To wonder how you came to live in a big character house

[Summerofloaf]

As in how did you afford it? What job do you do that enables you to live in a lovely big character house with big gardens?
Did you inherit? Work from scratch?

How? (Doesn’t anyone else wonder this?)

We messed up with regards to owning property - owned a house on the South Coast, but dh lost his job in the 2008 crash and was out of work for 18 months. Eventually got a job in Wales, but by that time we had debts close to our equity and a poor enough credit rating that we couldn't buy in Wales, so sold the house and have rented ever since (over 10 years now).

On the other hand - we live in a beautiful (rented) Victorian Townhouse, complete with original fireplaces and servants bells. 6 bedrooms, 3 reception room. And we pay about the same rent on it as we did the mortgage for our first house on the South Coast. I worry about the future and how we will manage when it is time to retire, but I also love the house and area we live in and count us as really very lucky.

Combination of good jobs, generous parents, buying a house that needed a lot of work, 3 extensions done when we could afford it (ie not all at once). Been here 7 years and at 34 years old we feel very fortunate.

Bought a house in an unfashionable area. Over 10 years house price doubled and also got promoted in City job with good salary increases and bonuses. Sold the house and used as deposit. Borrowed more based on income and bought ‘large’ house.

I would say we live in a big character home in that it's big and built in 1832 but it only cost us £260k, was still not a walk in the park to get a deposit together but we both have high salaries so that helped.

It's a money pit with only a front garden and a back courtyard, part of the house is now a seperate 2 bed house which we Airbnb. That's the only part of the house that is 'done', I think we'll be doing the main part of the house for at least the next 10 years.

We both owned our own London flats which we sold when we got together and bought a west London house did it up and sold before the market dropped in the early 90s. Our next house was a large grade11* kent farmhouse with 6 acres, stables and various outbuildings. Decent salaries, timing and a dollop of good luck came in handy.

Dad helped me with a flat deposit in 1982.
Flat SW London - 32k 1982
Sold 87 for £95k
House 1 £127k (I was working in the City 12 hr days)
Sold 1992 for £161k having met dh with prospects
Hs 2 £320k high risk purchase in a recession
2013 bought doer upper hse 3 for 965k refurbed it and moved in in 2014 - sold for 1.65m in 2015.
Refurbed hse 2 - sold in 2015 for 4.2m
Dream Hse 2015 Arts and crafts, sprawling in large gdns on Surrey borders £1.2m, refurbed and worth about 2m but perfect.

I had a good start, forged a good career and married dh who is a v successful lawyer.

Those houses aren't far from me.

A few things made it possible for us.

1. Choosing careers that can pay reasonably well (not purposely) and working hard to excel in them.
2. Always being good at saving. We're not big spenders.
3. Buying our first house at the right time, doing it up and then selling it for a healthy profit 5 years later.
4. Buying a wreck then spending 3 years making it habitable.
5. Doing as much of the work as possible ourselves, including project managing, while both working full time.

By buying run down properties that most people wouldn't give a second look at. Mostly uninhabited for a few years due as elderly owners were in care etc. and then being sold as past of estate for relatives and purchasing for a good price.
Then spending all my free time doing all the repairs I can ( everything but finish plastering and certified electrics) whilst also having a full time job. Eventually selling on for profit.
Now happily living mortgage free and doing my last project, a self build in the country, all the aching muscles, sore hands, stress and late nights will be worth it.

My mum and dad bought theirs by being FTB in London in the late eighties and selling the first house (3 bed terraced town house with big garden, etc) then moving to a much cheaper part of country

@Hopeisnotastrategy What year did you buy it? I don't think interest rates have been that high since 80s, have they? And you talk about having lived there for decades... So I assume you bought before the gap between property prices and average earnings became as wide as it now is? Looking at what equivalent doer-uppers are going for now, do you think that you would have been able to make the equivalent stretch by doing the same jobs in today's market?

We live in a large, detached period house with a huge garden. For us it was luck more than anything. The house we'd spent six years admiring came on the market with sellers who were desperate to sell, so we got a bargain (the mortgage valuation valued it at double what we paid).

