At what age did you buy your 'forever' home?

[icravecheese]

And how much of a step up was it from your 'not quite forever' home?

I'm 34, DH 37. Many of our friends (who are admittedly turning or over 40) are in process of buying their 'forever' homes. And hence has left me pondering whether we are already in our forever home, or if we'll move on.....

Whilst I didnt buy our current house thinking we'd stay here forever (been here 8yrs, bought it the year we married, now have 3 young children), I totally love our house - detached Victorian, driveway, nice garden, playroom, good school catchment.

However, because we bought it before we were even married, it has never felt like our final 'grown-up' home, even though we really stretched ourselves to buy the most we could afford at that time (and consequently bought a family home before we'd even started thinking about family life).

I wonder if I just have itchy feet due to the number of friends moving / looking to move at mo, so I guess I'm just wondering when others found their forever home / at what age / what made it the 'forever' place?

When we bought this house I think we were looking for a "forever home" and were looking at 4-bed detached houses, yet ended up with a mid-terrace.

I can't imagine moving. I love this house. DH, however, feels we "haven't finished."

Mind you, I was in the loft the other day and saw how much crap is in there and realised I just can't face moving. I like the thought of the DCs having to clear out all their old potties and school projects after we're gorrrrn, and muttering "Oh for God's sake, Mum" under their breath. I might put notes up there, actually:"It was your Dad who insisted we keep all these carpet offcuts 'just in case' " and "I tried to take this to the tip in 2005 but you threw the most almighty tantrum. Yes I know you were only 4. But here you are, darling."

Since I moved out of my parents' house I've moved 10 times in 15 years, one of those halfway around the world (all rentals so far).

Even when we eventually buy I can't imagine staying in one place forever, it's just not something I do. Possibly because by the time I was 7 I'd lived in 5 different houses in 2 countries?

We bought our 'forever' home 5 years ago. A beautiful Edwardian semi in a superb location. It has however turned into a nightmare - huge mortgage, massive running costs, always freezing cold. We are selling up as soon as the tie in on our mortgage is finished later on this year. I can't wait to sell the 'forever' home!

Hehe balloon slayer!

Ok, i'm starting to realise that perhaps the 'forever' home idea doesnt really exist....I foolishly totally bought into the whole Kirstie Allsopp / House magazine blurb that you MUST find your forever home to be happy. Appears not the case

42! It's the first house I can't imagine moving away from.

27 and 31. It's also our first house, but by the time we've finished renovating we will be 80 at this rate.

Honestly though, short of divorce or having to move area for as yet unforeseen reasons I can't see us ever moving. We are very settled sorts though, moving house is not something either of us look on as fun and exciting!

My house is big and quite nice and we have done a lot of work to it but it's not finished and not my forever home. I would like a slightly different area and style. DH would stay here forever though. I'm 26 and he is 28.

We didn't think our current home was our forever home, but we have been here 25 years, moving in when we were late 20s. The problem is with family homes, you put your roots down, which makes it hard to move. The DCs are all moving on, but not us. I still hanker after a period detached in grounds, but my ideal never matched our budget!
I also think views on houses have changed. When we first started out, houses were investments and people generally moved onwards and upwards every few years. Because of the 2 housing crashes we have experienced in those 25 years, houses are now homes- which is how it should be IMO.
Having said that, my 4 DCs have no chance of getting on the ladder at all with prices in the south-east/ London where we live.

I am just 40 and we still rent. icravecheese you don't know how lucky you are.
We want to buy but need a big deposit.

But we are happy and we have been in our current home for 6 years in a fab area. It feels like our home even though it is not.