How many steps did you take on the property ladder (or where are you now)?

Legacy_user

Good Morning,


I'm just curious as my wife and I have been discussing this a lot recently. We live comfortably (financially and mostly space wise) in a small 2 bed end of terrace house which we bought as FTB's. We have a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old. Obviously we knew when we would have to move at some point even before our 2nd was born but that has kind of accelerated the discussion. Our plan was always to buy this one and then in 8-10 years buy the next house which would be much bigger but our final house. Now however it does look like that is not really an option as we will run out of space most probably. One thought is to extend the house we live in as that has land on side and backwards but that is really expensive to do and might as well just buy a bigger house but not quite our final one.


Anyway, I was curious to hear of other peoples experiences. How many steps on the ladder did you take or are on and what was your experiences of this in relation to achieving your final objective.

AnnieO1234

First home is our forever home (rented previously), 3 bed detached with scope for extension as needed.

X

movilogo

I am also looking to move to a larger house but looks like I'm priced out of the market. :mad:

I just don't want to move to a house which is just slightly larger (which I can afford) than current one but want which is a considerably larger (i.e. proper family home so that no longer need to move) but I can't afford the later one.

My own house is rising in value but my next house is rising value in much faster way. For this reason, I want house price to calm down even though I am a home owner myself.

So looks like I am stuck in my current house for foreseeable future.

theartfullodger

Walcott wrote: »

... .. ...

Anyway, I was curious to hear of other peoples experiences. How many steps on the ladder did you take or are on and what was your experiences of this in relation to achieving your final objective.

Ah, interesting viewpoint..

One's objective changes with time.. and your final objective may well turn out to be (say..) a care home with 24hr running hot & cold nurses & the fees being paid...

My objectives (if I ever formally thought through what they were..) have changed several times and I've been through I guess some 10+ property purchases so far, rather fewer sales... and I doubt I'm living in my final home...

charleyroo

1st house was ideal for now (3 bed terrace). we've been here 3 years.

lil brother moved in, realised if we added a baby into the mix in the future that the house would be too small (need an office for work) so we are moving into our 5-10 year home as one day want to live in the countryside but current salary/savings won't quite allow it

System

theartfullodger wrote: »

Ah, interesting viewpoint..

One's objective changes with time.. and your final objective may well turn out to be (say..) a care home with 24hr running hot & cold nurses & the fees being paid...

My objectives (if I ever formally thought through what they were..) have changed several times and I've been through I guess some 10+ property purchases so far, rather fewer sales... and I doubt I'm living in my final home...

Good point. My current home has become outgrown much quicker than we thought it would although by no means unliveable.


I guess the objective for me for now has to be for me - until the kids fly the nest.

verulamium

Owned a one bed flat previously, then bought our current 1300sq ft 3 bed terrace. Main loft has enough room for a one bedroom with en suite conversion (or two small bedrooms) and the back side can still be extended. There is scope for creating a basement room (as there is already a small cellar) but we do not think it is financially viable.

We calculated that it makes more financial sense to create a loft and back extension when the times come, than to sell and buy a bigger house, so this could possibly be our "forever home".

[Deleted User]

We're on our second 'step' - started, like you, in a 2 bed terrace. Moved after 5 years when our second son arrived and I took a decent step up in salary. Now we're in our 3 bed semi in a nice area.

Is it our forever house? Maybe; houses in our area seem to take £50-£100k jumps 'per bedroom'. We've decided that we may be better off doing a loft conversion so that we've got 3 double bedrooms (currently 2 double, one box), and we'd have an en-suite, and space for a study room.

vectistim

theartfullodger wrote: »

a care home with 24hr running hot & cold nurses & the fees being paid...

Tempting - does it come with Benny Hill music?

busiscoming2

I've done two steps up and then started again. First house was a three bed terrace (my thinking was we could have 2 or 3 children and if we could never afford to move we'd be fine). Then we progressed to a 3 bed semi with more space. Divorce happened.

Started again having to rent then me and now DH bought our house (3 bed town house) 16 years ago. It has been big enough for what was 5 of us and we have no intention of moving in the near future.

Metranil_Vavin

We are on the second step too. I bought my first 1 bed flat in 1999, and moved into our current 3 bed maisonette in 2005. It was a wreck as had, had students renting, but over the years it has been renovated from top to bottom and is glorious.

Unfortunately 9 years and 2 children on, we need more space so are currently looking at upsizing to a house, no mean feat where we are (SE London), so are also considering relocating to Brighton.

I have an estate agent coming round in about 45 mins to value the place actually! It's worth silly money for what it is (similar sold for £420k in our road a few months back), but similarly houses are silly money too, so it doesn't really help us if we plan to stay here. If we move out of London though, we are laughing.