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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask at what age you bought your "forever" home?

183 replies

Daisypop89 · 09/03/2020 09:56

Myself and DP bought our first home last Spring (at 29 years old). We had DD1 already when we bought it and DD2 arrived at the end of last year. The house is a new build in a nice estate, about 30 minutes from my hometown. I just don't know if it's our "forever" home. It's in a nice quiet area, schools etc. all around are lovely.

I'd like to know what age you were when you bought your forever home? Perhaps I just feel we are still so young to be tied to the same property for the rest of our lives, and maybe one day we will want something bigger/better.

OP posts:

BigGee · 09/03/2020 10:24

We've been here for 16 years, and I'm 52 now. I can't see us moving till the stairs become a problem, honestly.

Stefoscope · 09/03/2020 10:26

Bought our first house (which we're still in) when I was 30. Five years on we're discussing where we may like to move on to and looking at potential houses on Rightmove. Realistically I think we'll end up staying here for another few years as we've worked hard doing up this house and would like to get a bit of enjoyment out of it first. So hopefully be in our 'forever home' by the time I'm 40.

nokidshere · 09/03/2020 10:27

Our 'practical' house purchase 21yrs ago is probably going to be our forever home even though it wasn't planned.

New build on a new estate with schools, shops, services all within easy reach was the best move for us when we became a family (moved from a 300yr old tiny cottage in rural area). As we get older (now 66&59) the house is still perfect for us in terms of location and usage. The house can easily be adapted for 'old age', we are in easy reach of the coast, the countryside and friends. It's easy and cost effective to maintain. So it looks like we will probably be staying. Added to that is the fact that because of the increasing house prices, smaller properties in locations we might want to move to are more expensive than we could sell this one for anyway. Whilst I would be willing to downsize I would not willingly downgrade our lifestyle.

Having an 'ideal' forever home when you are young doesn't necessarily translate into what your requirements might be as you get older.

CarolineIngalls · 09/03/2020 10:27

33 with 2 small kids. Nice, big house with garden. Will downsize when kids leave and have less house, garden, and narrow staircase to worry after.

What is a forever house and why would you want one?

thirstyformore · 09/03/2020 10:29

At 29 and 37 me and my DH bought a house which was, and still is, big enough for us all, in a nice location. We've done work on it over the years, but we won't need to move until the kids are grown up and we decide to downsize.

Lived here nearly 11 years.

Fluffybutter · 09/03/2020 10:30

Bought first home at 27 and now on our second . Hoping our next one in a year or two will be our forever home but doubt it .
As our needs change so does the type of house

DramaAlpaca · 09/03/2020 10:31

We've been in our current house almost 20 years, about four times longer than any other we've lived in, and can't imaging moving. We were mid-30s when we moved in and our children have grown up here. So I suppose it's our forever home, unless we decide to downsize when we get older.

JaceLancs · 09/03/2020 10:32

25
It was my second purchase
Been here 31 years
Next one will be to downsize!

DameSylvieKrin · 09/03/2020 10:33

We currently live in a ground floor flat that we plan to retire to. The bathroom is big enough to fit a wheelchair in so can be suitable in many circumstances.
We will move as soon as possible so that the children don’t have to share a room, but we won’t sell this place.
So I don’t know what our forever home will be, the larger family one or the one we plan to die in. It should mean the latter, but I think Kirstie and others who go for it as a concept mean the former.

KipperTheFrog · 09/03/2020 10:36

We bought our current house age 31. I can’t see us needing to move for a long time, but who knows? We will want to build an extension at some point, who know if we’ll ever be able to afford that!

motortroll · 09/03/2020 10:36

We bought our first 4 bed last year (aged 41) . We have 3 kids and it's a new build on a nice estate.

But it's not a forever home. In 8-10 years our 2 eldest with be in their 20s. We will look to downsize.

I don't want to be in a 3 storey house into my 60s 😱

I don't believe in forever homes, I like a "suits us right now and we can afford it" home!

