Do you feel lucky to have a house

[Lm1981]

I am early 40s and have a nice house which i constantly feel very fortunate to have. I rented all my 20s so can still relate to how renting felt like. I often think I am very lucky to be in this position and slightly embarrassed. I did work hard I just know that things could have been different. Does anyone else have any feelings like this?

I don’t have a house, I have a flat. A flat that I absolutely love in a fantastic location and I genuinely feel grateful every day for the life I am living. I am late 50s now and have probably never been happier. How lucky is that?

A lot of it is luck. All this “no I worked hard” shtick forgets that most people have been lucky to avoid serious debilitating illness, major trauma, early bereavement, redundancies etc. Lots of people work far far harder than me and don’t own a property.

so yes, I am lucky and I feel lucky and appreciste That luck every day.

Yes I do. I was brought up by a single parent in a council house in East London. No inheritance, and I work in the public sector, no degree. We live in SE Londonand own our house outright having paid the mortgage off 2 years ago. We are fairly old though😅

I don't understand people saying they don't feel lucky. I too worked hard for every penny of my deposit. I had no help from parents or an inheritance. I had to move 100 miles away from my friends and family to be able to afford a small flat in a town I didn't know. I still feel incredibly lucky because:
I'm on an average wage rather than a low one, I don't have childcare fees, I don't have a disability that means I need government help, I found places to rent that weren't eye-wateringly expensive, I had parents who encouraged me to save, a friend told me about LISAs and inspired me to buy my own place. These are just a few of the circumstances that allowed me to buy, so of course I feel lucky.

Lucky in that we live in a place with lower house prices than say... London. But the rest of it we've absolutely worked our arses off for and have really worked from the bottom up renovating relentlessly and continuously for a decade which is the only reason we can afford what we own now.

Not really, no. I don't know anyone who rents so it just feels normal to me. I don't live in a hugely expensive part of the country though, or I think I'd have a different perspective.

Lucky because we bought in the 1990s and as an ex council house it was cheaper than other houses of a similar size on the new build estates . But also feel we made the right decision in not upgrading so low mortgage (now paid off ) meant we had money free for fun stuff .

I knew there would be many 'I worked hard' people on this thread. It's always luck. It might also be hard work (sometimes not) but it's always luck.

My friend worked two jobs as did her DP. McDonald's and cleaning, those types of jobs. Because their families were poor and didn't think getting qualifications was possible they got minimum wage jobs. They have one child. But he has complex physical and cognitive disabilities. As he has aged, she had to give up her jobs to home school because he was experiencing horrible bullying and behavioural issues. Their rent is really high so they couldn't save even before that.

Anyone with the means, motivation and luck to be able to buy a house should feel grateful. More than that, they should think about how to make things more equal so other people aren't living hand-to-mouth with disabilities.

Yes, very lucky. (Sturdy ex council, house, slightly crap area). Mortgage paid off.

No, we worked hard to get our first place in the early 90s and then sold when we knew we'd make good money, to trade up.

I feel lucky every day. Although it wouldn't be desirable to some but to me its everything. Its a council home, very old terrace, small courtyard and no parking. But its high ceilings and spacious and I love that its old and has character. I privately rented for a long time and was always having to move when landlord sold up and no where ever felt like home. Couldn't really decorate or change much to previous homes whereas now my kids all have a room each, decorated to their taste and we can put money into our home without worrying it will be sold.

Do you not feel lucky compared to everyone younger who didn't get the option to buy when prices crashed?

Not sure if it was luck, maybe determination - DH working extra hours and going without food at times.

I saved one third of my take home pay for 13 years and bought my flat at 29. DH bought his flat and the market crashed, he ended up being in negative equity, so on top of working fulltime, he worked evening shifts in a bar to clear it.

At our hardest time together, we struggled to cover our bills - DH worked away and I went without snacks so DD had a biscuit/fruit to come home to (despite being hungry after work) and I'd have a couple of value fishfingers and a few value baked beans for tea snacks and at times the house was stone cold.

Do you think if you worked equally hard now that it would get you a house?

25yo and just bought our 5 bed home. No help from parents, just live in the north and worked bloody hard. I feel very fortunate but it is also daunting being responsible for all decorating /repairs etc. However, we should be mortgage free by 47 if we don’t hit any curveballs and that is priceless

Yes, I'm thankful every day. Although I have worked hard I've also benefitted from buying at a time when it was much easier (early 2000s), rising property values, low interest rates and several inheritances.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get "

Yep! I also feel lucky that I didn't have to pay tuition fees and was able to pay off my student loan in my 20s, so could afford a mortgage.

Yes. I bought aged 40 with DP (same age). Deposit all our own money. We bought just before liz truss's budget and we wouldn't be able to get a big mortgage for this house given what interest rates are now and the affordability rules despite having a bigger (and a very decent household income) and this being a tiny house. House prices in my area haven't dropped by much, a 2 bed house sold on my street recently for £385k. We paid £370 for our 3 bed 2 years ago.

Do you think if you worked equally hard now that it would get you a house?

Knowing what we jointly earn, yes.

I feel grateful every day for this house 😊

Well done! I’m still in the sahm after abusive ex stage… any tips on how to get back earning decent money greatly appreciated!

Yes, I do feel fortunate now.

But I bought a run down two up, two down in a rough, socially deprived area in my 20s and sacrificed holidays, nights out and any kind of luxuries to get out of renting and onto the property ladder. I've been through the 15% interest rates and everything else and when people suggest 'It was easy for you,' I think, 'No it wasn't. It required many years of a really basic standard of living, but I prioritised buying my own home over everything else'.

I did 18 months with bare brick walls and a cold tap being the only thing in my kitchen. Cooking on a camping stove. I did 3 years saving up for central heating and having ice on the inside of the windows. There was nothing Instagram worthy about my living conditions. It wasn't any more luxurious than my previous crappy flat with damp and cockroaches, but at least it was mine.

No.

I saved up the deposit on my first studio flat myself. No ‘help’ from Bank of Mum & Dad at all. Then I worked very hard in two jobs, scrimped, saved & went without treats, holidays, nights out, new clothes etc etc to pay the mortgage every month. Then DP & I bought our first flat together. Again, no help. And we scrimped & saved together to pay the mortgage on that. Later, we upgraded to our first house, and so on. Eventually we payed off the mortgage on our ‘forever home’ 6 years early.

So no, it absolutely wasn’t ‘luck’. It was hard work, difficult financial choices, big lifestyle sacrifices & proper budgeting. And it was worth it all.

I feel very lucky to have lived through interest rates so low over 8 years as it allowed me to pay off my mortgage 5 years earlier than I would otherwise have been able to.

Hugely fortunate to be able to earn what we earn and to have bought our first house 25 years ago. My DS and his partner, who should be on a similar trajectory with respect to salary, will find it much more difficult than us to buy their first house. Their rent is a far higher proportion of their salaries than ours was, so saving for a deposit will also take longer, before we even take into account house prices.