What is the longest you have ever lived in a house?

[DawnM]

I get antsy to move often. Part of this stems from growing up overseas and coming back to the States every 4 years for "furlough."

 

As an adult, I moved every few years. Then when we got married we bought 3 different houses and fixed them up and sold them for profit.

 

Now we are in a house that we have lived in for EIGHT YEARS!!!!!!!! To me, that is an eternity.

 

I am ready to sell and move, but with the economy we wont' get all of our investment back for sure.

 

The flaws of this house are really bothering me......too far from every single activity we do, very sloped yard, weird/funky upstairs layout, master down, kitchen cabinets too low, no windows in the basement, and on and on.

 

Now, are those things above anything to get too worked up over? Not really. But I just am sick of this house.

 

How about you?

[Desert Strawberry]

Before moving to Louisiana, the longest I'd lived in one place as an adult was 18 months. 
 

We had our apartment for 4 years, That felt like forever. 

Our plan was to live in this house for 2-4 years and then buy something else. It's been 6 years. We are just starting to look, but it will likely not happen soon. 

I lived in 2 apartments in the same neighborhood until I was 21. 11 years in one, 10 years in the other. But I was antsy to leave the whole time. It was never a good fit for me. But maybe I'm just a wanderer. 

[Chelle in MO]

My dh and I had 10 addresses in the first 10 years we were together, so I can sympathize with you!  We've lived here for 15 yrs now!  For the first few, we kept asking each other why we hadn't moved yet!  But we are raising our kids near family, and that's been so wonderful.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I would move today if I could.

[AngieW in Texas]

We were in the first house that we bought for 9 years. We were in our second house for just 2 years. I hated to leave that one, but the job market completely crashed.

 

We have been in our current (third) house for 9.5 years. We do plan to move in a few years, because my dh has a lot of problems with the stairs and it will be silly to live in a house this large when all the kids are gone. Our youngest is 15yo and will be going off to college in 3 years.

 

Right now, we are planning to wait until our mortgage is paid off to move, which will be in another 9 years (we switched to a 15-year six years ago).

[Amira]

We lived in the house we built for 2 years and 2 months and that is the longest we've ever stayed in one house, so I barely missed choosing the less than two years option. 6-18 months has been more typical for us and we're getting ready for our 20th move in September. I think I will quit counting then because we'll still be moving frequently for a long time. There are good things and bad things about moving often.

 

But I did grow up in the same house. Well, I guess my family moved into it when I was three months old, but my parents are still there. I wouldn't have minded moving as a child, but it was nice to grow up there. Some of my children wish we didn't move so often, but I haven't necessarily found a place where I want to stay for the rest of my life. There's too much out there to see.

[Pawz4me]

We moved when I was 6 and I lived there until I bought my first house at the ripe old age of 22.  I lived there (along with DH, after we got married) for almost 15 years.  Then we moved and lived in that house for about 6 years, and then to this house where we've lived for almost 7 years.  We plan to downsize in a few years, after youngest finishes high school, either to a one-level townhouse or a smallish one-level house with a small yard.  Something low maintenance that will be adaptable if/when one of us becomes physically impaired.  The plan is that home will be where we'll stay and live out our golden years.

[SKL]

I guess my history with homes is fairly stable.  My parents still live in the house they bought in 1979.  :)  I still live in the first house I bought, 18 years ago.

 

I like my house, but I'm starting to entertain the idea of a move, because there isn't enough bedroom space for when the kids get a little older.  We would have to do some sort of addition or remod in order to avoid being cramped.  The thing is, I'm very picky as our house design and location are pretty hard to beat, plus we have no house payment.  I am in no hurry, but I do think that by the time the girls are around 10, they will need more space.  They share a pretty small bedroom at the moment.

[Night Elf]

The house we're living in right now has been the longest time. We've been here 8 years. I don't think we'll move until we're forced to by age related circumstances. Our house has steps that are completely unavoidable. My mom has a hard time navigating them when she visits. I feel at some point when I'm old, I won't be able to carry groceries up all those steps. Then we'll move into a ranch style home, preferably in a retirement community. That could be 15+ years away. Doesn't seem like a long time really.

[gingersmom]

I get the 10 year itch.

 

We just moved to new house ( in new state) and I started discussing my next move.

[chiguirre]

I'd love to move to an apartment on the beach once the kids all move out. I'm not a suburban kind of gal.