For many born later it is also really hard to move frequently as stamp duty is pretty prohibitive.

Name changed because it's identifiable, although not in the least bit exciting, just don't want my other threads identified.

My partner and I bought our house last year, and it's known in the area as "the big house" but I really don't get why, when we live in a village with some beautiful manor houses, equestrian houses etc which are far bigger, swimming pools, tennis courts- the lot!

We couldn't live together if we hadn't found this, having 5 children between us, and not seen a single other property that could accommodate us and us afford.

We managed the cost because my partner has been lucky to find a career path he loves, that he's good enough at, and people want to pay for, as well as him having made good but luckily timed housing decisions in the past and me inheriting a substantial sum last year.

It was because I was born at the right time - so bought a London flat for peanuts in the mid 1990s on a single salary. That flat nearly tripled in value in the 3 years I owned it. That allowed me to progress to the next house and then the next one and the one after that. I was just in the right place and the right age at the right time. As were many of my 50 something peers.

We live in a decent size 5 bed farm house in the north west. Second home we've owned, made £20k on last one without doing anything, just timing. Have good jobs, management in NHS and both had saved money for big deposits from teenage years.

North is a lot cheaper than down south

Bought first house at 20 yrs old for 68K on south coast, 2 yrs later sold it for £215k kept moving up the property ladder. Now live in house around 7,500sq ft with 8 acres. My DH and I both work long hours and v hard for everything we have.

Fascinating thread, thanks! I have also wondered this.

The thing I find most interesting (and telling) reading through this, as a single parent and the child of a poor single parent on benefits is that almost every single post on this thread contains 'we' 'us' etc. You basically need to be buying with someone else or it's just impossible. Or, not impossible but it seems like the majority of people are married, some both earning a lot, some where one half of the couple earns a significant amount.
I suppose our society is set up for couples in a way, which is a weird thought given that I may be single forever at this point

What I wonder is how they clean and maintain it. Big houses are a pain, and cost a lot to run. You need “staff”. Who can be bothered....?!

Hard work. Long hours. No help from anyone.

Everyone I know that owns a big, lovely house has waited to have children. We did it too. We got together and waited 7 years to have children. We both wanted to work hard on our careers and business. Having children would have slowed this right down. It’s not for everyone but it worked out well for us and quite a few of our friends.

As cliched as it sounds, a nice husband.

I had the misfortune to have multiple family members pass away before their time. As a result I inherited money and managed to purchase my detached Victorian villa at the age of 24. I adore my house and really think I lucked out because it was a bargain too. Mostly because the previous owners had neglected it so it was a bit battered and bruised when I got here. I’ve spent the last few years bringing her back to her former glory and my plans are to add an extension.

Another child of the sixties. I came from a solidly working class background. My parents managed to own their on house as I went to secondary school by building it themselves. I learned excellent kills which have stood me own good stead.

ExH and I churned our flats into houses then into bigger houses. We always chose a marginal area next to a good area on the basis that you got better value for money and eventually the good areas expand.

Always bought properties that needed work (though he was a lazy sod who was a bit of a liability at DIY). We were lucky with the rising market but while our incomes were both growing we worked like dogs and mortgaged ourselves up to the hilt repeatedly.

Divorced due to his cheating and inevitably I took a big hit whilst he and his new wife live in luxury with multiple houses. I have the DC and I'm a lot poorer than him but I'm still working on trading up. My aim is to get to a place where I can leave my DC and especially the one with additional needs, with their housing needs catered for. That is ten years off at present but I'm working on it, just renovating a POS house in the West Country now. I have a good eye and I don't cut corners.

Just had to say that £3 million lodge you linked to is SO horribly decorated. Someone's bought a beautiful historic property and put in a neon disco suburban nightclub room and a room full of Union Jack cushions. I'd guess that one isn't inherited money.

FIL has a very large property with a HUGE garden.
All hard work
Owned his own business. Retired at 50