Do you love where you live? Is it your forever home?

[melissel]

I figured out what it would cost to buy a house I love in a town/neighborhood I want us to be in and still stay in NJ like DH wants to. In addition to the equity in our current home, I'd need to put down another $140K to bring the mortgage in line with what we could afford monthly (then add another $800 a month for property taxes :001_huh:). This is on the low end, mind you.

 

I could live with our house if I loved our neighborhood/town. I could live with our neighborhood/town if I loved our house. The two together just bum me out *sigh* And we're pretty much stuck here because of the cost of living in NJ. DH says I'm being impossible and that I want too much. I'm sure he's right. But still, I'm whiny.

 

So I wonder how many people are really in their forever places? Do you love your house, or is it least fix-uppable into a house you could love? Do you love your neighborhood? Are you where you want to be in general? If you are, did you keep working to upgrade your home until you got to where you wanted to be?

[NanceXToo]

I wish I had a much bigger property, we only have a very small yard. Whether that's ever going to really happen though, who knows! This it the first house we ever owned (as opposed to rented) and we've only been in it just under 4 years; I don't foresee us moving anytime soon, if ever.

[WarriorMama]

No! I don't like this house and I loathe this neighbourhood! I can't wait to move in spring. We're in a high cost of living area, too, and we'll have to settle for a 'don't love it but will slowly upgrade until we do' house in a neighbourhood we like. There's no way we could afford an awesome house here.

 

For me, location is more important than the house itself. Houses, as long as they're in decent condition and not WAY too tiny for your family, can be improved upon. But who would want a great house in an area you really don't like?

 

We're glued to this city for dh's job...otherwise I would get the heck out of here to somewhere where I could afford the nice house in a good area.

[MariannNOVA]

So I wonder how many people are really in their forever places? No - and we knew when we purchased it that it was NOT our forever place.

 

Do you love your house, NO, not at all. or is it least fix-uppable into a house you could love? We are in the process of fixing it up - so it will sell. It is in a top rated school district in a beautiful town (I guess I am the only one who doesn't really care for it :glare:) Do you love your neighborhood? NO Are you where you want to be in general? NO

 

All that being said, I'm from NJ although I do not live there any longer so I found your thread very interesting.:001_smile:

[shanvan]

I figured out what it would cost to buy a house I love in a town/neighborhood I want us to be in and still stay in NJ like DH wants to. In addition to the equity in our current home, I'd need to put down another $140K to bring the mortgage in line with what we could afford monthly (then add another $800 a month for property taxes :001_huh:). This is on the low end, mind you.

 

I would not be comfortable with this scenario, but I feel for you. We have a similar situation. Our house is paid off though, which is why I would never consider moving into a house that would give me (or increase) a mortgage. Also my DH job is a little uncertain right now, and we need to add to retirement funds, so more money on a house just isn't a wise decision for us.

 

 

So I wonder how many people are really in their forever places? Do you love your house, or is it least fix-uppable into a house you could love?

 

We love our house even though it is a little on the small side, but only God truly knows if we are in our home for good. When my great uncle dies he will be leaving us part share in his home which is in an extremely desirable town that is constantly featured as a top place to live. We toy with the idea of buying out the other people in the will, but don't know if we could afford it and also don't know when all this would happen. We also aren't sure we like his house better than ours. They each have their pluses and minuses. My uncle is my best friend, so I'm not really looking forward to losing him anyway. I also do not like the idea of someone else buying his home where I have spent so much of my life.

 

Do you love your neighborhood?

 

We don't love our neighborhood, but there are some good advantages to living where we live and our neighbors a generally nice.

 

Are you where you want to be in general?

 

I'm not sure. We go back and forth about this a lot. I wish we had a more rural location and that we were able to keep horses, chickens, sheep. We also aren't that thrilled with the area that surrounds our neighborhood.

 

If you are, did you keep working to upgrade your home until you got to where you wanted to be?

 

Our home was in move in condition and we loved it from the start, but we are in the process of replacing windows right now, and yes, we have a list of upgrades we'd like to make, but it is often hard to know HOW to make the upgrades. Do we make them as though we are living here forever and according to our tastes, or according to what a buyer might like????

