby move though, because to qualify for a mortgage up there we would have to prove that we lived within a maximum of a 90-minute commute away from our work and we’d have to have that job for 3 months +. So, we began to reconsider our options and I stumbled across shared ownership. I found a new build site in Farnham and enquired. When I found out that there was only one plot left, I actually reserved it without telling my Husband! So that was an exciting conversation at dinner that evening!

How it went..

Our shared ownership journey was a bit of a funny one and as I say, by complete accident! I reached out to Oli who let me know there was one available plot left and I had to ensure I’d registered on the government portals, and I ended putting down a holding deposit to reserve the plot the very next day after speaking with The Mortgage People that evening. I also mentioned it to my colleague who had previously owned a shared ownership flat in Hampshire, and he encouraged me to go for it. It was all very quick. My friends couldn’t believe we’d ‘bought’ a house without even seeing it. But in my gut I just knew it was the right thing for us to do. I’m a firm believer in following my gut instinct.

How shared ownership helped us.. 

Quite honestly it helped us stay near loved ones and friends and most importantly in jobs that we love. I remember telling my boss about the possible Derby move and nearly being in tears at the thought of having to leave my job. Safe to say we were all really pleased with the better ‘Plan B’!!! 

What we love most about our home..

My most favourite room in our house is our bedroom as it is the first room that is ‘complete’. Every piece of furniture is new and exactly what we wanted. We absolutely loved building the flat pack things that apparently ‘only’ take an hour to build…. Let me give you some flat pack advice: overestimate how long it will take you and never do it with someone you’re married to!!! Haha! We also really love our shutter blinds because they give our home ‘kerb appeal’ from the outside and tie it all together.

Robs favourite room is the bathroom as he says that every time we have guests round and he gives them a tour, they always comment on how lovely and spacious it is.

Our future plans..

We have plans for a media wall with a fireplace which will hold our TV, games console and soundbar too. We’ve got a local tradesman lined up to carry this out for us over the next few weeks so watch this space for photos (check it out here)! We’ve been saving up a little while to have the media wall built but the nice part about owning the property, is we can save up and choose what we want to do next. It’s all very exciting - as I rented for 12 years previously where I wasn’t allowed to paint/decorate.

Why I'd recommend shared ownership..

I would really recommend shared ownership. It’s the most affordable way to get onto the property ladder. I’ve had friends question our logic behind buying a shared ownership property instead of buying the ‘conventional’ way. Ultimately in our case it boiled down to us not having a very very large deposit (to make the monthly mortgage payments affordable) and us being a certain age and needing a 30 year mortgage term. We can staircase up to 100% (as we currently have a 75% share) and we do plan to try and do this when we remortgage in 3 years time. 

My advice to someone looking for a new home..

Absolutely go for it, but do your research, get a good mortgage advisor who will work with you to make it work for you. Getting on the property ladder regardless of how you do it is the best feeling in the entire world. My boss and his wife helped us move into our house in their horse box (because we did EVERYTHING we could to save money) and I remember moving in with the horse box parked outside the house and we ate Dominos pizza on the floor and had a drink to celebrate. That was the best feeling in the world, and I remember looking around thinking that I couldn’t believe we were finally ‘home’.

If you're looking to start your shared ownership journey, you can contact us today and our helpful team will be in touch!