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Original poster

what's the shortest time you've lived in a house you have bought?

27 replies

IamSantaClaus · 22/12/2015 13:29

We've only been in our house for 2 years . I like the house but am not in love with it . It is in the catchment area of an ok primary school but if we moved 5 minutes down the road we'd be in the catchment area of a school with a much better reputation .

Realistically we'd only really have a year to move as dd will start school in 2017.

I just don't know if I have the energy to contemplate moving so soon with all the expense and all the stress. Has anyone moved a short time after buying a house ? Does anybody regret it?

OP posts:
CanadianJohn · 22/12/2015 13:40

About 35 years ago, we bough a house in January and left during the summer. Job transfers in both cases.

My wife said "never again", in addition to other less-polite words.

LaFlottes · 22/12/2015 13:42

We are moving after about 3.5 years. We do love our house, but can now afford a bit more space and think we may as well go for it now (although it's a total nightmare!!).

I think if it affects school etc, you should go for it!

Sgtmajormummy · 22/12/2015 13:49

18 months in 2007/08. Bought high, sold low. A bloodbath, but the long-distance move was a change for the better in the long run.

LaurieFairyCake · 22/12/2015 13:56

2 years (3 times)

We're moving again inside 3 years this year and it's going to be incredibly hard this time as we have about 2 giant trucks worth of stuff - those largest removal vans. Last time we moved we had over 100 boxes, this time it will be more. Fuck.

potap123 · 22/12/2015 14:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
IamSantaClaus · 22/12/2015 14:17

Shock. I can't believe some of you have done it multiple times . Obviously circumstances dictate moves sometimes but it's just such hard work .

Hmmm . Must look into it after Christmas . I guess if it's the area we want to be in long term it might be better to just get it over and done with before the prices go up even more .

OP posts:
lugo40 · 22/12/2015 17:11

We moved out of the last house after 2 years 2 months and 2 days. It went on the market about 5 months earlier. We've been in those house a year and know we will move.

Ta1kinPeece · 22/12/2015 17:32

10 months.
Made a 50% profit.

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 22/12/2015 17:46

Two years twice here too and three years each at the last two houses Blush

We seem to have a tendency to buy with our hearts not our heads - have owned some amazing period wrecks houses that we've spent literally hundreds of thousands restoring - as they are often not in the best location. Unfortunately we lost 60k on one move as a result of the crash (we did sell in ten days though), but clawed it back (and some!) on the next one.

You'd think we'd have learned from our mistakes by now, but obviously not as I think we'll be selling up again in the next 18 months - completed on the purchase if this place a year ago. Removals alone have set us back 10k in the last eight years Shock

Life's too short to live with your mistakes though - go for it!

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 22/12/2015 17:47

of not if!

Thepinkcricket · 22/12/2015 17:55

Will be a week shy of two years when we move in January. Don't love the house, we like the area we are moving to now more than current area and see us being there long term. So decided to take the plunge and move now before the dc start school. So selling our practical sensible house and buying a much less practical house that we love love love.
Financially we have done ok even with moving costs luckily. It's disruptive for dc1 (and us) though so am hoping not to move again for a bit!

HoggleHoggle · 22/12/2015 18:09

11 months. Fucking awful tiny flat in London that we hated, and the shitty neighbours. We'd also renovated it and luckily broke just over even. Unfortunately, we sold to two absolute sociopaths and it was without doubt the most stressful 3 months of my life. Still the right decision though.

Ruhrpott · 22/12/2015 19:00

3 years, liked the house, hated the area.

SquinkiesRule · 22/12/2015 19:25

4 years by the time we sold it.

sinber · 22/12/2015 19:32

Two and a half years, our first house. Bought for £4,300 and sold for £11,000. We're in our third house now and I'm still not sure about it, even after 30 years. Can't be arsed to move.

Schools not an issue though!

Cressandra · 22/12/2015 20:34

18 months. Best move we ever made, but we took a couple of years off DIY after that (house 1 was a fixer upper).

Nothing more stressful than trying to move in a hurry, to a hard deadline. The earlier you start the less stress you'll have overall.

check when the school application deadline is round you. It's 15th Jan round here.

fuctifino · 22/12/2015 20:43

7 months.
Moved in August, applied for a job in December, relocated in March.

Original poster
IamSantaClaus · 22/12/2015 23:05

Thanks for your replies everyone . I think if we're going to do it we should start very soon as school applications are in the same time here. I'll broach it again with dh after Christmas . He wasn't overly keen the first time I mentioned it Hmm. Long term though it is where we want to be .

OP posts:
regretsihaveafew · 23/12/2015 22:11

2 years. It went on the market after the 18 months it took to do it up. Horrible neighbours, and my dog was attacked by theirs.

Made a good profit though and went on to buy a great place.

catbasilio · 26/12/2015 23:45

First house - 5.5 years. Second (current) house - 8 months so far and thinking too put on the market in the spring. Good house but not amazed by suburban style of living. We moved for a secondary school catchment which is 3 years ahead and I feel very bad but I can't bear the suburbs for that long.

likeaboss · 28/12/2015 16:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clawdy · 30/12/2015 12:57

Eight months. Nightmare neighbours. Xmas Sad

scarlets · 01/01/2016 23:51

I lived in four houses as a child. The first one, my parents' first home after marriage, was small and they wanted more space so they were right to move from there after 13 years. However, the middle two only lasted 3 years apiece. In both cases my parents made hasty, foolish decisions in retrospect, and they've recently told me that they didn't make money on either of the middle 2. They really messed up.

However, the fourth house was exactly right and they remained there for many years until they sensibly downsized to something more modern with a small garden in 2014.

They should have moved directly from House #1 to House #4 and saved expense and bother.

It's horses for courses though. The sellers of House #4 had only been there for 2 years when my parents bought it. They moved about half a mile away, and they told my mum years later when she bumped into them in the supermarket, that they'd never settled there and that the big garden was overwhelming and making them miserable. And the buyers of our House #3 are still there 30 years later - they obviously like it more than my parents did!

cressetmama · 03/01/2016 19:24

The people who bought our old house stayed five weeks! Then they moved and rented it out. Their dog hated the house.

halphgracie · 08/02/2016 16:24

4 months, I purchased a money pit due to not getting a survey done, ended up buying a new build as builder offered us £1000 more than what we paid for it. They lost 20k selling it but obviously Im going to ens up losing that when I come to sell this, its pretty nice though so hopefully there is a boom and I can break even or even a 5 - 10k loss would be less bitter

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