How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

For people that are living in your forever home, how did you know it was the one?

We moved OOS and bought a home that's about 3400 sqft. It was new construction so we picked the floor plan, finishes, etc. We have a huge lot. We love our neighborhood and the masterplanned community we live in. Schools are great, etc etc. Nothing we would change.

But, I just can't shake the feeling that it's not my forever home or even my 10yr home. We have plenty of room, layout is good...I just don't know what it is.

I keep thinking that I want a slightly bigger house, 2 more rooms maybe. But at the same time I remember that our house on LI was 1/2 the size. I always thought the same about our LI house - i knew it wasn't our long term house.

So, how did you know? I feel like I can't enjoy this house bc I treat it like a "temporary" space.

I feel silly even writing this.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Because we can't afford anything bigger lol. We have had our home for almost 20 years and can't really downsize as it would be more expensive to do so.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

It was a decision we made prior to buying. I've moved about 10 times over the course of my life. I was done moving. I don't like the feeling of knowing my home is temporary. When we sold our townhouse we both agreed that we did not plan on moving again and our next house needed to have the qualities we wanted for our forever home. So, when we went house-hunting we knew exactly what we were looking for.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We are hoping the current house we are in is our forever home, but we have learned that not everything goes as planned lol.

I see my kids growing up here and we are making the changes we feel we will enjoy long term. We are putting in a pool, and I have heard we won't ever recoup the cost of it, but if we are here for 20+ years it will be worth it. But every room I decorate, I'm decorating long term. Like our living room I am adding built ins, we made the downstairs bathroom huge Bc we will be a family of 6, we made sure the garage has crazy storage space Bc I highly doubt we will ever use our attic lol. Our home before this, I never looked to really update things perfectly, but I would make things convenient, Bc I didn't see us there forever.

I do think it's possible we won't be here forever, at the moment we have 3 kids with 1 on the way, but they are 6 and under, I imagine having 4 teenagers we may run out of space lol. But I would like to think this is our forever home Bc we love it, and we made sure there is a huge backyard so that if needed we could extend up and out.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

I'm having the opposite feeling as you. When we bought our house I didn't think it would be our forever home because it's not that big and has very little property, but as time passes, I have a hard time picturing us leaving.

I love the house and everything we've done to it, but I also really love our community and our neighbors. It feels like home.

Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind, which I tend to do pretty often.

But right now I'm very happy and so is DH.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We just bought our house- we worked so hard and sacrificed a lot just to afford a small 3 bedroom split. I am grateful for it. We have a large amount of student loans and I by choice work in non profit. I'm grateful for just being able to own a home and that right there makes this our forever home. Sure we need to do some remodeling of the Kitchen and bedrooms to make it work better for us but we will get it done room by room.
Also the process to buy a home is an absolute nightmare and I never want to experience it again!!!! Lol

Message edited 11/6/2015 4:50:54 PM.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We Started looking at houses with the thought of finding a good starter home. 5 years tops. But as soon as I walked in to this house, I was home.

It needed (and still needs) a lot of work to make it "our taste" but it's home. The house is cozy. 4bd, 2bth dormered cape. Large property. The neighborhood Is great and I LOVE my neighbors. I'd honestly stay here forever.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

For me, it was moving back to where I grew up. My parents are 3 blocks away, in my childhood home, and watch my kids. I attend the same church now as I did growing up, where I was married and kids were/will be baptized. It's home, community, familiarity, and so important for me, the feelings of safety and security.

Also, we pay a fortune for our mortgage and taxes and I wouldn't if we lived anywhere else but here.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We didn't know when we bought it - assumed it was our starter house. But then when we were talking about moving and looking at houses, there was nothing that made us make the move and we always had excuses as to why our current house was better. Once we even had an open house just to see what the offers would be, and the entire day I was miserable and hoped nobody came. Finally we made the decision to renovate instead and now I'm pretty sure we will be here forever. We are happy, love the neighborhood and have put our touches everywhere to make it our home. I don't want anyone else to have the kitchen we designed, the bar my husband built, the basement we finished, etc.!

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Enjoy your house! Who cares if you are living there for 5, 10, 15 or 50 years? Its important to enjoy today!

I have never thought about a "forever home". We have moved from NYC - Westchester - back to NYC in the past few years. I never thought about how long it would be - Who knows how long we will be in this space! Life takes many different directions, don't worry about the future so much!

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Because....
I like my layout and space.
I like my neighborhood, neighbors, and school district.

