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Original poster

At what age did you buy your forever home?

128 replies

ThedaBara · 13/02/2025 20:32

Just being nosy.
DH and i are still in our starter home, after 15 years. We're almost mortgage free, but with COVID and childcare costs, have no savings. Our youngest is about to start school, so that will free up some cash. We would probably need to borrow at least 150k to move into a home we could consider our forever home. I'm about to turn 40 and the thought of taking on a huge mortgage at this age is worrying. WWYD?

OP posts:
EmeraldDreams73 · 13/02/2025 21:34

I moved to what I thought would be the home I stayed in for life when I was 34. 13 years later I had to leave after many years of abuse. I don't miss being with my xh but I miss that house despite having been treated so badly in it. It was medieval, thatched...my dream home and I will never be able to afford anything like that again. It was the culmination of many years of endless renovations and living on building sites, it would have been worth it all to stay there.

I will never see any home I live in as "forever" now - though I've never used that phrase out loud, I hate it too!

4 years after moving to my current home I managed to put a picture up of the old house (a visitor had drawn it and I had it framed, it's beautiful).

BobnLen · 13/02/2025 21:35

We bought our house in 1997 and we are still here, so I suppose that is a forever home, unfortunately...

LBOCS2 · 13/02/2025 21:46

We moved to our probable forever home (unless our financial situation significantly changes) when we were 34. The move was accelerated by an inheritance, and at that point the mortgage we took was around £350k.

It's all relative though - I'm almost 40 now and still have considerably more than £150k in mortgage debt, but it feels manageable - we have a plan for it.

Interested in this thread?

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General money
PNDshame · 13/02/2025 21:47

39 for me, classing my current house as my forever home. May not be here forever however it's the home we could live in forever. Family complete, kids all in school, we won't outgrow this one or need to move for catchment areas so for those reason I deem it my forever home. I could live here until I choose to downsize in retirement

IAmNeverThePerson · 13/02/2025 21:48

age 30 (DH was 34)

Mielbee · 13/02/2025 21:52
  1. We will only move if my mum needs to move in with us and then we will have to buy somewhere with downstairs space for that. She's only 64 so hopefully at least 15 years away from that.
PicturePlace · 13/02/2025 21:54

39

mindutopia · 13/02/2025 21:55

41 but was also our first home. It’s a beautiful home and I hope we don’t ever have to move and can pass it on to the dc.

MuskIsACnt · 13/02/2025 21:57

At 35 we bought what is hopefully our family home until the kids are all moved out and we can downsize. Mortgage is more than we wanted to take on but should be paid off with 6 years.

You spend such a huge proportion of your life in your home and garden I think it’s worth living somewhat you love.

Everyday my home and garden brings me such joy, and the kids will play in the garden for hours, so the extra mortgage was worth it for me.

Confusedformer · 13/02/2025 21:57

38

Fifiesta · 13/02/2025 21:59

61 - but of course, there is a lot less ‘forever’ left !..

Matildahoney · 13/02/2025 21:59

I thought we bought our forever home 12 years ago, but lots has happened since then, and now we need a bigger home with an office, at 42, and despite being mortgage free now we will need one.

Teenyweenytinytrees · 13/02/2025 22:03
ReignOfError · 13/02/2025 22:05

I’ve never had a ‘forever’ home, and I’m pushing 70. I have lived in well over 20 homes in my adult life, am planning to move again this year, and expect to move at least once more after that.

Even if I had less itchy feet, I don’t understand how what someone wants or can afford or that suits their needs in the 30s, say, will be the same in their 50s, or 80s. I know it happens, I just don’t understand how!

mitogoshigg · 13/02/2025 22:07

No such thing, I've moved for different reasons and whilst I love my house, at some point I may need a different set up so will move again.

ahdlfj · 13/02/2025 22:12

Can people stop being so obtuse about the use of forever home, it's quite clear what is meant and the purpose of the thread.

VeryDeepEverything · 13/02/2025 22:16

I was 41 when we took on a big (for us) fresh mortgage. But, the house we were in we hated, so that made the decision easy, we weren't just upgrading for the sake of it - we were escaping!

Original poster
ThedaBara · 13/02/2025 22:17

Our house is a terrace on a busy road, garden is tiny and overlooked on all sides. Only one bathroom, and one reception room. A lot of the houses near us are dropping in price(which means ours will have too), so I'm having a look on Rightmove

OP posts:
Mardyybum · 13/02/2025 22:23

32, and our mortgage is £150k also.

TwirlyPineapple · 13/02/2025 22:23

We're looking at hopefully buying our forever home later this year and we're 35 and 36, son is 3.

It will probably be too big for us in old age so probably not literally our home until we die, but it's our forever home in that it meets the spirit of the term.

Wigtopia · 13/02/2025 22:23

30 and it was first home. We decided to go for one that needed a bit of work so got it cheap but the layout and size makes it possible to extend the ground floor if we decide to and already converted the loft to double the number of bedrooms. We love the location and the changes we made to the home and feel very very lucky.

WinterOnItsWayOut · 13/02/2025 22:26
  1. But it's taken us another 20 years to extend, remodel and do the garden 🤔
Crispynoodle · 13/02/2025 22:28

18 years ago when we bought the big house so that all our children could have their own rooms and as they got older they could have their own living room too. The plan was always to downsize when it was the 2 of us thus capitalising on the huge equity in the house to purchase outright. We wanted a bungalow because I have mobility issues. Then we found out that a 3 bed bungalow would cost as much as our 5 bed detached! So we thought sod that let's stay so here we are!

intrepidgiraffe · 13/02/2025 22:29

31... but it'll be quite a while before we can afford to get it how we want it.

CherryMarigold · 13/02/2025 22:31

We bought our big family home when I was 38. The plan is to stay here until the DC all move out or if they don't we'll give them the house and buy a motor home, a city apartment and a small beach house.
However DH keeps getting tempted by houses with loads of land because he really wants a swimming pool so we might move again.