JorahsMistress · 09/03/2020 10:36

As i haven't won the lottery yet I haven't bought any home, forever or otherwise, i do allow myself the odd daydream of what my forever home might look like 😊

BrownAjah · 09/03/2020 10:36

We bought our current house when I was 34 and he was 40. We've finished our family and it's plenty big enough so no intention of moving again unless something unexpected happens!

LellyMcKelly · 09/03/2020 10:37

Bought current house at 40 and expect to live in it until children leave home in about 7 years. Then hope to downsize. My DP has a beautiful flat near the beach so I hope to live there with him, and buy another flat nearby with the proceeds of the house so that friends and family can come and stay, or I can live there if I need to. That’s the dream anyway.

maa1992 · 09/03/2020 10:37

I bought my first home at 26, we thought it was our forever home but now I'm thinking of moving within ten years, we didn't have any children when we bought it and now we have DS (5months) and I wish we had a garden and bigger rooms.

WikkiTikkiWoo · 09/03/2020 10:39

The whole "for ever home" concept with it's aga and roses round the front door quite frankly makes me want to rip my finger nails out with no pain relief.

SudokuQueen · 09/03/2020 10:39

Bought my first house at 29. Not sure if we will stay here forever although I do love it. I guess it depends on how many children we have, if we have any. My fiance would like a child though, and I would like to foster. So as we are in a 2 bedroom home, we would need to upsize to at least a 3 bedroom one if we were to do both.

SageRosemary · 09/03/2020 10:42

I bought my first house on my own at 26, it ticked all the boxes for my needs at that time - 3 bed semi-detached in good location in a quiet mature estate, excellent bus link to city centre, convenience store within a short walk, 20 minutes from my parents' home and easy access to work.

In the meantime, I got married, had two babies (now teenagers). On my first maternity leave, we extended the house to give us an extra bedroom, bathroom, larger kitchen/diner, utility room and downstairs shower room. On my second maternity leave I organised a landscape gardener and we made our garden into a family friendly space and added a large patio/terrace for entertaining extended family. Best of all, the location remains "perfect" for us. We had a great primary school within easy walking distance and a nationally renowned secondary school just a bit further away.

Of course, all this would have been different if we had boy children, then the location would not have suited quite so much and we might have had to move to get schools in walking distance.

Whilst our house is perfect for our current needs, and hopefully will suit into the future as our DDs head to university, all this will change if we become empty nesters and we would seriously consider downsizing, hopefully within this locality. I would say the locality is "forever", the house itself maybe not.

Original poster

Daisypop89 · 09/03/2020 10:45

This is all very reassuring to me, phew!

OP posts:

Pasqual · 09/03/2020 10:49

23 - love our house and dont have any plans to move ever. Started off engaged when we purchased, since then we've been married, brought home DD1 and are awaiting arrival of DC2. We've spent alot of time and money upgrading, turning it into exactly what we want and our family all live in close proximity. From the minute we got the keys it felt like home, so I fear I'd never get that again.

eatyourcake · 09/03/2020 10:53

I'm 35 and in our 2nd property, we will move in 2 years again, I have no idea where I want to live and don't know if I will have my forever home until I move into a nursing home at 100 However I'd like to stay put in one place once we have kids and until they are off to uni, for stability, but I doubt it would be forever. 15-18 years isn't much in the grand scheme of life. Life ebbs and flows, you don't have to have a forever home (and first one, too!) at 29! People move all the time, what's a forever home anyway?

redwoodmazza · 09/03/2020 10:58

29th May 1993.

SudokuQueen · 09/03/2020 10:59

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65021760.html

This kind of house would be my long term home. Big kitchen, utility room, multiple family rooms, 4 bedrooms and large garden. That would be what I would want if we had a child or two and fostered. Can hopefully hide from them in a house that big.

xQueenMabx · 09/03/2020 11:00

Bought our current house when I was 30. No plans to move again unless our circumstances really change. We just knew when we came the viewing that it was the right place.

LuluJakey1 · 09/03/2020 11:00

We'll be here until DC leave school at least (youngest currently 6m).

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