 

These are difficult decisions. For right now we are proceeding as though we will be living here for quite some time. So, we try to strike a happy medium in home improvements. We make things the way we like them, but also keep in mind that we don't want to do anything too drastic or expensive. I'm also learning to be more content and thankful for what God has given me. I know better than to make a decision that would harm us financially, no matter what others around us are doing.

 

I'm not sure any of this helps, but you certainly aren't alone.

 

Shannon

[Carrie12345]

No. I'm DYING to go back to NJ! I want to be in Sussex or Warren County, on at least 3 acres, where I can feel rural at home, suburban right down the street, and urban-ish within 20 minutes. And no "private development" bs!

 

My house doesn't meet our family's needs very well at all. It was perfect when we bought it 5 years ago, but add 2 more kids, 4 pets, and homeschooling, and it's just not cutting it!

[elegantlion]

We're getting ready to move and I'm in love with our new house. It's a fixer upper but full of charm and original 1920s bungalow character. The town? I don't know yet. Historically we have moved every five years. I'd like to put down some roots this time.

 

Will we be there forever? I don't know. I'd love to live near a real beach at least once in my life, but that is at least 10-15 years down the line, if at all. This house is no where near a beach.

 

If something happened to my dh I'd probably stay there forever. It would make a grand little ol' lady house.

[Liza Q]

I could live with our house if I loved our neighborhood/town. I could live with our neighborhood/town if I loved our house. The two together just bum me out *sigh* And we're pretty much stuck here because of the cost of living in NJ. DH says I'm being impossible and that I want too much. I'm sure he's right. But still, I'm whiny.

 

 

 

Well, this is me - but I have spent the past 7 or so years working on not being whiny as it really depresses my husband. I constantly remind myself how blessed I am to be able to stay home with my children and that our only debt is our small mortgage. Counting my blessings has helped my outward behavior but inside I still long to live in a better part of Brooklyn (or one of the other boroughs) or at least have a house with a washer/dryer and yard in this one....so I hear you!!!

[Melissa in Australia]

we love our house, and most probably will live here forever. we built the house form scratch and it is just the way we like it.

[Alenee]

Yes, we are in the town and home we always wanted to be in but we're paying dearly for it with the economy as it is. Dh had a lay-off two years ago and we're still trying to get back to where we were before.

 

If we can hang in here, the climate for us should change soon. I have many plans for this house and would love to get to work on them. And it DOES need work!

 

If the economy tanks again and we see another layoff, I can't see us being able to keep the house. We would probably end up in a short sale or foreclosure. :glare: We have to go where the jobs are though and if they dry up here we either expand our automotive business that we currently run part time or close up and move to another state.

[gaillardia]

I do not love this state from June to early/mid September (over 95, doesn't dip below 88 at night). :glare:

I do love our home, it's new! Our yard is big (almost 2 acres) and empty with cow fields beyond. Our neighborhood is okay.:)

We are further out than I want to be from stores, library, etc., and it wouldn't bother me so bad IF the economy hadn't gone down. :001_huh:

We are very fond of a few friends we've made here in 2 years but things aren't going well $. :glare:

Some of them are also homeschoolers.:hurray:

I am not where I want to be. I haven't seen the ocean or gulf in 4 years and no mountains in 2 years, that is just not me!

:nopity:So, count me in, I'm a whiner too. I've been whining since I got here.:tongue_smilie:I hate fire ants, giant spiders, scorpions, black widows...

[amyable]

So I wonder how many people are really in their forever places? No - and we knew when we purchased it that it was NOT our forever place.

 

Do you love your house, NO, not at all. or is it least fix-uppable into a house you could love? We are in the process of fixing it up - so it will sell. It is in a top rated school district in a beautiful town (I guess I am the only one who doesn't really care for it :glare:) Do you love your neighborhood? NO Are you where you want to be in general? NO

 

All that being said, I'm from NJ although I do not live there any longer so I found your thread very interesting.:001_smile:

 

These are exactly my answers including being from NJ! :lol:

 

I think I *could* like this house if I lived alone or with just dh or one child. But it's too small for the 7 of us. On paper the square footage doesn't sound too bad, but it's a split foyer and there is SO MUCH dead/wasted space... I just can't make it work well. It's not my style either, but I don't have to be too picky there - just something we can function in 24/7 since we're here that much!

