What type of house do you live in , is it your dream house ?

[crazystar]

Doing my mortgage prep tonight and feeling completely clueless about reality vs expectation! I'm trying to gauge whether we're being sensible or overstretching ourselves.

What do you earn, what type of house are you in (is it the dream?!), and what are your monthly outgoings like and mortgage repayments.

Are you happy with the balance, or regretting it?

I have done this a few times I should add and well I end up landing ok but this time it’s a bigger purchase and our salaries haven’t risen much last 6 years since we last did this.

Two bedroom garden flat in a converted farmhouse, with parking right outside the door, at the bottom of a country lane but only 10 minutes drive from town.

Purchase price nearly half a million, mortgage 2.5k a month, which is a bit less than 50% of what we bring home between us.

Is it what I envisaged when I was a kid? No. Is it what we can afford while still having a half decent quality of life in one of the most expensive parts of the British Isles? Yes. Does it have some gorgeous original features and lovely neighbours? Also Yes.

It’s a huge improvement on our former top floor one bedroom apartment anyway, and we’re happy here.

I didn’t dream of a certain kind of house but I knew when we stopped outside this one over 27 years ago, that it was the one for us!

I love my house it's ex council 3 bed with no houses across from me just a field. It's my forever house I just need to redecorate it

Me, DP and DD live in a 2 bed terrace. It’s far from a “dream” house - it’s lovely but many would consider it fairly small. We’ve thought about moving but love the location (near countryside, town, train station, canals and large parks) and how affordable it is.

Our combined monthly take home is 6k. Our mortgage is £750, bills £300 (not including nursery fees of £350 p/m for 3 days a week). We save a lot, overpay our mortgage and will be mortgage free in 9 years.

We could easily buy a house at least twice the price of our current one (as in we’d have a big deposit and the bank would easily lend us the rest). But bigger houses require more maintenance, and mean higher bills. And of course we’d be paying that mortgage for 30 years instead of 9. And what if interest rates rose to 10% again? And so few jobs feel secure these days.

These are all the reasons why we stay where we are. And it stops us buying loads of crap as we have nowhere to put it!

I’m not sure I believe in the concept of the ‘dream home’. Ours is a big, rattly Victorian money pit in a huge jungly garden, close to the river and the city centre. I’m fond of it.

Snap.

our home is small. 2 bed semi detached cottage. But I love everything about it. Its location. It’s style. It’s quirks. It’s full of warmth, memories, features that have been added over time. DIY projects that DH created. Nooks and crannies that DD and I have styled and filled with bits and bobs that make us smile. It’s glorious when decorated for Christmas.

the only thing I’d change is the on street parking. But that’s not enough to make me want to live anywhere else but here.

1920s semi - 4 bed and 2 baths over 3 floors. I love my house and am so grateful we have all the space we need. Dream house? No probably not. I’d like the garden to be flat, it is currently on 3 levels. I’d like it a bit more finished, but as soon as we do one job, another needs doing (I suppose that’s home ownership!) But overall I feel very grateful for my home. DH and I are on roughly £75k each a year, but when we got on the property ladder it was more like £27k a year. Mortgage is big but doable. This is our second property and we didn’t over stretch either time. We borrowed extra to do the loft conversion but has always been affordable.

Currently live in a rural farm on 3h in the middle of nowhere. It's been completely renovated over the last five years (have lived here for 12).

I yearn for a smart new flat in the middle of a city.

Our last home was meant to be our dream home but became a money pit. Our present home isn’t inspiring but has many advantages, not least the absence of any maintenance for the foreseeable future so that we can spend our time travelling and socialising.

What I’m saying is that it’s not your home but the life you live in it that makes it perfect.

Don’t overstretch yourself financially so that you can’t live your life.

Sorry for the braggy and wanky post, but I absolutely love my house. Every day, I catch myself thinking about how much I love it and how lucky I feel to have it.

It’s a six bedroom detached house in the Irish countryside with an amazing view, no neighbours, huge garden, and a stunning patio that’s basically a very swish outdoor living room.

I just love it. It’s so pretty and quite cool.

No mortgage (cleared it last year).

Probably a bit different from all the ones above, but I have a 2 up, 2 down mid terrace house and we love living here. We originally planned to move twice but each time we realised how much we'd miss it. I originally got it as a single parent after escaping an abusive relationship and it was my safe haven. Years after I got married and we still love it. We can't imagine being in a different house after we retire and our mortgage is so small now. Maybe I'm really simple to please lol

We have a family sized house with no family living here .
I am struggling with the cleaning and can't cope with the garden anymore . I have never liked the house or area but don't know where to move to. The idea of a modern flat has become very appealing. My ideal house was always a Victorian house with a gorgeous garden and lots of period features . Don't think I could deal with that now!

I live in my dream house. It's a large (6 bedroom or so, depending on how you set things up) Georgian house in a historic district in a large east-coast city. I love all the period detail, the high ceilings, the fire-places, the stair-cases (front and back stairs). I always wanted a house with a grand piano in the front bay-window, and now I have that.
When I've got the garden to resemble a proper British garden, I will be even more delighted. I want it to look like a National Trust property. At the moment, it looks like an overgrown jungle. So that's the next big project.
The renovations and up-keep are never ending (but I enjoy that - currently playing with color ideas for the more formal sitting room at the moment).
I can walk anywhere in minutes - to the theatre, the symphony, the pool and tennis club, my child's school, my work, restaurants and coffee shops, public transport. My neighbors are wonderful. It's a joy each day to walk our dog in such a beautiful neighborhood.
Through much good fortune, we have no mortgage.

We live in a 3 bedroom 1930s terrace. Well built, big rooms, loads of storage.

I’m happy to live here for my working lifespan, but I’d like to move somewhere more rural when I reach retirement age. The city has changed a lot in the 10 years we’ve lived here and not for the better. My dream is quiet village life!

3 bed Victorian terrace. The house itself is lovely, lots of light, good layout and just the right size for 3 of us.

Downside is the weird smell in wet weather (although no one can find any dry/wet rot), and the cracks that appear after a hot summer... Both of these things cause considerable stress and tbh next time I'd go for a new build.

Wow

I’m looking at a detached four bed with sublime finishings - full renovation on a 30s house

but the price tag isn’t for the house more for the location

I live in a very ordinary semi but in a lovely location. Since divorce I don’t love the area and hope to move in a few years. I don’t even know what my dream house is but I do know what my dream area would look like. I would be happy in a tiny home that is all mine with enough room for dc to come and stay.