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What's the shortest amount of time you've lived in an owned/mortgaged house before moving?

104 replies

Iloveangelslices · 29/11/2023 14:01

and why?

OP posts:
Twoshoesnewshoes · 29/11/2023 14:03

This one
11 years
because its big enough for all of us, lovely neighbours, big garden with beautiful views, walk out the door to beautiful countryside.
I am getting itchy feet though and looking to move in the next couple of years.
why do you ask, OP?

Twoshoesnewshoes · 29/11/2023 14:04

Oh sorry, read that as longest!! Recovering from Norovirus so not at my best!
umm, 2 years - bad neighbours, small garden, one loo!

Nw22 · 29/11/2023 14:04

18 months. Moved as we needed more space for working at home

Pemba · 29/11/2023 14:05

Two years. I liked that house too, but DD could not settle at the local school and so we decided to move back to our original area. Should have planned better really, oh well a long time ago now.

Illuminatedluminary · 29/11/2023 14:06

18 months. Transferred overseas. Couldn’t sell immediately as I would have lost too much money in fees etc. Sold it the second it was viable…

what’s up? Are you not loving your buy and want to be shot of it without raising red flags?

Lizzieregina · 29/11/2023 14:06

13 years.

Moved because house needed significant work and we didn’t want to live there through a remodel.

Scampuss · 29/11/2023 14:08

About 2 years, loved the house, but had really noisy neighbours and the parking was a nightmare, got pregnant and decided to move somewhere with parking and where we'd be able to get a pram out of the gate without being blocked by cars.

None of this must have bothered our buyer as she's still there 20+ years later.

Twiglets1 · 29/11/2023 14:16

About 18 months as my husband got a better job in another part of the country so we moved, also it meant we could afford to move from a flat to a house.

The house we moved to we only stayed for 2 years as the job didn't work out so we had to move again.

It doesn't make financial sense to move often but sometimes life is messy.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 29/11/2023 14:18

18 months. Neighbour from hell and Dh decided he really wanted to live on a narrowboat. (Plus a few other factors not property related)
So we did.

Echobelly · 29/11/2023 14:18

4 years in my first house. Would happily have stayed there and started a family there but DH (before we were married) didn't want to live in that area and indeed couldn't with the job he had at the time. I moved out and let it for the next 8 years.

LambriniBobinIsleworth · 29/11/2023 14:23

18months. Split up with boyfriend. We only bought because of pressure from family not to rent (those were the days!) and were too young/I wasn't committed.

Jantlet · 29/11/2023 14:25

Two years and five days.

Hated it from the moment we saw it, never had a full nights sleep there. The area was horrible, I was on edge the whole time.

Bought it because we were young and it was all we could afford. The alternative was renting, and we had no intention of paying a landlord’s mortgage.

Our target for moving was two years, we just exceeded that. It sold for close to what we had paid.

Why did we bother? Well, after two years we had some equity in the house, we’d saved really hard too, and were able to move to a far better house and area. We stayed poor for years, but eventually things got easier, salaries improved and we could start a family at 30.

Found the house on Rightmove recently. It had been massively improved and looks to have been a comfortable home for someone for many years.

Different strokes for different folks!

ISeeTheLight · 29/11/2023 14:28

4.5 years. Would have been closer to 3.5 if the conveyancing hadn't taken the best part of a year for our new house.

Was an absolute nightmare of a new build. We actually still own it; we've been in our new house for just under a year now. The builder has had the keys since end of January and they are still working on getting the issues resolved. Main thing now that's left to do is to retile the entire main bathroom (major plumbing issues, they were eventually resolved after about 5 different "fixes" but the builder lost a tile in the process; they don't do the tiles anymore and we can't find a match anywhere so they've agreed to just retile the whole thing). Once it's all done we can FINALLY put it on the market and hopefully get rid. Was meant to be our dream house (5 bed detached, on paper a lovely family home) but turned into a total nightmare. We can't really afford 2 houses but we can't get rid of it until all the issues are resolved. We had to move for my mental health as living in that place got me so depressed; you couldn't even relax and we couldn't use 2 bathrooms etc.

tealweasel · 29/11/2023 14:51

4 years and a month. One bedroom flat which I was in the process of buying when I met my now-husband. We bought our current house together two months after our wedding.

AgnesX · 29/11/2023 15:26

Two years, moved from rented into our own mortgaged property.

lucysm · 29/11/2023 15:28

Err six months...

When I was 30 I bought a flat with my boyfriend of 2 years. I had had some doubts about the relationship but as it progressed I moved into his flat and then we got swept up with the idea of buying together and so found ourselves six months later owning a poky little flat in Clapham at a large cost.

