Do you live in your "perfect" house?

[JustAnotherCountryPumpkin]

Not the dream house you'd buy if you won the lottery, but the most ideal house you can afford. I'd say mine is an 8/10. I keep thinking of moving, but realistically I think I would only be trading one thing for another. For example, my perfect house is detached, but I could only afford one of those if it was somewhere less pretty than my current street. Living somewhere less pretty than this would not be ideal to me. I really need to stop browsing Rightmove

@allfurcoatnoknickers. That’s my perfect home too! Haven’t got it yet, but perhaps one day.

I've bought 4 times over many years and two of the houses were perfect for me. My second property (after a flat) was a lovely, spacious 3 bed house where I had lots of friends, as did my DS.
I moved to a bigger house which was never really right for me and the work needed never all got done.
I'm now in another 3 bed house in a quiet leafy area and I love it. The kitchen and bathroom are a bit tired and I need to freshen up with some paint, but that's not important.

No. I love it and it's getting there but it's a cranky old thing and needs constant updating which we rarely have the money to do. It's maybe 7/10.

Is any house perfect? I suspect HMQ thinks Buckingham Palace could do with updating and Windsor is a bit draughty, with flight path noise.

Our needs change over time and what was best at one point may not be so later on, but its planning those changes and adaptations that make it remain interesting and desirable.

Ours is considered lovely by many, has many positive features but is not my idea of perfection and I suspect we'll move somewhere less idyllic but easier in the longer term.

Yes. Despite the fact it needs a lot of work, it's still perfect. I spent six years walking past it and wishing it was mine, luckily it came on the market at just the right time!

Yes we designed it ourselves and it fits our needs perfectly whilst being efficient, ergonomic and great looking (if I must say so myself!)

No, I want a bigger house. We've been here a long time but the south facing garden is huge for the size of the house and the location is fantastic for us. Walking distance to both DCs schools and DH work, only 3 miles from my office. Great links to the cities and towns nearby. To go up to a bigger house would be an extra £100-200k in our village with likely a smaller garden. Staying put has been a lazy and easy decision, especially since our mortgage is now £400pm.

Yes.
It's my dream house in my dream location.
We're really really lucky that an early investment of dh's enabled us to buy it.

I love the area (leafy north london zone 3 suburb) and that its a 1930s built. Its a 2 bed flat, but honestly if I could just add an extra room (study with single guest bed) , I would be 100% happy. Bizarrely, the 3 bed flat is somehow twice the price!

It’s a two bed flat and we have three children. On the surface you’d think we’d be very unhappy. It has an old kitchen and an old bathroom and needs a lot of work. The children are in one room and there’s a time limit to us staying here.

However. After years of renting and thinking we’d never own our own home, it’s ours. We got to stay in the area we’re raising our children, it has beautiful light on both sides, is in a lovely part of south London, is in a great area for schools and we’re so, so happy here.

Even though it’s not ideal to be in such a small place, I don’t think I will ever forget the joy and satisfaction that comes from the security of home ownership. I think have that first flat love, rose tinted glasses because yes of course, a four bedroom house would be so much better but fuck - I just love this place so much because it was so hard won.

I thought mine was a 10/10 when I bought it over a decade ago, couldn't believe my luck to get it.
After moving in quickly realised it didn't 'flow' well, and the kitchen and bathroom soon looked very dated.
Location is great though so stuck with it for a few years, saved up and extended and renovated.
Would now rate it a 10/10 and delighted to still be here and call it home.

@GorgeousLadyofwrestling I love your post. Your flat sounds like a fab place to live.

Mine isn’t perfect as there are 101 things I could update or improve, but I wouldn’t move even if I won the lottery or had a life-changing inheritance. The location is perfect and I wouldn’t want any bigger.

I agree. I love @GorgeousLadyofWrestling post. It's a reminder to me anyhow to remember how chuffed we were when we moved in here, even if now we are looking for the next house.

We could at a push buy a more perfect house, which would have a utility and another bedroom. But the additional cost doesn't feel worth it so staying in my less perfect home.

The house itself is fabulous and there’s no way we could have afforded it if everything about it was perfect. Yes, it’s on a busy road and not in the greatest area (though not the worst) and yes, parking can be a pain, but I wouldn’t swap it for anything.

I'd say our house was a 5 when we moved in and weve made it an 8. Ultimately it's too small but the location couldn't be better and we've done so much that I'm committed to it now.

Very happy with our old farmhouse, it's definitely our forever home. Very quiet, good location, 4 double bedrooms and 4 reception rooms. We decided not to move but instead to make it perfect for us so we built a big annexe and made lots of other improvements. Will never move now!

I've come to the conclusion there is no 'perfect' house.

We've lived in our home for getting on for 20 years and I would 100% buy it again if the clock were turned back. It has been great for us, despite things missing that would make it better.

But, as your family circumstances change then you want / need different things from a house. I've been idly looking at houses online (with the occasional viewing of a show home) for some years, and, even though we are more financially comfortable than we were when we bought this, and even though we now need less space, I struggle to find many houses that would be 'perfect' even if I'd sold and were ready to buy.