Karen Hill has brought her first property at the age of 56 (Image: Wavensmere Homes)
A woman has just got onto the for the first time at the age of 56 and she has shared her advice for others hoping to buy their first home.
Karen Hill, 56, has worked as a nurse since 1986 and has moved back into the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary where she first undertook her training – but this time, she’s brought a there.
A new £175 million development by Wavensmere Homes allowed Karen to move back into the Nightingale Quarter.
Ms Hill said: “I moved out of a little village into Derby to try and be a nurse in 1986. I lived in the nurse’s accommodation, which is the old luxury infirmary, which has now become the Nightingale Quarter.
“It’s great – it’s in the centre of town in Derby, near the railway station, bus station, shops, entertainment, so a fairly sort of central environment. After finishing my nursing qualification, I ended up with one of my fellow newly qualified nurses, a little bit out of Derby, but still relatively central and on a good bus route. At that time I hadn’t even considered buying a . And in fact, years went past and I still didn’t consider buying a property.
Ms Hill was able to get buy a couple of years after she decided she wanted to stop renting (Image: Wavensmere Homes)
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“It wasn’t a priority of mine. I wanted the flexibility that if I did choose to move out of Derby to train to be a nurse, then I could make it relatively easy. And then suddenly you realise that you spent 10 years on the rental market and you don’t have a substantial deposit.”
Ms Hill said she experienced a change in the past few years which led to her wanting to leave the rental market and buy a property of her own.
She said: “As I started to get older, I thought, you know what, I’m never ever going to be able to achieve this. The that I’ve rented were old railway terrace type properties, which were lovely, but as they need maintenance, obviously landlords look after that, but I was constantly having to contact landlords.
“Younger students and younger families moved into the area and as I got older, the noise and behaviours were a little bit challenging – suddenly I realised actually I would like to .
“I always thought I would choose the little cottage with roses around the windows. But suddenly I realised I actually didn’t want that. I wanted something that was simple and easy to maintain.”
The new home development created an opportunity for Ms Hill to buy (Image: Wavensmere Homes)
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Ms Hill was able to speak to a advisor who took her through her options.
She added: “I have to say I was exceptionally overwhelmed with everything that I had to consider but I was able to make a decision to move into a two bedroom apartment and from making that decision to my move date was a short space of just a few weeks.
“I’ve been in the Nightingale now for just a little over three months and it is the best decision that I’ve made.
“I absolutely love it. It is easy to live in. I wish I’d done it a long time ago except it wasn’t built and I don’t think I would have had that headspace to have made that decision.”
It took Ms Hill a couple of years to save once she decided she wanted to buy a property – she said that the passing of her parents was one of the factors which spurred her on to move forward and get onto the property ladder.
When it comes to advice for others looking to get onto the , Ms Hill said one of the best things she did was speaking to a advisor who helped her to analyse her options.
While she recognises it can be challenging to get onto the property ladder she encourages people to do it if they can.