[regentrude]

We have been in this hours for about 12 years. I see no point in moving within this town to another house. We'll stay here while we still live and work here. We may move to some nicer location when we retire and there no longer is a need for us to remain in this town that we do not particularly love.

Moving to a different location before retirement would require jobs; the chance of a job in DH's field that is of the same or better level and in a better location is virtually non-existent.

 

I am jealous of my sister who gets to live in the same town as our parents; her daughter gets to hang out at the grandparents all the time. I love the house and city in which I grew up and miss both very much.

[Cinder]

Our current home is the one we've lived in longest--nearly 7 years now. We moved a lot with the military then when dh got out we still ended up moving a lot, mostly due to relocating for work and renting first to get a feel for the area.

 

As a child the longest in one place was about 8 years--it was a small apartment we grew up in. Mom lived in one townhouse for about 15 years but I was already in high school when we moved there so I only lived there 3 years.

 

We do plan to move from this house at some point. We just haven't decided what we're looking for or where we want to look. Dh wants to move to a place with acreage but I like being close to town. And we don't want to move from the area until ds2 graduates from high school. So we'll be here for a few years.

[SproutMamaK]

I lived in one house while growing up, got married and have lived in the same house that we bought when we first got married (we've owned it for 11 1/2 years now). We plan to stay here until the kids are older and on their own. Once they're older and we've retired (a good 30 years away), we'd like to move out into a smaller home in the country, but we have no plans to move until then.

 

The only exception would be if a house came up for slae near where we are now that was no more ezpensive than what we could sell ours for that had a lot of land (a few acres), was in good shape, and had a pool (or a good spot to build one and a low enough price that we could put one in). Unless that happens (not likely!), we're staying put.

[Parrothead]

I'm a military brat.  We moved every 2 years as a child until we landed at my dad's last duty station location.  I was in that house (not continuously) for 8 years.  After that I've moved every 2-4 years. Dh is in government service so we move frequently.  We have been in this house for almost 4 years.  It will be the longest we've been in one house.  We plan to move next spring to a house we are building. That will supposedly be our forever house.

[DawnM]

The biggest issues with this house are (for me)

 

Distance to activities and Dh's work

Upstairs a weird layout.

 

Dh is saying that the cost to move (realtor fees, etc...) would probably be comparable to just remodeling the upstairs a bit. That doesn't solve the first issue, but it would make me possibly want to stay here a bit longer. It will bump out a section of the roofline and add two bedrooms.

 

So, I will be getting a couple of contractors out to give me some quotes.

[My3Munchkins]

We've lived in our house for 11 years.  When we bought it we redid pretty much everything - painted, put in new flooring, remodeled the kitchen and bathrooms, replaced all interior doors and baseboards, etc.  Then we started having children and have done little since then.  Everything we did is now getting outdated and worn.  In addition, our needs have changed.  I would love another bedroom and a bigger yard.  I'm getting antsy for a change! Unfortunately, I don't see a move in the near future.

[Wheres Toto]

As an adult, I graduated high school, went to college in Texas for a year and a half, came back to live with parents for less than a year, moved in with my then-fiance, about 5 years later we bought a house, about 6 years later I left him, lived with parents for 6 months, rented a house for 6 months, shared a house for 9 months, rented an apartment for 6 months, moved in with dh.  So I guess the house we live in now is the longest I've lived anywhere as an adult - 9 years in September.

 

We're still hoping to rebuild so have no plans to move, but don't want to be in this exact house, just on this property.

 

As a child, I think we moved a few times before I was 5, including living with family for a while.  We lived in the same apartment from the time I was 5 until I graduated high school.  Mom and her current husband bought a house while I was away at my first semester of college.

[LostSurprise]

This is the longest I've lived in a house. We've been in our current home since I was pregnant with #2, 13 years. We planned to be here 5-7 years. Even my oldest doesn't remember living anywhere else. 

 

Growing up was the opposite for me. I moved 13x in 18 years. The longest stretch was 5 years in the suburbs of Chicago. 

 

While I'm happy for the boys, its really hard to live in one place this long. For one thing, there's so much stuff after this long!!!! Moving is a natural way to purge. I also miss the adventure of a new place. 

[MyThreeSons]

Growing up: one house from birth to just past one year, then one house until Spring Break of my 3rd grade year, then one house until a couple of years into college, so 13 years there.

 

As an adult: a few short-term living situations over several years; we bought a house when we got married and lived in it for just short of 11 years; bought this house when we moved here 15 years ago.