[BlsdMama]

 

So I wonder how many people are really in their forever places? Do you love your house, or is it least fix-uppable into a house you could love? Do you love your neighborhood? Are you where you want to be in general? If you are, did you keep working to upgrade your home until you got to where you wanted to be?

 

Nope, nope, nope. How 'bout I have a house I could really like, I suppose, and I'm in a neighborhood I could love, but we want to eventually be back in Iowa, 1900+ miles away? But I will admit, and no one will believe I mean it - frankly this house is TOO big for our family. We lived in a *very* small house before this and I liked it. I thought I might like a large house and I was dead wrong. It's too much space, too much maintenance, just too much. I'd like my tiny farmhouse back I think. Well, except for the leaking basement. And two full bedrooms for the kids would be nice.

 

Oregon is stunning. Stunning! But, wow baby, the cost of housing is a little high. It might not even be that it's insanely high, just that the midwest is insanely low.

 

This is our extended, 2-3 year, Oregon "vacation." DH transferred out here for his company and his career but we'll transfer back. We also thought it would be good for the kids to live out here and see the coast and the ocean for a while.

 

Truth is, we won't own our dream house for several years.

Our dream home requirements:

 

Paid off :D

 

Honestly, we want twenty acres and a tiny little hut in the woods with running water and solar electricity. :001_huh: Yes, really.

Edited September 27, 2010 by BlsdMama

[joannqn]

We are moving at the end of next month. :party:

 

That should tell you how I feel about this house and neighborhood. We are moving into a rental, so not our forever house either. It's kind of sad because this is the only house my kids know and by the time we can buy a house we like, my oldest will out of the house. It's likely that "coming home" to visit will be coming to a strange house.

[bdaghfal]

I have to tell you that I really enjoy where we live and pretty much feel like we have everything and more we could possibly ever want...but then there are days that discontent creeps in... What an ENEMY! Robbing us of the amazing blessings God has given us... wishing for a newer house with no flooding of the basement and newer plumbing, etc, etc., etc.

 

I'm only sharing this because it strikes me that if my dh and I, who have so very much, wish for better things, then we will truly NEVER be satisfied with an earthly home or all the nice earthly things. That old saying, "it's never enough" is so true...it's our nature and I am so glad that someday, all things will be made new, brand spanking new... and any "light and momentary afflictions" we find ourselves in here are NOTHING compared to the glory that awaits us who believe in the finished work of the Cross.

 

Preaching to myself here... it's a daily battle not to think of SOMETHING I wish was different or would change.... maybe even a moment by moment battle.

[PinkInTheBlue]

I am in what I would like to be my "forever home". However, I really don't care to continue living in this town or state. I'm in love with Arizona, so I want to live there a while. I'd also love to live 6 months, or so, in Italy. I'd like to live for a few months somewhere cold just to try it (ironic since I hate to be cold). I don't really have a need or desire to stay here forever. I can see myself making that decision for somewhere eventually but for 4 or 5 years I'd really like to move around and find that forever PLACE. I just wish I could move my house to those places; at my price. :) The cost of living is just SO much better here than ANYWHERE.

[Amy loves Bud]

Yes it is our forever home. If God desires. If we leave to do mission work, we would like to lease it so we can move back to it.

 

I love our house. It's perfect for our family. I love our neighborhood. It should be called a familyhood.

 

BUT, we live in Texas, home of affordable real estate. We moved Bud's mom down 6 years ago from New Jersey. She would never have been able to afford her house if it was in NJ. So I understand.

 

Can you start thinking outside the box about fixing up your current home? Try not to be limited by silly little things like walls and rooflines. Seriously. You could make some major league changes for far less than the "dreamhouse" you mentioned.

 

Or you could convince your DH to move to Texas. There is a house down the street for sale!

[Guest CarolineUK]

Yes, we're in our forever home in a very small city (population ca 15,000) that I adore. But when we first looked at the house I thought it was a boring white box (it's actually a very elegant six bedroomed Georgian house) in a very depressing town. I only agreed to move here because of the good schools (yes, really - that was before I'd even heard of homeschooling). Within weeks of moving here I began to love it and love it more and more each year. DH and I were already in our forties by the time we were able to buy this house though, and we had been through a number of very dreary houses, and one nightmare old farmhouse before we got to this point. DS3 was born in my bedroom here, I don't think I could ever leave.

