Are you in your ‘Forever House’?

NorthernLiner · 2024-01-02T07:12:25+00:00

Do you think you’ll move again? Are you happy with that decision, either way? DH thinks we’ve got another move in us, I think not. Together, we have moved houses four times in 30 years. That’s more than enough for me.

reluctantbrit · 02/01/2024 07:27

Yes. We bought our house 13 years ago with the plan to extend and make it properly ours.

It's not too big when DD leaves the nest but big enough now for all of us having our own space and with DH and me both WFH partly, we don't sit on top of each other.

I hate the selling/buying process in England and unless I win the lottery and can buy cash I won't ever move again if it can be avoided.

Gymmum82 · 02/01/2024 07:31

I don’t think we’ll move again. It’s our first home together. Big enough for us and the kids. We’ve extended slightly.
Still needs a lot of work doing even though we’ve lived here almost 10 years. But finances. I like the house and area and I don’t think I could go through the stress of moving again

Strawberrycheesecake7 · 02/01/2024 07:32

No we’re in a “starter” house. We wanted to own our home before we had a baby so we bought the best we could afford at the time. It’s fine for now but will be too small as we have more children and they get older. We plan to move in a couple of years.

PivotPivotmakingmargaritas · 02/01/2024 07:32

I surprised myself when I read your title and my mind instantly went no!!! I think I could be here for a long time but the idea of being here for 30 plus years fills me with dread I like change and to explore new places and the journey of taking a house and making it a home.

Ragwort · 02/01/2024 07:38

We are retired now so will probably downsize within 10 years or so as it's quite a big house and only two of us at home now. Although I don't enjoy the actual process of moving I do like to go to new places and don't feel the need to 'die' where I live now (apologies if that sounds morbid). My DPs moved when they were 80 and it gave them a real interest and new zest for life for their last few years ... and they are very sociable and outgoing and found it easy to meet new friends.
I guess your question is more about the actual house ... the older I get the less attached I get to a house, it's only bricks and mortar. I used to be obsessed about property, furnishings etc ... not so much at all now.

PilatesPeach · 02/01/2024 07:40

Probably - I would love to move somewhere a bit quieter - it is relatively quiet here but as I get older I do need more peace and quiet away from general busy neighbourhood noise. However, I have a 3 bed house to myself and changed career to a less well paid one but where I am very happy and as a result, unless I win some money, then this is it.

Peekingovertheparapet · 02/01/2024 07:41

I don’t believe in ‘forever homes’ … we had what we thought was ours, it was lovely and we extended it and all that jazz, but when the opportunity to move came along we went for it. Now we live in a big period house which is amazing for us right now, but super expensive to run. I know that we will move to something more modern/smaller at some point but I don’t know when.

cloudtree · 02/01/2024 07:41

We thought so (we have been here for 16 years) but now that the dc are starting to spread their winds we are contemplating downsizing in maybe five years’ time. I am 50, DH 54. House is large and mortgage is gone so we could free up a fair bit of money.

MyLibrarywasdukedomlargeenough · 02/01/2024 07:41

I love my house but there are a couple of things that make it not perfect for us. We will probably move when we retire but the house we want is very hard to find because we ideally want land but not a huge house. They exist but tend to be old cottages with low ceilings and though I am a shortarse DH and DS are very tall. We have moved three times in 25 years but we rented the two previous places.

AuntieMarys · 02/01/2024 07:42

In our 60s...we are planning to downsize this year. I love my home but don't need 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms spread over 3 floors.
This will be my 17th move.

Crushed23 · 02/01/2024 07:42

I initially thought my 2-bed flat in London would be my starter home when I bought it 3 years ago, but I think it’s probably going to be a lot longer term than that because of how expensive houses are (I would never move out of London) and how stagnant flat prices and wages are in this country.

Luckily I love the flat and area, and the second bedroom means that if I have a child it will have somewhere to sleep.

Karrak · 02/01/2024 07:43

This is our final home. It is our second home which we waited for as we wanted a project. It took a 15 minute walk around before we knew instinctively it was what we were looking for.

10 years later the project still has things to do, but we will get them finished within the next two years and then we will have a fairly self-sufficient place.

Nevermindtheteacaps · 02/01/2024 07:45

Just about to complete on a house that we've agreed is big enough to keep us going until we downsize, I'm 44and eldest child is 14, it's 4 bed and 2 bath and big enough if the kids end up at home until they are 25.

