Anyone who has tried to get a foot on the property ladder knows what a challenge it can be. For Grace Başçi, it’s a milestone that at times she wondered if she’d ever achieve. But in 2020, aged 31, she completed on a two-bedroom house in Halesowen, West Midlands.
“Houses near Birmingham were expensive and I wasn’t earning a huge salary at the time,” recalls Başçi, who works as an estates manager. “My mum didn’t have any spare money to lend me, and – being single at the time – I had no partner to buy jointly with.”
Başçi notes that friends, colleagues and family members who had managed to buy their own places had either bought with partners, were earning more money, or had moved home to live with their parents rent-free while they saved. Although already disciplined with money (something she credits her mother for), she was still struggling to find a realistic way to come up with a down payment on her own.
“She’s always been so hard-working and good at saving, even as a single parent raising me and my brother, Simon,” says Başçi of her mother who worked in the production department of the local theatre at the time. “Mum would never splash out on luxuries while we were growing up – she knew exactly what she was doing, and what needed to be done to make sure the bills were paid and there was food on the table.”
Başçi tells of her mother taking odd jobs when they needed extra cash and, as the children got older, she was able to save enough to purchase her own home – which inspired Başçi to one day follow suit. Her mother was a strong believer in planning for the future, especially when it came to finances, and it’s a lesson that Başçi took with her when she left home at 18; working part-time retail jobs throughout her studies.
“Mum would say: ‘Always save a little bit if you can,’ so I would if I ever had any spare cash,” remembers Başçi. “She would tell us kids: ‘Don’t forget about tomorrow while you’re enjoying today,’ and that always resonated with me.”
Despite progressing through a promising career in the property industry in her 20s, Başçi was only managing to put small amounts of her salary into savings, with the rest going on rent, bills, food, clothes and socialising. “My friends and cousins were buying their first homes and becoming grownups during this time,” says Başçi. “I was so happy for them all, but it also made me feel like the baby of my friendship groups.”
She’d almost resigned herself to a life of renting when a frank conversation with her mother planted the seeds of an exciting idea. “We made a plan to convert my mum’s garage into an annexe for me to live in, rent-free,” she says.
Başçi used a small amount of her savings to pay a contractor to make the garage liveable. There was already a connecting door into the main house so she could access the bathroom, kitchen and living areas but Başçi now also had a warm space in which to sleep, watch telly and store her belongings. After a year of putting every spare penny in a high-interest savings account, Başçi was in a position to start looking at property.
“I didn’t think I was financially ready to buy, but houses in Halesowen were a bit cheaper than I’d imagined,” says Başçi. “I was sure they’d be super expensive because the area borders Birmingham – the country’s second biggest city – but I was pleasantly surprised.”
Things moved quicker than Başçi expected and she had the keys to her two-bedroom house in a matter of months. “I couldn’t believe that I’d managed to do it, that I had my own house – I was in shock to be honest. Even when mum and I got the keys and made that first visit to my house, it didn’t feel real.”
In the whirlwind of admin that accompanies buying a new home, Başçi followed her mother’s suggestion, and took out home insurance with Aviva. This helped take the fear out of this first big financial commitment, helped her stop worrying about what could go wrong and just focus on enjoying her new home.
“A few days after I got the keys to the new house, I was still overcome with the magnitude of owning my own home, then the home insurance policy documents came through my letterbox,” remembers Başçi. “I actually felt a wave of relief because just minutes earlier I’d been panicking about random things. I was full-on catastrophising.”
But remembering that, in the unlikely event her worst fears did come true, her home insurance could help cover the costs, gave her some reassurance. “It made me think: ‘I’ve got this’ – I finally felt like a grownup.” That was the moment it stopped being overwhelming for Başçi and everything started to feel more manageable – she now feels prepared for pretty much every eventuality life could throw at her.
See how Aviva can help you make it click, visit aviva.co.uk