[galtgrl]

I don't really think of anyplace as a "forever" place. This is the right place for us during this season of our lives, and I love the house (big old drafty farmhouse with no closet space,:tongue_smilie: but I still love it ).

 

I think we'll be here for at least another 10 or 15 years, but then I could see us moving somewhere a little...warmer...

 

It was a real adjustment to be here at first - coming from, you guessed it, NJ! There was no way we could have afforded a place like this (some land, able to have farm animals, etc.) and still had me stay home with kids back there.

[Liz CA]

I wonder if there are people who can actually expect to be in a place forever.

With the seasons of life, not to mention the other factors. i.e., economy and such, I really don't know if I am in my forever place. We built this house and we like it but once our son is gone, it's really rather big for the two of us. I think it ought to go to a family with children who can use it like we did when ds was in 4-H. Ours is a place for lots of kids and animals.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I love our house and can see being here for a long time. It is a bi-level though and so if at some point our children were grown and we had aging parents that needed a place to stay, it's not ideal for them, or if when we get older and we wanted something with one level, I'd rather have a ranch for that, but we love it now, it works well for our family and homeschooling and we love our neighborhood. Until either of us couldn't do the stairs, we'd cross that bridge when we got there.

[creekland]

I absolutely love the area of South Central PA where we live AND I love our small farm, but it's not my forever house.

 

We've gotten too used to having the boys help us around the place - and they're in the process of moving out. Once our youngest moves out (less than 4 years) we'll be selling and letting someone else enjoy our "home" with the garden, pond, creek, fields, woods, eagles, and vistas. At that point, hubby and I hope to travel 24/7 OR we might move into a condo (less upkeep) to better travel when we can.

 

I don't regret living here or raising the boys here one bit! It's been nigh onto perfect for us.

[FaithManor]

We are in our forever house. I could not stand the house and town previous to this one. Frankly, probably if it weren't for this house, my parents living close by, and the loose zoning codes which make it possible to hobby farm on small amounts of land and in town to boot, we wouldn't have chosen this town in particular.

 

But, the thing that makes this place the forever house, is that it is the Old United Methodist Church (congregation established on this property in 1861, first clapboard church burned down in a fire that swept through the area - 1885, congregation met in houses and barns for 13 years while saving their pennies, and built a beautiful brick building with stained glass windows in 1908) where my parents were married, where my aunt was married, my brother (first marriage), and where I grew up and learned about God. I was baptized in what is now my living room as well as my brother and sister plus countless cousins and friends of family. It is a very dear and special place to us! Dh always wanted to renovate an old church, preserving it's character and as much of the woodwork, antique lighting, etc. as possible while making it a home.

 

It's been back breaking labor (90% of it Dh's while I handed him tools, held a board in place, or looked completely useless while shouting encouraging words) and it is hard for me to imagine that we would ever part with it. There is a loft in the living room but the rest of the house is on the main floor and only a couple steps here or there, so it will be an easy home to get around when we reach that age in life.

 

The old stone fence is still in decent shape and the iron hooks that were mortared into the wall for tying up horses to, are still there and we can string wire for beans, morning glories, you name it. I love that aspect of the look. We've got oak and sugar maples on three sides (though a very sunny yard) that were planted from imported saplings after the 1885 fire. They are huge and a reminder that life goes on......

 

I feel very fortunate, very blessed, to have this place....though we built our house in Oregon to custom specs many years ago when we lived in that part of the country, it was NEVER a personal home on the level that this one is.

 

Faith (sitting in her bedroom one end of which was once the pastor's office)

[elegantlion]

Faith (sitting in her bedroom one end of which was once the pastor's office)

 

Wow!! :svengo: what a story. Dh and I would love to convert a church to a home, but there were none in the area we wanted to move. But to have the history of your home, wow!

[sparrow]

I think we're in our forever home. We've lived here for 3 years and I still get a feeling of "I can't believe this is our house!" every time I pull in the driveway. It's the right amount of land, house sq. footage, and privacy for our family.

