Are you in your forever home and if so how old were you when you bought it?

[ytee]

I feel like I should be in our forever home by this stage in my life ( early 40s dc7) but I'm not

Tell me there is still hope!

I have a nice 3 bed semi but it's not what I dreamed of a 4 bed detached with a big garden

Maybe I'll never get that! Who knows!

I don't believe in forever homes. Plan to stay where I am until DS finishes school and then move, I'd like another project tbh.

Maybe it's also to do with expectation?
We have just bought a house in an ideal location for us but it's still only a 3 bed semi but is significantly bigger than our current one and feels like a forever home. We are mid 30s. It needs a lot of work which we will have to do over time so we can make it right for us and it will be good for us until children leave home and then we will probably move. ( so not forever but a long time).

Never understood the concept of a 'forever home', it just seems so final for me, as if you will just, well, die there. To me thats a tad scary. I never know whats going on from one year to the next and have moved over 20 times now.

But if your very happy where you live, why not just not for me

And have lived in all kinds of property's from flats to a wee bungalow.....

Ha no way, the homes I imagined living in when younger like my parents would cost me about 2m, I can't afford that & don't want to leave London yet.

We've been in our place for 7 years and it suits us fine at the moment. We'll probably move somewhere with a bigger garden at some point but for now we are in the catchment for an outstanding primary school, so once the DC are in we will think about moving. I suppose when my DH and I bought our current place, we thought it could be a forever home, but circumstances change.

Out of interest OP, if you only have one child so are presumably a family of 3 people max - why do you desire a 4 bed place so much? Is it because this is the 'ideal' or do you really need that much space?

The one we lived in for 20+ years wasn’t my ideal home. It was an ugly 70’s box. But it had the space we needed and was in a perfect location for us as a family.

The concept of a ‘forever home’ hadn’t been invented then so I was grateful for what we had, which was a lot more than my parents had ever had.

Once the children had gone, we were able to move somewhere smaller but prettier. Once we’d retired, we were able to choose a location we loved. I think this is our penultimate house as it won’t be practical when we’re old.

So, no, no forever home, just the homes that have been right for our age and stage. I feel privileged to have been able to choose and live in all of them and feel sad if people your age are feeling like they’re missing out if they haven’t achieved an, often unachievable, ‘ideal’ propagated by TV programmes etc.

Ours is perfect for now, but won't be once the DS have moved out and/or we become infirm. Interestingly, we bought it from an older couple who have now built a bungalow in an adjoining field they held onto. We have first option to buy that in the future. That's the plan (circumstances permitting).

Interesting responses

No we don't need a 4 bed detached but it's always been where I thought I would be by mid 40s 2 kids 1 dog and a 4 bed detached with a big garden

I don't have the house the dog or the extra child!

Also wanted 2 nice holidays a year and to be fulfilled in my career .. which hasn't happened either

Must try harder.. or adjust expectations!

My parents, who are both approaching 60, bought their first home as a 'starter home' 30 years ago. It's a small but lovely 2 bedroom house in an ideal village, right outside the major city my father works in. They ended up never moving, mainly because they could only manage to have me and not the subsequent children they planned, and it turned out their starter home is their forever home. It was a bit crowded for a while when I was a teenager and younger adult, but it's perfect for them now that only two of them live there.

I don't think ours is our final place. I'm concerned my health will get worse as I get older and I'd like to perhaps settle somewhere near the sea, in a bungalow. When dh retires.

4 bed 4 bath house in lovely village location

Moved in age 29.

The disadvantage of my two-bed place as we get older may be the lack of a downstairs loo. It was fine as we brought up our children, though. I keep eyeing up possible places where it could be fitted in. Also, because I am in London, getting jobs done or maintenance can be hugely and ridiculously expensive, and I’m concerned how to afford it all when retired.

ytee
We are similar in that I too expected to have the four bed house by mid 40's. I also expected two family holidays a year. I am learning to accept we will reside in a small 3 bed. At least I will not have the pain of downsizing when the DC grow up!

We've been in ours for a year. It's an end of terrace in a pit village, big enough for guests, small enough to keep on top of. It was bought with an eye to us going off our legs: wheelchair turning room, straight stairs, GP, loads of buses, co-op, chippy.

Back in our forever home after a 13 year hiatus in Belgium for dh's jobs.

Bought in 1992, when I was 26; moved to Belgium in 06. Briefly back for 9 months to oversee a refurb post tenants in 13/14, then home for good about a month ago.

We will revisit where we want to be ultimately in a decade or so...before either of us hits 70. Moving to a small town where we can walk to the doctors, dentist, shops and go down to one car might be a better option by then. For the moment, I'm happy to be back in my own four walls.

It's a 4 bed period house, with a cellar and attics. too big when we moved in; fine when ds was born, and now, I'm trying to work out where everything goes again. The kitchen will have to be redone, as it's 200+ years old.

We moved here when we were 25.

3(admittedly large) bed detached cottage in a village.

We didn't realise it was our "forever " home when we bought it but couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Space will be a bit tight bedroom wise for the next 3 years or so (4 boys aged 5-15). However we are almost mortgage free at 40. So there are benefits. We considered moving somewhere with 5 bedroom about 5 years ago. Glad we didn't. It would have been too large once the boys start leaving home and would have extended our mortgage by years.

We've considered moving in the future. Hopefully we won't need to but might opt for a city centre flat if our health starts to fail and we can't drive anymore

Duh..20+ years old!

I've been in my home for nearly twenty years. I bought it when I was just 29. Mortgage should be paid off in five years time. It's a modest one bedroom flat. I'd like a house and small garden but unless my fortunes change drastically, I can't see me living anywhere else.

I am grateful to be a homeowner .

We're in a house that's ideal for a family of 5, of whom one works from home. It's got the right number of rooms, plenty of space and is near good schools. We moved here 12 years ago at 38.

However we were only able to afford it because a) we sold in the UK at the height of the UK market, b) we transferred the money we made at the peak of the pound:dollar exchange rate and c) we bought in a cheaper area than we lived in the UK.

We'll move out when our youngest finishes school and move somewhere a bit smaller and hopefully beside a lake or the ocean.

Or we might move location completely and go and live in the centre of a city.

I also hope that when we need to, we'll be OK to move into something like supported housing, so that our family won't need to worry about us so much.

Yes. Last year at 38. Didn't think it would ever happen and we were in a variety of lovely houses but never right for long term. Inherited a bit of money which meant we could finally make a big enough jump. 4 bed detached with a nice garden and view and on a lovely street. Also has 'grown up' rooms like a utility and a study 😂😂. Will never move from here but would not be here if not for inheritance.

31, a two bed flat in zone 1, I had been trying to buy in this particular building for ages. It was either one beds coming up for sale or three beds which were too expenive.

God no! Life’s too short. Plus once the kids leave, this house will be way too big for two people to be rattling around in the vast majority of the time. There’ll still be around 20 years until we retire after the youngest leaves so there’s a whole world of adventures to be had that don’t include living in a big old house when we don’t need to.

Not sure if it’s our forever home but I wouldn’t be upset if it was - 4 bed detached with garden in the south of England, bought when I was 37 and DH was 40.

No. We have just moved into a house that fits us perfectly as a family. (I'm 42) But when my kids are older I want to be a bit more rural and we'd like a bigger garage and smaller house.

We have 3 kids 12, 10 and 5 soour house with 2 large reception rooms, 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms is great for us now.

There's no way I'd live in a 4 bed house when I didn't need to anymore. I don't get forever homes. I live in a family home now as my family is at home when they start moving on I want to as well!