Also.... I. Am. Never. Moving. Again. Buying and selling is too stressful.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We moved OOS (from NY to NJ) 8 years ago. Our first home in NJ we were in for 5 years. I didn't pick it, I just agreed to it because I was 8.5 months pregnant. My DH loved the house and I liked it. We did a lot of work to it but I always hated the layout. It just did not work for me. I was fed up one day after we had family over and said I want to list the house and see what happens. We sold in 2 weeks and were scrambling to find a house. We *thought* we wanted high ceilings and newer construction so that was what we were looking for. We ended up buying a home in the middle of the building process. It had a lot of what I thought we wanted. We moved in and 3 years later I told DH, lets see what happens. Lets just list and put it out there for a crazy number. We sold it in 2 days!! I knew I wasn't going to be there forever and so did my family and friends. We ended up find a house 2 blocks away and I finally know this is our home. It needs work (which I love to do) but it is everything we ever wanted and we didn't have to compromise. This is a house I could see being emotionally attached to, which I never felt before.

The best analogy I can come up with is, if you have children and are done having children. You just know when your family is complete and that is what it felt like. After a week of being in the house we developed a leak that the previous homeowners hid. I'm not even stressed about it.

If your not happy, move. Their is no written law that says you have to stay in a house because you are there for a short time. You should be happy.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

I felt that way in my last house (there over 4 years). It didn't have many of things we wanted but we had to settle based on the market. I still always looked, didn't even unpack some things knowing I was set on leaving when the right house came along. I didn't want to put money in to it, or decorate too much. I just knew in my gut I could not happily stay there. And the house I longed for finally came on and we put our house on the market. We are now in our forever house and it feels good to feel permanent.

How does this new house make it my forever house? It is the style of house I want, the lot I want, the layout I want, the neighborhood I have wanted for many years. When we saw the house we knew it was what we had been looking for many many years.

Message edited 11/9/2015 12:00:34 AM.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We bought our home intending for it to be our forever home and that is still our intention unless something changes financially and I can get a much bigger and better house but we love our home

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

Because we made a conscious decision about it - bought in a good neighborhood

1. We put a lot of time and money into it
2. The only way I'd move is to buy new construction and not have to 're do' anything all over again (I've already done that in my current home, WHY start all over again?)
3. Even to buy new construction, you have to deal w/ the BS of building a WHOLE house - and then there's all of the extras of finishing basements, upgrading applicaes, tiles, landscaping, deck/patio etc that isn't included
4. I'm not looking to impress anyone
5. I'd like to have the house paid off before the kids go to college
6. I'd like to purchase a vacation property

.......we're both pretty planned, practical people. I don't do anything just "because I want it" ..........

Message edited 11/9/2015 4:00:23 PM.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

because i refuse to move again LOL

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We bought our house loving the neighborhood knowing it was a starter home and we'd eventually remodel.

We remodeled into our forever home - although there is more that we want to do, it is definitely our "forever home" (unless for some reason we get relocated).

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We bought what we plan on being our twenty year home unless transferred elsewhere. It took us three years to find our home. It has most of what we wanted. We had to give up on having a basement, which would have put the house into the 950,000 to 1.1 million range, and out of reach for us. We are in our desired school district. The house needed a new roof (done), two new windows, and updated master bath. But the master bath, not including the toilet room is 12x10. The house is a center hall colonial which is what we were looking for.

If you can afford a larger home without sacrificing savings, and retirement savings, and lifestyle, then I might be tempted to move if you could not make your current home to your liking.


If you had the two additional rooms what would they be used for?

Message edited 11/10/2015 8:54:31 AM.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

We just bought our forever home. I am 99% sure this is the house I will die in. When we bought our first home, we knew it was just a started home. It was tiny and while it was in a good school district, it wasn't my ideal neighborhood.

While we are just under 3000sqft, it has over double the space as our last home and most importantly its in my #1 pick for a neighborhood and school district. I almost don't feel like I deserve it. The house needs a ton of updating and we got a killer price on it because of it. So we will spend our lives happily doing so. We are extremely grateful.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

I don't.

I LOVE my home. Had EVERYTHING I ever wanted. Its a great house and we love it.

I KNEW when I moved it COULD be my "forever" home. I plan on staying for a very long while. And it absolutely could be my "forever" home.

If my DH business takes off and we can afford a different home we would probably move.

Re: How did you know your house was your FOREVER house?

bc we lost SO much money on it in the crash, that we are stuck in it, LOL!!!!!!