How long should you plan to own a house if you buy it?

[Chiarali]

What’s the minimum amount of time you should be planning to own/stay in a house for it to be a financially sensible decision to buy it? I’m a potential FTB, curious about MN opinions here.

YABU - you should be planning to own it for at least 10 years

YANBU - you could sell it in 3 years if you decided you wanted to move and it wouldn’t be a waste of money

We are about to move and it is going to cost us £30k with stamp duty, estate agency and solicitors fees, moving van which is a lot of money so i think the main thing to factor in is if you move in a year can you afford to lose that much money as you probably aren't going to make it on value increase over that time

For me it depends on the value of the property and therefore stamp duty.

We paid £30k stamp duty... and we'd expect to pay similar stamp duty on our next house. So I'd like this house to appreciate by £60k to cover that difference before we sell.

When we were actually house hunting (last year) our litmus test was "would we be happy living here in 5 years?".

You just need to consider the cost of selling that one added to the cost of the stamp duty on the next. You need to have covered that in the equity of your first house to make it financially viable. Unless you have money to burn.

First starter house - 5 years
Second - 2 years (divorce)
Third - 4 years
Fourth - 6 years
Fifth - 1 year (hated living there)
Sixth - 14 years and no plans to leave

All options and more are valid

If you buy a house that needs a lot of work, and do most of it yourself then selling in 3 years would probably make you money that you could invest in a longer term home

If your house is a home then why would you ever want to move

Plans don't always work. We brought starter home (as we viewed it) to be in for 2/3 years then housing market crashed, negative equity, unemployment and years later we are still here

Nobody can predict the future !
Each person will have their individual circumstances & finances

I have moved 3 times, in the last 10 years

The most recent 2 below

I was made redundant, so I relocated for a new job

After Covid, I moved closer to family & friends

If I move again, it will be to downsize again

3 years for a 250k flat yes

3 years for a 1.5m house ... no

Stamp duty is a real shag

We bought our first house knowing we would only be there for the 5 year mortgage, moved at the end and are now in a house that we plan on staying in.

First home (London): I stayed there for almost 13 years.

Moved into my new house (Kent) about 10 months ago and it was so stressful that I am hoping I can stay here until I need to be wheeled into a care home...

I bought my first home over 30 years ago.
My plan was to be mortgage free as soon as possible and I have never moved.