Do people but houses for status?

[mids2019]

I have family in a large city who had a really nice detached Edwardian house in a really good area (well known), 4 bedrooms, good schools etc

Now they have moved to a larger property in a very desirable part of the area (again very known and peppered with 5M+ properties) and it seems they have just moved to get the postcode and a little more room not that it was needed. I think they are more than happy to tell anyone of the area they now live in and I think they want to project a face of 'we have made it life ' with the purchase.

Just curious do people but honestly with pragmatism in mind, enough bedrooms, garden, good schools, low crime rates etc. or is there a point where it's all about the status?

(obviously the aristocracy have done this for centuries but is this a bit more universal?)

@Ladyswhatlunch I probably would and wonder why he needed such a big house just for him and his dog. Although now, knowing what I should or shouldn't say (culturally) after living here for years, I would not say it out loud.

I was born in South East Asia and grew up in a village where the majority of students in my primary school went to school barefeet, lived in houses with thin walls made from woven bamboes and earthen floors, ate days old rice because they couldn't afford to waste them, etc. Until now, I still have some kind of survivor guilts. Hard to explain.

Anyway, like I said, each to their own and people can do whatever they want with their money. But I don't think I will fully understand why.

Over the past century, property has been the most resilient investment, much more so than money in savings or pensions.
if someone has money for the monthly mortgage payments then buying a house of higher value is one of the must logical ways to invest. It’s not necessarily about status- climbing the ladder is usually financially very savvy and a good way to invest for one’s own future and one’s children’s too.

I bought our house and I don't like handbags and DH doesn't like cars.

I don't see how it's gendered. I think that's a massively reductionist view.

We have 5 bedrooms and 4 people. The 5th bedroom is an office, and we also have an attic that's an office. In Norway we'll have 6 bedrooms and an attic space, plus a basement.

Do we need them? Not necessarily, but we will use them. Not one of our rooms stands empty gathering dust.

As you write you have investments but do not leave statements lying around. They may also have them and far more than you but who knows. It’s all irrelevant.

So what do you do with all the surplus money they would have ended up with.
Primary residence is generally considered the safest investment.

Where would you put the excess? Handbags and fancy chocolates?

One person chooses investments. Another chooses to invest in property.
What is your problem. You sound green with envy tbh.

If someone has loads of money what's it up you how they best invest it?

Can't you fathom that to some people investing their excess money in their primary residence where they will pay no capital gains tax is a smart financial choice?
It says more about you to be honest that you are so fixated on appearance that you can't fathom that there might be other reasons.

A house is not just a house. No house is perfect. They preferred this house. They had the money to buy the house they preferred

Or maybe they wanted a separate study each and a spare bedroom for visitors. What a weird question you asked. No wonder he raised an eyebrow.

@ThisOldThang

I once got a lift with a former colleague who'd just bought an Audi TT. The number of women checking him out as he drove past was astounding.
Huh? For an Audi TT? That's ridiculous. It's hardly a high status car

I would love to have more bedrooms than we need! We don't have a spare room and PILs sleep on a sofabed in the living room, which is not exactly private for them. I would also love to have a decent sized room for my office/craft room. I think there are lots of advantages to having more rooms, and it's nothing about status, but quality of life. We have 3 dcs and have a 4 bed, and a 6 bed would be a big jump in house prices, and they aren't really built in central London - even larger homes tend to have 4 beds but each room is bigger.

This! I don't know why people assume extra rooms just sit there. We use ours and always have, even if we didn't have kids those two bedrooms would be used. Me and DH both have offices and if we didn't have spare rooms, we'd be cramped up WFH on the kitchen table.

We've got an extra two rooms soon and we're debating uses. But they certainly won't be wasted.

Do houses in general beat equity for rate of return? I thinks that's a good question.

A house will be subject to IHT I guess unless you downsized and gifted.

The fact property values increase do show that there is a constant demand for houses that outstrips inflation and I assume that the higher end of the market does better?

I think people are getting quite defensive about houses being a visible display of wealth to show status in some cases; I personally think it's human nature.

Why but a rolex rather than a £5 digital watch which is more accrurate. A big part of it simply status and I think people do sometimes convince themselves otherwise. Even the great art works of humanity were commissioned by people of wealth and power.

At the point that someone can afford more than just the functional?

A house is your biggest purchase - many of us can just about afford the functional in an average area. Of course as wealth increases, you can either go bigger and/or to a nicer area which is in line with a desired lifestyle.

for me I would never need more than 5 bedrooms so yes I would go into a nicer area if I had the money (up to a point - I also couldn’t imagine spending more than £2m on any house if I was Uber wealthy - in London)

@mids2019 yes, and it's great when you have it. However, most wealthy people we know aren't blingy and would swerve the Rolex. The wealthiest person I know has a Picasso etching. It's hung just above the bog roll holder because that's where everyone will see it.

@mids2019
I'm guessing you think fine art that is valued at hundreds of thousands or millions is equally dumb then.

After all it's only paint and canvas. It has no intrinsic value. You could buy a painting from a production line in Shenzen for peanuts. Does the same thing. Fills a gap on the wall

Maybe they bought it as an investment. Sought after post code comes with an increased house value. Maybe they thought they could rent it out and travel only using rent money to fund their first few months of retirement.

We're a family of three and we've just moved into a 5 bed house. I've had similar comments about space and why we need so much room.

It's nothing to do with being a status symbol, it's about quality of life. We could afford the house and it's made our lives easier.

We have a spare room for family to visit (and they do frequently)

Me and DH both work from home regularly so each have a home office. I'm an academic and teach online an awful lot so will do that at home rather than disturb the people I share an office with.

We own lots of books and having a decent sized home office means I have somewhere to put them!

We moved for us, not for what people think of us.

We could afford to move to a bigger house in a better area if we sank all our savings into it, but we don’t see the point. We don’t actually need the extra space and we like the area we’re in.

If I had oodles of spare cash then I would give a lot of it to charity and local good causes, but of course a lot of people don't think like that.

But I would definitely buy more chocolates.😂

I think people won't openly admit buying houses for status and can be quicker hire defensive when noticed are questioned. I think there is almost an expectation that your house and area reflects your profession or status in life. Hands on heart how many well paid professionals live in terreaced housong?

In cases I know there has been a desire for a house in a certain locations a a life goal rather like seeking successive promotions or excelling at a musical instrumnet. It is like designer clothing or watches an outward symbol of success. Some people have other perspectives i.e. investment or quality of life but I do feel you can't discount starus.

@mids2019 you seem oddly obsessed with the idea that people buy houses as a status symbol.
I'm not sure it really is that common. For us it was location - not in a status sense but more of a 'this is where our friends and family live and I like the community feel'.
Until very recently we lived in an end terrace. We're both senior professionals who earn decent salaries. We could have afforded a much bigger house in a different (but equally nice) village but we weren't willing to compromise.
Sense of belonging and community was more important than status. Therefore we were happy to wait until a house in our ideal location became available. And if it never did, we'd have stayed in our lovely end terrace.