[SPLIT]Salary discussion(was last trip to Walmart)

So do you think these kinds of money will buy a house in UK? The average home in reading area is 350K BGP..
The salary was cut on half and the coke get double. 

Can some body please tell how a person can finance a house of £300 in UK ?
in order to buy a house for £300K, you will need about  £1918K and you need to earn £45,542.00 gross.
Kal 

Im pretty sure in one of your other posts, you said that you'd already taken a loss on a house in the past, so for now would be happy to rent?   

Sorry ..I have to cut some detail... kal

You deleted a lot of stuff from your previous posts, but i saw it yesterday. 

I cant tell you how someone would finance a £300,000 house because I don't know anyone who makes that kind of money.   

 All i was trying to say to you is that £50k is a VERY good salary, and that if you are planning to bring a lot of stuff over with you, i'd think it would be better to bring items that arent easy to find here (people have previously given you examples like Mexican food,  Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chips, Crisco sticks, Jell-O everything, Seattle's Best coffee, Cholula, green Tabasco sauce, Bush's baked beans and Marshmallow Fluff )...  not shampoo and razors which you can get in any chemist or supermarket.

That's all.... it's only my opinion!     

Your comparison of goods as you stated above will drive you crazy and as another poster said it certainly won't help you settle in...believe me, I know. Once you are here, you do need to stop the comparisons or think long and hard about making the move. Things are more expensive over here and yes salaries for the most part are lower.

As for buying a house, since you will be over here on a work permit you will probably have to put down a large down payment, I saw someone in that situation post that she had to put down something like a 20% deposit.

Two questions:

What you can do with 50k in UK ?
So do you think these kinds of money will buy a house in UK? The average home in reading area is 350K BGP..

That is about double the average salary in the UK.   

The average home in reading area is 350K BGP..    

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/mc.stm

according to the BBC, the average house price in Reading is just over £200,000.

Also remember that if you find after a while you are truly missing something and can't find a suitable substitute here, that you can order things online and have them sent to friends or relatives and pick them up when you visit.

£50K/annum is a fortune to most people here.

Can some body please tell how a person can finance a house of £300 in UK ?
in order to buy a house for £300K, you will need about  £1918K and you need to earn £45,542.00 gross.
Kal
 

If you read through some of the finance sections in the papers you'll see that lenders are letting some UK citizens borrow up to 5 times their annual salary.  And they've introduced loan terms up to 50 years!  Other types of borrowing (home equity, credit cards) are gaining popularity and it seems that many that many analysts think that people are seriously overextending themselves.  It all leads me to believe that if the banks weren't so willing to hand out cash, then house prices would be forced down. 

While £50k is a good salary, relative to the average, it is not going to buy you a £300k house if you are looking to keep your housing costs less then 40% of your take home salary.  As people are telling you that you are making a rich salary, keep in mind that if you are married/partnered and your spouse is staying at home with children, then as a family you are only earning an average 2-worker income.  And that you'll only see about £35k after taxes. 

On £50k you will bring home about £2900 a month.

Houses in Reading may be an average of £200k but I can tell you that you don't get much for that amount. A small terraced in the Towne Centre , two up/two down on a decent road is £195-200k. Yes you can buy something like that cheaper but it will be on a crappy road (near the Oxford Rd area where all of the crime is). Reading is full of bad roads.

Like I said previosly, £50k p/a is about double the national average salary so it is nevertheless more than the majority of people in this country earn.  If you feel your total package is less than you should be getting in your field, then you should take that up with your employer. I don't think anyone is quibbling about that, I wouldn't have a clue what is appropriate for someone doing that kind of work,  just saying your salary is a very good one, overall.   BTW just a small piece of advice ... in the UK it's not really the done thing to go around discussing salaries.

I would have a nervous breakdown if I made £50K p/a. I wouldn't know what to do with all of that money! Trust me, that's excellent. That's close to what dh and I make together and we have a reasonably comfortable (if not exactly debt free) existence.

Once your credit is established I would guess that you won't have too much trouble rasing a mortgage on that kind of wage. Average house price on our street (which is all 2 up, 2 down victorian terraces) is about £260 - £270 and we live in a very posh area....

I would have a nervous breakdown if I made £50K p/a. I wouldn't know what to do with all of that money!

Oh, I could think of all kinds of things to do with it.

Oh, I could think of all kinds of things to do with it.

LOL! I'm sure I'd get used to it eventually! 

While I have to agree that £50K certainly is a comfortable wage and above average for the UK, it's all about the lifestyle to which someone is accustomed.  It's not really fair to give the OP the idea that he will be rolling in it with that salary.  I personally can't see how it would be possible to afford a home big enough for a family with multiple children and all of the luxuries of life that the OP may not want to live without.  

To the original poster - You seem to have a good head on your shoulders.  You have seen that other similar jobs are being offered at a higher salary and that the UK is a very expensive place to live.  It comes down to what you want to be able to acheive and how you would like your family to live.  There were definitely some major plus's to you moving here, but they seem to come at the expense of your income and subsequent lifestyle.  Don't sell yourself short....demand a salary that will keep you in the lifestyle you have in the US.

I guess I am just another person who wonders how she will ever afford to buy a home anywhere in the UK.  

I guess I am just another person who wonders how she will ever afford to buy a home anywhere in the UK.  

Me too.  But at least my debts will soon be paid off.  One thing at a time, I guess..

I find that money just goes further here.  I don't know why, and I'm not trying to analyse it but we have yet to get a credit card and have yet to need one.  We will be getting one soon because we need to start establishing credit but we're pretty much living off of DHs salary and banking mine.  We're starting to travel more though and that will start sucking it up..

While I have to agree that £50K certainly is a comfortable wage and above average for the UK, it's all about the lifestyle to which someone is accustomed.  It's not really fair to give the OP the idea that he will be rolling in it with that salary.  I personally can't see how it would be possible to afford a home big enough for a family with multiple children and all of the luxuries of life that the OP may not want to live without.  

Karin, I agree with your thoughts.