[Wheres Toto]

Another one from NJ here. :seeya:

We are definitely NOT in our forever home. It's too small (750 square feet with 5 people), old, poor layout and ugly.

 

But, I do love our neigborhood and town. We are in a secluded, dead end neighborhood with a real community feel - friendly and safe for the kids, very hilly and lots of trees so the neighbors seem farther away then they are. The town I live in has very strict guidelines about building (as we are finding, they are a bit of a PITA). There's a llama farm a mile or so away, a few cows and a donkey at the entrance to our neighborhood and a river running through it. The town has a small town feel (for NJ anyway) with just one K-8 school. Everyone knows everyone it seems. The schools are excellent and crime is extremely low. All that and we are only about 15 minutes from DH's work and areas with major employers (and 45 minutes from Manhattan). I used to live in Sussex County (and still go there about 5 times a week for dd's dance) and it's very nice but the commute to any decent jobs is truly obnoxious.

 

Our solution is to build a new house. We purchased a modular and we will be putting it on our current property. This will give us more living space and the positioning will give us a larger yard as well. We have almost an acre of land but it is a pretty steep slope for about 1/2 of it.

[tristangrace]

Home's not perfect, but it's where we're supposed to be, I do love it, and can't imagine living elsewhere . . . though that day may come.

 

We co-own a four-flat in Chicago with our very dear friends, so we have one unit, they have one unit, and we rent out the other two (one of which is also inhabited by a good friend). We were able to do a beautiful rehab of our units (including adding an entire level) a couple years ago. We love our neighborhood--really remarkable ethnic and economic diversity, and hope to plant the church of dreams actually in this neighborhood someday.

 

So, despite the inconveniences of city living--mostly the small yard, the inconvenient parking, and the dearth of other families committed to city living--we are so, so, so blessed to be here.

[Dobela]

We are moving at the end of next month. :party:

 

That should tell you how I feel about this house and neighborhood.

We are moving at the end of October as well. I love my current house. Built in the 1950s with lots of space and character. I really like the neighbors on my side of the street for the whole block. Unfortunately the next block in any direction and for several blocks past us are literally in the paper daily for drugs, assaults, murder, and so on.

 

Our new house is about half the size but on a quiet culdesac with 3 acres. I love the neighborhood, the house is just ok. I don't like the color brick, I don't like that the current owners cleared the woods to make a pasture, I don't like that I will be further from all we do. But I can see us staying there forever and growing to love it - as long as we can maintain the property ourselves anyway.

[SkateLeft]

I love where I live... now.

 

I spent the last 20 years in a part of northern California that I just hated. I liked my house, but I hated so many other things about it. It was NOT where I'd wanted to end up, so when my husband got the opportunity to move to Minnesota, I was THRILLED.

 

I love Minneapolis. Now we have a huge yard with big trees, a wonderful homeschool community, parks and walking trails behind our home, four seasons, and everything within walking/biking distance of our house. We have all the benefits of living in a big city, but it still feels like a small town. The hardest part was adjusting to the winter.

 

The downside is that we still own our home in California, so we had to buy a little house here. If I could move my California house here to MN, it would be perfect. But having a smaller house has advantages too. I'll put up with the smaller home to have a much better quality of life!

[Rich with Kids]

We are in our forever house. I could not stand the house and town previous to this one. Frankly, probably if it weren't for this house, my parents living close by, and the loose zoning codes which make it possible to hobby farm on small amounts of land and in town to boot, we wouldn't have chosen this town in particular.

 

But, the thing that makes this place the forever house, is that it is the Old United Methodist Church (congregation established on this property in 1861, first clapboard church burned down in a fire that swept through the area - 1885, congregation met in houses and barns for 13 years while saving their pennies, and built a beautiful brick building with stained glass windows in 1908) where my parents were married, where my aunt was married, my brother (first marriage), and where I grew up and learned about God. I was baptized in what is now my living room as well as my brother and sister plus countless cousins and friends of family. It is a very dear and special place to us! Dh always wanted to renovate an old church, preserving it's character and as much of the woodwork, antique lighting, etc. as possible while making it a home.