Not my dream house but only a tiny mortgage which is more important

App13 · 02/01/2024 07:45

This is my forever home , bought in 2005, now renovated to how I wanted it, it'll serve us well until we are in our 80s but probably will need to downsize after. I always saw it as a forever home and this was our first and last move after getting a graduate job after uni.

Karrak · 02/01/2024 07:45

MyLibrarywasdukedomlargeenough · 02/01/2024 07:41

I love my house but there are a couple of things that make it not perfect for us. We will probably move when we retire but the house we want is very hard to find because we ideally want land but not a huge house. They exist but tend to be old cottages with low ceilings and though I am a shortarse DH and DS are very tall. We have moved three times in 25 years but we rented the two previous places.

That type of property you have three main choices (a) Lincolnshire (b) West Wales (c) Scotland.

Sturnidae · 02/01/2024 07:46

Unless we end up with a lot of money for a place with a huge garden, then yes! I can't be dealing with a move again and we're putting a lot of money into this house to make it work for us, but we moved 3 times in 6 years so that's probably contributing to this feeling 😅 The house is lovely though, and is located brilliantly, it's just that the garden is smaller than I'd like.

Ambi · 02/01/2024 07:46

We're in the biggest house we'll ever have. Our next one will be downsizing in the Lake District when we retire.

Hummusanddipdip · 02/01/2024 07:47

We're in our "until the children move out" home so intend to be here for 20+ years.

Will probably move to a smaller home once they've moved out and settled.

We've only moved twice in 10 years, I don't plan to do it again for a long time 🤣

Holly2285 · 02/01/2024 07:47

At the moment I'd say yes. Been here 8 years and no intention of moving. Got divorced and managed to buy him out. 2023 was the year of decorating and completely redid the gardens. Plenty of space for me, child and cats. Quiet neighbourhood close to the school and great neighbours

Letterbix · 02/01/2024 07:47

I'm only in my 40s so I find the concept of a forever home at this stage baffling! I'm definitely NOT planning to stay in my current house until I die, that could be another 50 years!
But I don't really buy into the concept of a forever home anyway. We need different things for different stages of life and I've moved accordingly. I definitely don't need a 4 bed house forever.
I'm guessing we will move in 8-10 years when the kids have moved out and we can downsize.
And if I win the lottery this week I'm upping and moving to a bigger house without a backwards glance!
Personally, I can't ever imagine being in a forever home and deciding that's where I will live until I die.

CatherinedeBourgh · 02/01/2024 07:48

I can't imagine living in the same country, let alone the same house, for the rest of my life. I love moving into a new house, completely redoing it from top to bottom, and making the house really beautiful. It's always a wrench to leave them afterwards, but I get fed up with living in the same area and want to move on to somewhere which has different downsides (everywhere has some).

As the dc grow and move on, I imagine if they have dc in turn I will want to move nearer them.

We have lived in 5 different countries, and different areas within some of those, in the 30 years we've been together.

AloneIsGood · 02/01/2024 07:48

No. Eventually we'll downsize to something more manageable for older people, we just hopefully won't need that for a few decades yet!

Swearwolf · 02/01/2024 07:49

No, we have one more move in us. We moved a few years ago from a starter home that was way too small into a much larger house which has been perfect for us. However, to make that step up we had to move right out of town and we now live super rurally. It's been great while our kids are small, we don't mind having to drive them everywhere because they're not old enough to go on their own anyway, but we want to move back to town when the oldest goes to secondary. They won't have any freedom if we stay here. And I miss walking everywhere!

Thankfully we've built up some equity in the last few years, and we are both earning more and no longer paying for childcare. We won't get anything bigger or nicer in town, but hopefully something comparable.

Biscuithelp · 02/01/2024 07:49

nine months ago we moved to a big (for us), old family home and we are doing it up. My eldest is 12 and we were in a (very nice) tenement before that. So this is definitely the biggest home we will have, and the one I hope the children will think of as a family home

however I doubt it’s forever, it has four staircases for one. I expect when we’re heading into our 70s we’ll look for a flat on the seafront. A nice big one with sea views and a balcony and a lift!

WashItTomorrow · 02/01/2024 07:51

Your title question and your poll contradict each other, so I think your poll won’t be very accurate.