 

This house has been a huge blessing to us over the years, as we have been able to use the guest apartment for numerous missions and other service opportunities. However, with two sons now living in other states, and dh's illness progressing, we won't be able to stay here much longer. We are looking to move within the next year or two.

 

I keep hoping that the group that seems bent on developing the many wooded acres next door to us will make us an offer. They could put several additional homes on our 4.5 acres, and we wouldn't have to go through all the hassle of getting this place ready to sell, show, etc.

[Guest]

As a child, I lived in the same house for about 8 years. My parents kept that house, but purchased a larger house where we had horse property and added kids. Once my brother and I moved out and my parents had two kids again, they sold the big house and moved back to the little house that I grew up in. So, even though I only lived there for 8 years, they've owned it for 26 years. It's fun to visit them in that house.

 

My dh and I have lived in multiple places, I think 3 years was the max. We have had 4 of those places sold out from under us, though; it's not like we like to move. We just bought our first house this last year and I had plans of never moving again. I have heard dh mention a few times "our next house", so I am sure that sometime in the undetermined future we will move again, but after 7 moves in 12 years, I am not looking forward to it again anytime soon!

[Venia]

The main reason we moved so often early in our marriage is because we rented. Rising rental rates, bad neighbors, maintenance issues piling up, etc. Now that we own a house, we plan to stay for 10 years or more.

[Ottakee]

We plan on staying in this home long term.

 

We lived in our previous home for almost 18 years when we were forced out by a highway project that took out our little horse farm and the next door neighbor and the guy behind us with 40+ acres.  I LOVE our new house so much more than the previous one.  It is just set up very well for living long term with 3 special needs teens/young adults (who may live with us long term) and doing foster care.  We still really miss our old neighbors and the added horse pasture, etc. we had though.

[Lara in Colo]

I moved a lot as a child.  I never lived in a house longer than three years until I bought my own place at 20.  We have lived in this house for 10.5 years and I would actually like to move.  If we had the money I would.-------maybe-------- I really like my neighbors.

[BigMamaBird]

I lived in my childhood home till I was 21.  We lived in a trailer (blech!) for 9 years.   And I'll be carted out of our current home feet first, we're never leaving (God willing and the creek don't rise).

[Jeannie in NJ]

when I was a child, we moved all the time, the longest I remember being in the same house was maybe 3 to 4 years.  When I married dh, we lived at first in his tiny condo but then knowing we wanted children right away, we bought our current house.  We have been here 20 years and have had it on the market for 2 years.  I really want a large wooded lot with no neighbors behind us and other neighbors much further away than the 6 ft that we get here at the shore.

[PrincessMommy]

I get antsy to move often. Part of this stems from growing up overseas and coming back to the States every 4 years for "furlough."

 

As an adult, I moved every few years. Then when we got married we bought 3 different houses and fixed them up and sold them for profit.

 

Now we are in a house that we have lived in for EIGHT YEARS!!!!!!!! To me, that is an eternity.

 

I am ready to sell and move, but with the economy we wont' get all of our investment back for sure.

 

The flaws of this house are really bothering me......too far from every single activity we do, very sloped yard, weird/funky upstairs layout, master down, kitchen cabinets too low, no windows in the basement, and on and on.

 

Now, are those things above anything to get too worked up over? Not really. But I just am sick of this house.

 

How about you?

 

Honestly, I wouldn't move if you're going to lose money.  That alone is enough to keep me where I am if other things are only hassles and not real big issues (like difficult/violent neighbors or something).  The other issue is the kids.  Do they have friends where you are?   Then I wouldn't mess with that.

 

I need to go vote but to answer the questions:  We lived in our previous house for 19yrs.  It was the hardest move I've ever done.  I'm still dealing with the depression and regret... but that's another story.

 

I lived in my childhood home my whole life... moved out when I was 18 or so.

 

We plan to live here for 5-10yrs.  Sooner if our youngest is ready, but otherwise we'll wait until he's in college.    We love the new house and the general area, but I really dislike the neighborhood.    I miss our old neighbors too - but I know we'll never get that back.

[LucyStoner]

As a child I moved every year and half or less.

 

As an adult we lived in our last place for 6 years. We will be where we are now for a few years or so. With our next move, I hope it is a semi-permanent thing.

[PrincessMommy]

The biggest issues with this house are (for me)

 

Distance to activities and Dh's work

Upstairs a weird layout.

 

Dh is saying that the cost to move (realtor fees, etc...) would probably be comparable to just remodeling the upstairs a bit. That doesn't solve the first issue, but it would make me possibly want to stay here a bit longer. It will bump out a section of the roofline and add two bedrooms.