 

It's been back breaking labor (90% of it Dh's while I handed him tools, held a board in place, or looked completely useless while shouting encouraging words) and it is hard for me to imagine that we would ever part with it. There is a loft in the living room but the rest of the house is on the main floor and only a couple steps here or there, so it will be an easy home to get around when we reach that age in life.

 

The old stone fence is still in decent shape and the iron hooks that were mortared into the wall for tying up horses to, are still there and we can string wire for beans, morning glories, you name it. I love that aspect of the look. We've got oak and sugar maples on three sides (though a very sunny yard) that were planted from imported saplings after the 1885 fire. They are huge and a reminder that life goes on......

 

I feel very fortunate, very blessed, to have this place....though we built our house in Oregon to custom specs many years ago when we lived in that part of the country, it was NEVER a personal home on the level that this one is.

 

Faith (sitting in her bedroom one end of which was once the pastor's office)

 

Wow! I would love to see pics if you have them.

[MariannNOVA]

I just wanted to add that as I was typing about the renovations DH and I are doing and having done SO we can SELL............I almost couldn't hear myself think as the drywall guys are downstairs sinking screws in the drywall and mudding and taping..........and, that's right, making unbelievable amounts of dust.

 

My husband 'used' to call what I have 'house envy' -- but he sees now that he was incorrect. We WERE in our forever house, and we were perfectly happy being there and then the company he worked for was 'acquired' and we immediately saw the necessity of selling our forever house and making a move.

 

Now that he hates where we are now as much as I do, he has given up that whole idea of 'house envy.' We both want 'something' that doesn't need anything major in the way of re-do or renovation that is closer in to DC. He is also finally coming around to my way of thinking that newer is better.

[Mekanamom]

Yes... would love to stay here forever, but I doubt that will happen.

 

We found out 2 years after moving in, that our house was destined to become a freeway on-ramp. This plan should never have been on the books, since our property is actually outside both the city limits AND the city's sphere of influence. They had no legal right to plan anything for our property.

 

Eventually, the city admitted they were wrong, and took the plan off the books. Yaaay! We had lived with that awful on-ramp plan hanging over our heads for 9 years.

 

And then two weeks after we discovered that plan was officially removed from the city's growth plan, we found out we're on the most likely spot for a high speed train to pass through. :blink:

 

And since we got THAT great news, we have been contacted by the water district who has a plan on the books to widen the creek we live next to... which will affect our property as well. I don't know how much of our land they will need to take, yet.

 

Of course, we CAN'T sell right now if we wanted to or needed to, because of the train route plans and the creek plans. Previously, we couldn't sell because of the on-ramp plans. And, lol, before anyone asks... NO, none of this was in the works when we bought the property. There was absolutely no way of knowing our property would eventually be in the sights of just about everyone with the power to force Eminent Domain.

 

... don't worry about us... we're used to it now. :tongue_smilie:

 

About the best we can do is plan to fight hard for the actual value of the property and not settle for some lowball offer when it comes down to it. Until then- we just aren't making any big future plans for the property.

 

Living here is great... living in limbo, not so much.

[AuntieM]

Do I love it? NO!

 

Is it my forever home? NO!

 

Can you tell I feel strongly about this???

[MariannNOVA]

Do I love it? NO!

 

Is it my forever home? NO!

 

Can you tell I feel strongly about this???

 

 

Yes, I can tell, and I could have written your post.:D

[ChristineW]

Right now we're in a rental, but we will--knock on wood--be closing at the end of next month. This house could be a forever house--great neighborhood, top-rated schools so I could consider sending them, big flat yard, near lots of green space. DH swears he'll never move, but coming from a guy who needs to move every two years we'll see.

 

Its a western style ranch with a good floor plan; it needs several updates but the big ones are already covered--kitchen, windows, new HVAC and we might get the sellers to pay for an electrical upgrade since the fuse box is not up to code. I've been living in rentals for the past 8 years and I am so ready for a home that's mine.

 

Christine W

[happyhomemaker25]

If I had a yard and could lose the HOA then I could probably stay here. When we bought this house we were young just married wanna be yuppies. Six kids later we would love a little more room at least outside (inside would be good too, but I can deal).

