Are you in your forever home?

[Ebbie]

I'm feeling restless lately about my housing situation so thought I'd ask this question of others. I'm currently in a townhouse, fully paid for, but needing lots of cosmetic work (I moved in 14 years ago and haven't done a lot to it, so it's stuck in the 70s). I sometimes question if this will be my forever home or if I should move at some point. A townhouse is narrow with lots of stairs, and I think as I age I'll probably want something more on one level with less stairs. Also, I do not like being so close to my neighbours (ie. if I'm out on my patio I am literally only a few feet from the neighbours patio). You can't really even talk out there because the conversation can be heard very easily from nearby open windows.

Recently my sister asked me to buy a house with her since one came up for sale that she wanted but couldn't afford on her own. After thinking on it I declined, because it was too sudden a proposition (she never mentioned going together on a house before) and I really felt she only asked me because she needed my share of the money (ie. if I sold my townhouse that would be half the cost of the house) and this was the only way she could get what she wanted, not that she wanted to live with me.

Anyway, since that time I've been looking at houses online and getting a bad case of house lust. There is just so many nice houses out there and it's making me feel bad about my modest townhouse. Should I just resign myself to my townhouse and start putting money into it (replacing flooring, fixtures, windows etc). or should I try to go for a single detached which would probably mean working more (I currently only work part-time). A larger home isn't as frugal and sometimes I think I just need to be reminded how lucky I am to have a paid-for house and stop lusting after bigger and better. But it's really hard! Compared to all my siblings (5 of them) I live in the most modest home.

What do you think? Are you in your forever home? How do you curb your house lust?

[FrugalMomof3]

No, No and No! I know for sure I am not in my forever home. I plan to in about a few years or so when this recession starts to ease up, get the home ready for sale

DH and I want a house in the country, we are sure we could find one even if we have to fix it up a bit (our specialty and we love it!) with the profit we would make from the sale of our current home. Possibly $50,000 +.

I am always dreaming of living in the country and finally about a few weeks ago, DH said to me "I want to live in the country, with some land and a single home where you have to walk a block or 2 to get to the neighbors", I was soooo happy and glad he felt like I do.

I can say that when we do move to the country, the house will be about the same size as we have now (3 bedrooms, finished basement, kitchen, dining room, living room, 1.5 baths) but we are willing to negotiate on the aspects. I want my own craft room but then I think about how I can put up a large shed and work in there, a place just for me and DH can have the garage and make it into his workshop. I mean thinking about things, if we could get a slight fixer upper for less than our profit we would have a paid in full mortgage and can get a small loan for a workshop or barn with 2 separate rooms (one for each of us, our own space). I have so many dreams and while some make think dreams dont come true, I think mine will, so I aim for it

[Darlene]

I get ants in my pants about moving, change of scene & all that. We've been in this house 15 years and the one before it for 9. I think we probably have one more move in us but are going to wait until hubby retires before we decide what to do.
You don't have to buy a bigger house, maybe just one laid out more to your liking. Maybe it's time for a new adventure.

[mom2matty]

We have been in our house for almost 21 years now and plan to stay here until dh retires in about 12 years. By then our dks will be grown and out and once he does retire we plan to move around until we find our "forever" home!!

[guest002]

Heck no! I can't even wrap my brain around a forever home being a military family.

[IntlMom]

I know I'm not in my forever home. Hubby has one more work move left to make....it will take us back to the PNW area~where I am from....I havent' lived there since before we were married 15 years ago. It'll be afew years though.

In the last 15 years I've moved like 8 times, so I get the moving itch every year or so......we've been here since AUG of 07, but we'll be here for awhile yet. (course our while is different than some of your "whiles")

[suki]

When we bought this home, it was with the desire to never move again. I hope it is my forever home.

When we remodeled, I was working with the elderly. Everything is designed so we can "age in place". We have blocks in the walls where we can install handrails. Our doors and hallways are large. Now that my hubby has a neuro problem creating difficulty for him to walk, we're glad we did this early. (we're not even 40,yet)

We love our home and where we live. But the economy and our situation is making it difficult to remain here.

[Neeley]

No, we are not. We have been married 16 years and are in our 6th house. We bought our first one when we were 19 years old and newly married. This house was bought four years ago. I think we will be here a couple of more years before we start to look again.

We have stayed in the same city, and actually all 6 houses have been within 5 miles of each other. Two of the houses were right next door to each other. Our next house will hopefully be in somewhere in the Winter Park, Florida area.

[jamie79]

Nope. We are also a military family. If I dont move every few yrs I get a bit nutty.

[stinkbug]

Maybe. We love it here and it's laid out well with lots of hobby space for both of us. We basically live on one level, and all the doorways and hallways are extra wide, huge walk in shower, etc....so it's feasible. But we both have the hankering for an old farm house. Just none to be had around here, so we'll have to see what retirement brings in 15 years or so.

[Michelle68]

I think this may be our "forever" home. I like the idea that we can have it paid off in 6-7 years and I would hate starting over again, with a new mortgage. Once we have it paid off, we can put more money into it doing all the stuff we've always wanted to do. Plus, we love to travel and I want to be able to spend our money on that when we retire and not on a house payment.


--Michelle

[POOTERSMOMMY]

Probably. I would like to have a house with a better layout (open floor plan) as DH is disabled. He hates the idea of moving. Our house is paid for, so it is feasable we will be here forever.

Ebbie since your place is paid for - if you like it, I'd spend the money in fixing it up. If it's a 70's style - it would hurt if you try to sell. People want to buy
move in ready now a days. It would be a big plus to renovate - in case you ever want to sell.

Now is not the time to sell. It's definately a BUYERS market, not a SELLERS market. My advice is stay where you're at - sorry Mom!!

I really like my house and yard, even though it's close to the city (country would be nice). We've been here 22 years (our first home together!!!) so it woukd be sad to leave.

[Athena31]

nope definately not in my foreverhome but it will do for years until the housing market gets better

[AstarB1]

Interesting question!

DH and I have been chatting about this a lot lately. We don't want to fall into the trap of moving over and over and getting further and further from being mortgage free by upgrading houses. I'm reading "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager and he talks about how in our grandparent's day, there was no such thing as a "starter home" - the home you moved into when you got married was your forever home and I really like that concept.

When DH and I moved into this house 2.5 years ago, our plan was that it would be our forever house. We're second-guessing this now because we wonder if we want to live in this kind of suburban neighborhood and also, we're beginning to think that our house wasn't built with a lot of care and with cheap-o components.

Anyway - my answer is that I don't know, but it's something on my mind!

[Missy]

this will probably be the last home I have.