Please come and tell me about the FIRST HOUSE/ PROPERTY you purchased?

[yellowpolkadots101]

Myself and my dp have been saving very hard and spent the last couple of years being very frugal to save money for our first house. (We are both late 20s). We are going to have to compromise on the size of our first house in order to be near our preference location which is near our family and also a great location to commute to work and is up and coming so hopefully the value of the new house will hold.

Our initial thoughts are to stay in the first house for approx 5 years and up size when we have more equity in the property and possibly a higher earning. (Although maybe less if dc come along).

I know I am being completely ridiculous I cant help but feel a little green eyed seeing the nice sized family homes with gardens that are being sold for 30k over our budget.

It just got me thinking what was your first purchased house like? Are you still living there and how long did you live in it before moving to the next property? Did you also compromise on things that wernt ideal?

Bought a 30s semi in Bebington for £9995 in 1977 and the next door house had sold for either £2500 or £3000, 2 or 3 years before.

We changed the bathroom suite, tiled over the old set in concrete tiles and laid cork flooring, installed a new damp-proof course, rewired and replumbed including plumbing in a washing machine.

We sold for £12250 in 1979 and 3 months later, our buyer sold for £15500 having not done a single thing to it. Still rankles that he got money for nothing.

1998. Semi derelict, 2 up 2 down. The floor space is 10 x 18 feet.

I’m still here with 2 children now.

Bought a 2 bed terrace house with ensuite/garden/driveway etc in 2015 for £190,000, sold in 2018 for £227,950 - South Glos/North Bristol

We bought our first house 3 years ago a three bedroom terraced with a fair size garden. At the time we could have afforded something bigger/nicer but I knew we planned to start a family in the near future. With one DC and a second on the way I now only work part time so it was definitely the right decision for us.
I don't see it as our forever home I hope once the youngest goes to school I can increase my hours and we can possibly move. The kitchen and third bedroom (box room) are too small and I would just like a nicer area. Also for some reason would prefer to have a detached or semidetached house.
Having said that I am very grateful to be on the property ladder. I use to think I would like a nicer house. But now I realise that this house all being well is a stepping stone to another house in the future.

A 2 bed garden flat with a lovely garden in ‘up and coming’ area of London. Kitchen and bathroom were tiny. We were 26, stayed there for 7 years (and one dc) then moved to a house in same area.

Mid terrace bought for £19,000, I was 18 and DH was 23.
It needed a ton of work doing. The previous owner hadn't set foot upstairs for 20 years and it had no bathroom just a toilet downstairs with a bracket on the wall where she used put a washing up bowl to get washed.
We bought it as an investment but shortly after I found out I was pregnant so we ended up living in it. We moved in three weeks before DC1 was born.
I have very fond memories of that little house.

We bought a Victorian terrace in a not very good area. Yard instead of a garden. Not ideal but cheap and it was better than renting.

Re decorated and did bathroom kitchen etc. Sold it 4 years later for a profit and moved to a smaller house but a better area.

First house was a 3 bed detached doer upper. Great location but house had space but not best layout. Lots of work later ... removed walls, new kitchen, new bathroom sold up and upgraded to a period property that was a total money pit!

Everything was 10 times more expensive than a modern property but absolutely loved our dream home.

First house was a small end of terrace, opposite a large warehouse. No central heating or double glazing. Bathroom downstairs off the dining room. It was just about getting my own place. Stayed four years.

My then bf and I bought a split level maisonette, 2 beds, no garden and backing on to a railway line. It was our first home together and cost £60K on a 100% mortgage in the 80s. We lived there for about 7 years and were lucky to sell it for the same amount when house prices crashed and there was negative equity everywhere. We then rented for a couple of years before buying our current home in 1995. It was a 3 bed semi with 90ft garden but we've extended to make it a 4 bed with a massive kitchen. Bought for £220k now worth approx £480k. Only thing I hate is that we live on a main road and traffic can be heavy at times.

I am in my first house, purchased 7 years ago. I wanted to be in a particular area, ( lovely , picturesque, quiet, safe village, great school and linked to fab comprehensive that dd attended and my parents live here ) but it's very expensive and my compromise was buying a shared ownership property so I actually only own 50% of it. My choice was all of a house in a shittier area or this. It's a newbuild , nothing flashy but has all the basics and we've decorated it and done the garden and I love it. Personally I think location is EVERYTHING. the building itself you can pretty up or improve.

My first purchase was a 2 bed flat in a leafy suburb of B'ham where I worked. I loved it,. it was on the top(8th) floor and I had 2 balconies . It cost £17,500. I got promotion and moved on but kept the flat for a couple of years as couldn't sell. Service charge had gone through the roof and was more than the monthly mortgage payments! Was rescued by being promoted to a position where I was entitled to a relocation package that included the company buying the property off me. I then bought a 3 bed semi in a so so area. Sold 18mths later for double what I paid and bought a 4 bed detached with DH.
Now in our forever home which we had built for us in the village I grew up in in Scotland and love it.

Bought my first home for £100k in 2008. A 2 bed flat on the main road in the SE about an hour outside of London.

Knocked a few walls around to add another bedroom, new kitchen and new bathroom and recently had it valued at £200k.

Even with all the equity I can't afford the next move. A 3 bed terrace here is £300k+.

Tiny studio flat practically right next to the M25. We were there for about 18 months. Then bought 3 bed terraced and now 14 years later are about to move to a 4 bed detached.

You've done really well to buy somewhere now in your twenties. Just enjoy your house!

We are living in our first purchase. Bought 2009 for 118k. 2 bed Victorian terrace, grotty area but South East so is what we could afford.

Mortgage (only 75k as had large deposit) paid off last year. Have spent about 30k on new bathroom, kitchen, utility room, front wall replaced and some new window and doors.

Current value around 180k. Next move will be north to get value for money bungalow with large garden (am now over 60)

I bought my first property in London in 1978. It was a one bed maisonette, tiny kitchen, en suite, balcony - no garden and on street parking. It was £17k. I lived there for 5 years. I sold it for £56k. Ive just looked the flat up on Zoopla, and it sold for £727k last year!

Bought our first house in our early 30s when DC1 was a baby: 2 bed terrace with no drive or off-road parking and one big room and a kitchen downstairs. Stayed there for 9 years and had 3 DC sharing a room by the time we moved out to a 3 bed semi. We were very happy there and the DC all have fond memories.