[AngelaNYC]

New York City. I will never leave. I live in Queens, which is more residential than Manhattan. I have everything here. :001_smile:

 

I may move to a different house one day, but this is my forever city.

[Jennifer in MI]

I think we're in our forever home. We've lived here for 3 years and I still get a feeling of "I can't believe this is our house!" every time I pull in the driveway. It's the right amount of land, house sq. footage, and privacy for our family.

 

:iagree: Thank God I agree!!! I LOVE my house. I love my neighborhood. I love my city. I love that we're close enough to Detroit to see museums, sporting events, eat out, etc. But, we live in a nice suburb. I love my yard with HUGE mature trees. We're still working on updating the house and really making it ours, but the layout is absolutely perfect for us.

[Liza Q]

New York City. I will never leave. I live in Queens, which is more residential than Manhattan. I have everything here. :001_smile:

 

I may move to a different house one day, but this is my forever city.

 

Well, I am in Brooklyn, not Queens, but otherwise :iagree:

[nukeswife]

No we're not even close to it. We have about 5-7 years left until dh retires from the Navy and being midwesterners at heart we want to go back. Most likely to SW WI, NW IL or NE IA. I'm in this rental until early 2012 and then who knows what will happen. The Navy may keep us in VA, but even if they do my landlord will be back and I'll have to find another house to live in. Maybe they'll move us to another state. In the end I want a house like the one in the movie Field of Dreams or the TV show Smallville (The Kent's house) on a bit of land.

[Meriwether]

I can't see us EVER moving! This is the house that dh grew up in and helped build over the years. It's large, rambling, lots of wasted space, a nightmare to heat (and we regularly get to -35) but it is home. As long as we can hang on to the ranch, we're here! Our place is worth a fortune, but of course, only if we sell. And then what would we do with all the animals...

 

Off topic, but my mom says a farmer is the only person that lives poor and dies rich.

 

 

This house is okay. We know we'll be transferred again. Hopefully, the next place will be "forever." I don't like moving.

[littlebug42]

We have been in our house for 10 years and we are more than likely here for the long haul. I do love our home for the most part and our neighborhood although our home loses value every year. By the time we have it paid off, it will probably be worth close to nothing unless our city finds a way to rebound. We do plan to retire elsewhere though.

[BeckyFL]

We've been in our house for 23 years. We bought a lot and had it built. I love my house. We just upgraded our floors, master bath, lower kitchen cabinets and the porch and I LOVE the changes. I do have to say, that even with the great need for replacing 23 year old carpet, porch ceiling falling down, lower cabinets falling about and master bath badly needing repair, I still loved my house before as well. I just love it more now!!!! I love the location, our lot, our neighborhood, and the size is perfect for us.

[Renee in NC]

Oh my gosh I hope not!!!!!

 

The floors will fall in if we stay here much longer.:lol:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

When we bought this house it was with the plan of living in it, remodeling it and moving to our forever house. With the way the housing market is this might end up being our forever house. If that is the case I could see us doing that with a few changes (first being a privacy fence along the back :glare:) Once we get "them" blocked from view we really could love this house! (them= the neighbors who call the cops for EVERY.THING.UNDER.THE.SUN and the cops come over here the conversation is similar to "how our day has been, yes they called again, yes I see everything is still fine, have a nice day") We get a privacy fence, finish the planned remodeling and do some landscaping I could call this our forever home. I LOVE the city we are in (3,000 ppl- 5,000 in the huge county) I love living on the edge of the Black Hills... I love everything about it!!:001_smile:

[Pippen]

I like the town I live in well enough, but I definitely don't live in my dream home. When we made the choice for me to stay home with the kids, I knew whatever we could afford then was going to be our long term home. There's a lot I would change if I had the finances to do so, but we don't and I've learned to be content.

[Perry]

I like my house but don't love it. I tolerate my city but I don't want to stay here forever. I'm hoping to move as soon as the kids leave home.

[lllll]

..

Edited January 2, 2013 by ksva

[LibraryLover]

I don't know. Maybe. I love where I live, but the house could change, and when the children are all out on their own, we most certainly will not be spending the entire The Long Winter here.

[AuntieM]

...when the children are all out on their own, we most certainly will not be spending the entire The Long Winter here.

 

Amen and amen!