 

So, I will be getting a couple of contractors out to give me some quotes.

 

This is a great idea.   We toyed with similar things with our old house (hated the house, loved the neighborhood), but didn't pursue it seriously.  Now I wish I had.  With all the money we spent (we bought up) I could have probably made our old house much improved (and filled in that awful pool!) for a fraction of what the move cost.

 

But ,yeah, distance was another issue at our old house too.

[Dory]

My family moved every two years until I was 11. Then I moved away from home at 19. After marriage, we moved 3 times in the first 3 years. Now we have been in the same place for 7 1/2 years.

[twoxcell]

I lived in the same house for my entire childhood until I got married and moved out at 18. My dh and I have been in the same house since we got married 11 years ago. We are hoping to be able to sell and move next spring because we need another bedroom. I guess I am not very adventurous. ;)

[Hoot]

I couldn't even begin to tell you about my childhood homes.  I honestly can't remember much of my childhood so I don't remember how long we stayed in each place. 

 

As an adult DH and I have lived in the same home since we got married 15 yrs. ago.  Our house is 100% paid for and we have no plans to ever move.  This will likely be the only childhood home DS14 ever knows.  I love that.

[MissKNG]

My parents have lived in the same house for over 45ish years.

[TammyinTN]

We lived in our college apartment for 7 years.  

[Mergath]

I lived in the same house growing up until I left home.  After that, I moved every year or two.  Dh and I moved into our current duplex when I was pregnant with dd, and we've lived here for going on six years now.  We'd love to be able to have a small garden though, so we're planning to move into a small house out in the country sometime in the next year or so.

 

I like moving, to be honest.  I don't feel the need to move every year or anything like that, but I think I'd go a little crazy living in the same house my entire life.  I'm kind of sad that we'll probably end up living here at least until dh retires.  He has a great job that pays decently and offers a lot of room to move up in the company, so we're never, ever moving out of this town.  So much for my dreams of the three of us bumming around Europe, lol. :P

[Ellie]

I lived with my maternal grandparents until I was 11. For reasons never explained to me, we moved every couple of years, always within a fairly small radius.

 

When I was 11, I went to live with my mother and step-father, who was in the Navy. Two years in Texas, a couple in Norfolk, 10 months in Charleston,  six months in San Diego (long story on why I was only there for six months).

 

For the first, oh, seven or eight years after Mr. Ellie and I were married, I would get itchy feet every couple of years, especially since we moved four times the first four years we were married (and that included buying our first and second homes). I think I'm over it now, lol.

[swellmomma]

As a child I lived in once house until I was 7, the next until I was 16 and the last until I was 18 and moved out, my parents still live in that house.  As an adult, initially with my husband we moved yearly.  Since becoming a since parent we lived in an apt for 1 year, the next house for 8 years, and now this one for 2 years.  I anticipate living in this house long term.  While it is not ideal due to bullying with the oldest, and difficulty in finding work in a tiny town, the fact is the house was very cheap, the town is starting to grow again and the kids will become adults and move out.  The thought that I could own my house outright, and be mortgage free by the time my youngest moves out is a very good reason to stay here.

 

[Dav]

I really, really dislike moving. I lived in the same house until I was 21, then traveled and moved every few months for 6 years. I left most of my belongings at my parents' house and considered that "home" until I got married. Dh and I have had three homes together - a small apartment, a tiny house and our current 5-bedroom home, where we've lived since 2000. 

[DawnM]

Honestly, I wouldn't move if you're going to lose money.  That alone is enough to keep me where I am if other things are only hassles and not real big issues (like difficult/violent neighbors or something).  The other issue is the kids.  Do they have friends where you are?   Then I wouldn't mess with that.

No, ALL of our friends live at least 12-15 miles away, some further. That is the area I want to move to! ALL our friends, activities, scouts, church, homeschool coop, etc....are ALL up in that area.

 

 

 

I need to go vote but to answer the questions:  We lived in our previous house for 19yrs.  It was the hardest move I've ever done.  I'm still dealing with the depression and regret... but that's another story.

 

I lived in my childhood home my whole life... moved out when I was 18 or so.

 

We plan to live here for 5-10yrs.  Sooner if our youngest is ready, but otherwise we'll wait until he's in college.    We love the new house and the general area, but I really dislike the neighborhood.    I miss our old neighbors too - but I know we'll never get that back.

