How did you know when your house was ‘forever’

[Fredthefish]

By forever I mean where my kids will grow up. We could move somewhere bigger but lifestyle would suffer. Stay here and we can make it exactly how we want it but it’s small downstairs - thinking ahead to teens. Anyone been in a similar position? What would you do?

To be honest, I always thought we were in our starter home. Sixteen years later it appears we are in our forever home and unlikely ever to move during to high prices in the area. Make the most of what you have and enjoy it. I would highly recommend a garden room as a teen den!

We bought our current house when dcs were 4 and 6m, with the expectation that they would grow up here. It's a 3 bed house with 2 reception rooms and a dining room that is currently their playroom. So I feel like it's big enough. We like the area, the house is particularly well located for school and work, it's in a good catchment for secondary, and moving house would be really stressful and expensive with stamp duty.

I don't think a large downstairs area is needed for teens, they tend to stay in their rooms anyway, and these days they all interact via devices so you don't even need space for lots of kids to hang out.

My "five years at the outside" home became the home I have lived in for nearly a quarter of a century. It could be bigger, it could have a spare room and a second bathroom but I have brought two kids up here and the need for those things has gone a bit - and I love it. To be honest I don't even want a bigger house now; it would only mean more maintenance and more expense.

When we bought our 2 up 2 down, ex-council end terrace, as a couple with no children, I assumed it would be a starter home. But...DH and I both worked within walking distance, my closest friend bought a house a couple of streets away, the local schools were wonderful, the area was so nice that we really couldn't afford anything bigger nearby but didn't want to move. We are still in that house, with an extension that gave us a third bedroom and a kitchen diner, now that we have two teens, and I have no plans to move.

Both children say they feel lucky to live where they do, and much prefer it to something bigger but more rural/suburban.

And I really love this house now, especially because of all the memories here.

When we were finally in a position financially (both close to 40) to buy a home. After years of the upheaval of renting we weren’t going to do a starter home.

Plus I just ‘knew’ when we looked round the house.

Thanks for all your replies! Lots to think of. I want to do little jobs around the house but not if we will wind up moving as it doesn’t feel financially worth it.

@diglees its the moving costs and stamp duty that put me off! But we have one open plan kitchen diner so no separate space like you.

@Horsesontheloose what would you have in the garden room?

Our garden room is used as a home office sometimes and a cinema room. It is the most pleasant place to sit and is just another break out space really. I agree with other posters though that say teens only spend time in their rooms, to be honest we use that space the most! And it is way cheaper than an extension.

We’ve been in our starter home for over 50 years. We thought DH was going to be moved round the country but he left that company. Then when we had DC we realised we were in the catchment area for good schools and had the swimming pool, park, tennis courts, library and shops within walking distance with good transport links. We should be thinking of moving but DH is very reluctant.

Because there is no way I am going through that buying and selling process ever again

I'm not sure if I've ever really felt that, but life just keeps ticking by and we're still here! We have the bigger downstairs but the bedrooms aren't really big enough, something we didn't put enough emphasis on at the time. It used to be that the kids were downstairs a lot with their stuff everywhere, playing. Now I'm usually the only person downstairs! I kept dreaming of bedroom extensions at the back, but while I was thinking about it (and not being able to afford it) they grew up and one moved out, and now it's much less important.

Ignoring my first house which was only ever a step onto the housing ladder (stayed 3-years), I only intended staying in my next house for a short while but ended up staying 31-years! The more I had done to it, the longer I stayed put until it was a completely different house to the one I first bought. With marriage and the mortgage paid off it just seemed so easy to stay put and enjoy life.
Always knew we would move at retirement (move house and a new area) so when early retirement was offered (mid-50's) the opportunity to buy the house of our dreams (mortgage free) was snatched with both hands.
New, big and lovely we (just the two of us and a couple of Ddogs) rattle around in it and have no intention of moving. It is future proofed to cope with failing mobility in later life and financially we are secure so will have no need to downsize.

We will not for the foreseeable future be able to move up the chain. So our starter is our forever. We only plan to sell to retire in our home country.

The day we viewed it. After 20 odd years we didn't need to be close to central London any more.

We upsized and downsized the value. Lots more bang for your buck 12 miles away. We knew immediately again - in fact DH reached for my hand as we got out of the car and stepped on the drive.

Another five years and I reckon we'll be going to our final home.

Genuinely thought our last house was long term (maybe not forever) so we did an extension, total reno/decoration, garden makeover…then covid hit and it was on the market by August 2020!
looking back I didn’t love the house or the area but because life was so busy I never really realised and it was a very safe, sensible house. Turns out I need to love where I live to be content, even if where I live is a giant money pit 🤣

We moved into our ‘kids growing up’ home when my DC’s were 2,5 & 8, ended up living there for 23 years and although it was a great size for us, close to their schools, and in a nice part of town, I grew to hate the town and eventually the house and wanted to move for years before we did.
Eventually we did and I couldn’t be happier 😁