Within a month or two of moving in together it was obvious things had changed and we werent suited so we split and decided to sell up as neither of us could afford the mortgage alone. (Later found out he was getting very close to a colleague on his work trips abroad - should have seen the signs; grr)

Bought it in February, sold in September - in that time the price had increased so we actually made a net £30,000 profit on the sale. But not worth it terms of emotional cost!

mondaytosunday · 29/11/2023 15:57

18 months. Bought it as needed to downsize after my husband died. I liked the house but not the neighbours (semi), and after 18 months realised I needed a fresh start somewhere else. I rented the house out for a couple years then sold it.
Until my marital home, the most I'd stay in most places was two years. Just got restless (owned five flats and one little house one after the other before I got married).

Iloveangelslices · 29/11/2023 16:22

Thank you for everybody’s replies.

I’m asking as I am miserable in the house I bought and moved into with DH last month. I’ve had a gut feeling since we moved in. I don’t want to live here, my thoughts are consumed with wanting to sell up after 6 months. We bought a 50s house that needs a lot of updating, and I dislike more of the house than I like it. The reality of living here is so very different to the two viewings we had, and as I can see is common, we’re finding issues that the vendors hid or scrimped on. I didn’t want a project.
I wish we had looked at new builds, but we were convinced buying old is better as they are “built better” after this being drummed into us.
It’s had a big impact on my mental health that I’ve had to take time off work. We have 2 DC and I can’t help but feel guilty that we’ve put them in this mess too 😢

OP posts:
LindaDawn · 29/11/2023 16:32

Iloveangelslices · 29/11/2023 16:22

Thank you for everybody’s replies.

I’m asking as I am miserable in the house I bought and moved into with DH last month. I’ve had a gut feeling since we moved in. I don’t want to live here, my thoughts are consumed with wanting to sell up after 6 months. We bought a 50s house that needs a lot of updating, and I dislike more of the house than I like it. The reality of living here is so very different to the two viewings we had, and as I can see is common, we’re finding issues that the vendors hid or scrimped on. I didn’t want a project.
I wish we had looked at new builds, but we were convinced buying old is better as they are “built better” after this being drummed into us.
It’s had a big impact on my mental health that I’ve had to take time off work. We have 2 DC and I can’t help but feel guilty that we’ve put them in this mess too 😢

Don’t beat yourself up. These things happen in life. It’s very hard to know what house will be work for you and what won’t. Sending you lots of hugs.

pumpkintart · 29/11/2023 16:33

A year to the day, hated the house and hated the village

CapeeshKitty · 29/11/2023 16:37

Just under 6 months. we moved in, hated it and had awful neighbours. painted the walls white, shampooed the carpets and put the house back on the market immediately.

The new buyers didn't care about the issues we cared about. they paid our legal fees so we didn't make a loss (their idea as it meant we could afford something else!)

The mortgage provider wasn't fussed!

and off we went. During Covid!

piscofrisco · 29/11/2023 16:44

1 year, 11 months. A tiny two up two down cottage. We would have stayed there but dd2 had put in a surprise appearance so we had to move to somewhere bigger (that I hated).

CapeeshKitty · 29/11/2023 16:45

Iloveangelslices · 29/11/2023 16:22

Thank you for everybody’s replies.

I’m asking as I am miserable in the house I bought and moved into with DH last month. I’ve had a gut feeling since we moved in. I don’t want to live here, my thoughts are consumed with wanting to sell up after 6 months. We bought a 50s house that needs a lot of updating, and I dislike more of the house than I like it. The reality of living here is so very different to the two viewings we had, and as I can see is common, we’re finding issues that the vendors hid or scrimped on. I didn’t want a project.
I wish we had looked at new builds, but we were convinced buying old is better as they are “built better” after this being drummed into us.
It’s had a big impact on my mental health that I’ve had to take time off work. We have 2 DC and I can’t help but feel guilty that we’ve put them in this mess too 😢

Life is too short to feel this way!!

I know that feeling well, I really feel for you. I was so ill with depression I had to go on medication- it was horrifc. I felt sick all the time and lost a lot of weight!

You don't have to love it, you don't have to live there - don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

We also have DC and they have forgotten we ever lived in our 'mistake house'.. We ended up with the house of our dreams!

Bluevelvetsofa · 29/11/2023 16:48

Two years and nine months. DH didn’t settle. I would have stayed, but actually, where we are now is more convenient in terms of public transport, shopping etc. We probably need to move soon, after nine years. We don’t need a big house any more. I love the house, don’t love the cleaning and not mad about the wider area.

LindorDoubleChoc · 29/11/2023 16:51

I've "owned" 3 properties - 6 years, 6.5 years, 19 years. Guess I've been lucky.