Property Ladder?

seven-day-weekend

Why do people seem to think it is so important to climb the property 'ladder'?

Why do they think they need to keep buying bigger and more expensive houses?

Why not just buy a home and stick with it?

hearts

...cos when you have 4 kids in a 1 bedroom flat it gets a bit crowded and its schit sharing a bed with your 3 siblings. Especially when there are 2 guys and one girl and your 28 years old ;-)

seven-day-weekend

Point taken. :eek: But do people stick with their family homes when they have one, or do they continue to 'climb the ladder'?

Daisies

Property is more expensive now so people tend to buy something small that they can afford, then upgrade as their salaries (hopefully) increase and maybe as they have a family.

People used to buy the house that they'd then stick with for most of the rest of their lives, but people can't afford to do that now. We possibly also expect to get on the property ladder earlier? (eg my Dad lived in lodgings for much of his 20s, whereas if he was that age now he'd be trying to buy a flat).

Also, expectations have risen. I can only remember one friend at school who shared a room with a sibling, whereas in previous generations sharing would have been a matter of course. Social lives are different too. My grandparents' generation would have all sat in the living room together in the evening, listening to the wireless and doing hobbies, crafts or reading. Now families spread out through the house and there may be more than one living room. All that needs more space, which probably isn't affordable when you initially start out these days. Hence the property ladder.

Of course, you'd save a heck of a lot in EA fees, stamp duty, removal costs if you stayed in the same house for life!

tanith

I totally agree with you seven-day-weekend of course people might need more space which is a different matter but to just trade up for the sake seems crazy to me.... I buy a home that I want to live in not as a stepping stone to something else... I intend on staying where I am as long as I am able to manage the house and garden... I am sure there will be plenty of opinions that differ though....

TJ27

I still live in my first house, which I bought about ten years ago with my wife. We now have two kids but the house is big enough for all of us.

I have no desire whatsoever to climb any ladder. I am absolutely delighted with where I live. I doubt that I will ever want or need to move. (Unless I eventually have to go into a care home or something I suppose.)

A neighbour of mine moved about a year ago. He went about two hundred metres down the road and it cost him about 20k in taxes and fees to do so. He must be crackers!

nearlyrich

I bought a small house with my ex when we were engaged we started looking at trading up when I was expecting our second child, we then split up so I was stuck in the smaller house for a bit longer than intended.

I met my DH and we needed a bigger house as he worked from home and I had 2 children in one small bedroom, they are a boy and a girl.

We found this house and it was fine but expandable to give us the room we needed, we added a study, a conservatory and an ensuite bathroon and it's just about perfect. I have no desire to move anywhere else, we have lovely views, nor overlooked and we are set back from the road so nice and private and quiet.

I don't understand moving for the sake of it, it's an expensive undertaking with all the fees and decorating etc.

hearts

Seriously now. People have their mind/heart set on a particular home. Maybe a 3 bed detatched with a nice garden in a nice area. They cant initially afford this home so they start of on the "ladder". Moving up this ladder and aquiring equity in the process. The end result hopefully being the attaing of their dream home.

fivemice

We'll be upgrading after a few years to a nicer village and a better house hopefully. It's the location that would be the motivation, not the house.

We could afford to buy the house we want in the nice village now, but we'd rather take it easy for the first few years whilst we get used to having a mortgage, and buying a cheaper house means we aren't overstretching ourselves and aren't going to panic if the interest rates rise considerably.

I guess it depends on your priorities and your budget.

Mushy61

I'm still in the first house I bought over 19 years ago now. After I got divorced and bought out my wife's share of the house, it was a struggle keeping up the repayments on the mortgage, particularly at the time interest rates climbing to 15%.

Now to get anything bigger or better would cost another 20 grand or so. Having said that, I live on my own and intend to stay that way so my 2 bed terraced house is more than ample.

Plus the fact I hope to be mortgage free in the next year or so thanks to the peeps on the Mortgage Free Wannabee board.

:beer:

seven-day-weekend

We bought our first house in 1976 and still own it, although we have lived in Spain since 2004. Our son lives in it now.

It is a three-bedroom Victorian terrace in what we call the outer inner-city.

When we finished paying off the mortgage in the 90s, a colleague of my husband's asked us when we would be moving to a 'better' house.

Now to me a good house is one that is big enough and that is cheap to live in - and what can be cheaper than being mortgage-free?

We never moved (until we retired) and consequently were able to retire to Spain in our 50s whilst my husband's colleagues with huge mortgages (and my colleagues too) are still slogging their butts off at work.