Megs Clement and Sam Rice became first-time buyers at just 19
A young couple has marked a major milestone by purchasing their first property at just 19 years old after ‘cutting out takeaways and evenings out.’ Megs Clement and her partner Sam Rice have recently completed on their debut home following 18 months of saving.
Having spent £28,000 in total with a £19,000 deposit, the pair are now busy transforming their property into a home. The Devon school sweethearts, who began their relationship aged 16, set themselves a target of putting aside a minimum of £1,000 each per month.
Megs, now aged 20, revealed that once they’d obtained their driving licences, visits to McDonald’s and KFC drive-throughs became a weekly occurrence. However, after house-sitting for her grandparents, they caught the homeownership bug and committed to saving for their own place.
With younger generations increasingly shunning traditional nightlife, Megs and Sam benefited from not spending substantial sums on weekend socialising. Megs, employed in end-of-life care, works 40 hours weekly, whilst Sam, 19, juggles roles as both a carpenter and firefighter.
Through their combined earnings, eliminating takeaway spending and guidance from a financial adviser, the couple began submitting offers. They are now the proud owners of a two-bedroom end-of-terrace property, complete with a driveway accommodating three vehicles, reports Devon Live.
“We still managed to have fun over the year and a half we properly saved for, just on a budget,” said Megs. “Honestly, we don’t really do many nights out – I don’t know if that’s just us or if it’s more normal now. We still went on holidays as that’s something we really enjoy doing together and couldn’t cut everything out but we certainly cut back on takeaways.
“When we first passed our driving tests, we were in McDonald’s and KFC 24/7. We then started saving just before turning 18. We both worked full-time after we left school and did apprenticeships.
“Once we had passed our apprenticeships, our pay rates went up so we could ramp up our monthly savings. Neither of us was planning to get on the ladder as young as we have, it sort of just became an idea after we house sat for my grandparents and we made it happen.
“We were just turning 18 when we saw the first house we wanted but couldn’t afford – this encouraged us to save harder.”
However, acknowledging the journey wasn’t entirely straightforward, Megs revealed: “We found another house, made an offer on it and it was accepted. But after a survey, it showed it had structural damage, so we stopped searching for a whilst until this one came up.
“It was initially out of our price range but we were encouraged to view. As it had been on the market for a whilst and needed work, we made a lower offer. The first one was rejected and then the second was accepted.
“We managed to negotiate £25,000 off the asking price. Our financial adviser was brilliant from start to finish and guided us through the whole process with our mortgage.”
She continued: “We are the first out of our friends to buy a house. We both feel very proud to have our own house in the state of the market right now.”