Sorry.....I do admit I sometimes regret even agreeing to move across the country.

[PrincessMommy]

No, ALL of our friends live at least 12-15 miles away, some further. That is the area I want to move to! ALL our friends, activities, scouts, church, homeschool coop, etc....are ALL up in that area.

 

 

 

 

Sorry.....I do admit I sometimes regret even agreeing to move across the country.

 

See, that is a great reason to move, IMHO.  But, it think it would have to be balanced by the financial loss/gain too.

[laughing lioness]

moved every couple of years as a kid. We've been in our current house 10 yrs in Sept if you dont' count the 11 mths out of house from the fire. Getting ready to sell. Anyone want an amazing house on 10 acres?

[AHASRADA]

I lived in 3 houses growing up, all within a few miles of each other (same schools): birth to age 4, 4-12, and 12-adulthood (my parents still live in that house).

 

As an adult, we lived in every apartment, house or condo for 2 1/2 years or less. Sometimes planned, usually not. The houses we bought we intended to live in for at least 5 years, but something always came up that we either had to move or it was advantageous to sell.

 

Our current home (rented) is the one we have lived in the longest, almost 6 years, although we intended it to be temporary. I never did put up curtains (only blinds), because I didn't want to invest in decorating (like I did in all the other houses) if we would be moving soon.

 

We all agree this is our least-favorite house, and our favorite was where we only lived for 6 months.

[RebeccaS]

I grew up in an old farm house.  My parents sold that and built a new house when I was 14.  As an adult, I moved 6 times in about 2 years due to lots of factors.  Once dh had a job (he lost his about a year after we got married) we bought our current house.  I adore it.  I would love to move somewhere else (Ohio is so boring) but I just love my house so much that it makes me sad to think about leaving it.  It's an old as dirt, built in 1819, hand hewn log home.  If I could just move my house, I'd gladly go somewhere else.  Dh says I'll have to cart him out of this house in a pine box.  And, even if we did want to move, what we paid for our house, plus all the major improvements means we'd never recoup what we've put into it.  

[PeacefulChaos]

I get antsy to move often. Part of this stems from growing up overseas and coming back to the States every 4 years for "furlough."

 

As an adult, I moved every few years. Then when we got married we bought 3 different houses and fixed them up and sold them for profit.

 

Now we are in a house that we have lived in for EIGHT YEARS!!!!!!!! To me, that is an eternity.

 

I am ready to sell and move, but with the economy we wont' get all of our investment back for sure.

 

The flaws of this house are really bothering me......too far from every single activity we do, very sloped yard, weird/funky upstairs layout, master down, kitchen cabinets too low, no windows in the basement, and on and on.

 

Now, are those things above anything to get too worked up over? Not really. But I just am sick of this house.

 

How about you?

 

The longest I lived anywhere was from age 9 til I got married (18).  I guess I ended up marking that wrong... oops.  I put 10-15 and it should have been 9 years.  Anyway...

I'm sure it affects the poll since DH and I are 33 and 30, respectively.  We lived in a little apartment for 9 months, then moved halfway across the country (which is what I did at age 9) to live in a small apartment/shared living space for 2.5 years.  We rented a horrid little house (not.even.kidding. :lol: ) for a little over 4 years and have been renting our current (much nicer!) house since January of 2009.

More than feeling like I want to switch houses, I want to go SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!  I think part of it is the fact that I've always moved every 9-10 years or so, so in my head 'it's time!'  As far as the house goes, there are things that I wish were different but they aren't aggravating me...yet.  ;)

As far as our next move?  HAHAHA.... no idea.  :p  Part of me wants to say we'll move in the next year.  But I'm sure we'll move in the next few.  The big question is, whether that move will be local or not... :)

[Erin]

The house I grew up in, my folks bought when I was 14 months old.  They still own it.  I love that my kids have had the chance to know and love the same house I knew and loved.  

My husband's folks ranched (they were the hired help), so they moved every 3-5 years.  They now own a single wide trailer house that they bought three years ago.  It's the first home they ever owned.  

 

In the 20 years Trap and I have been together, we've moved a dozen times.  We, too, were the hired help for many years.  The longest we lived anywhere was 6 years.  We don't live in the same house, but unlike previous moves, we're remained in the same community. 

 

We plan to stay in our current home forever.  Or rather, we plan to stay in the house we've been building, forever.  This was entirely too much work to just move on...   Besides, I designed it to be elder-friendly, so it should be adaptable as we need.  

[Joker]

We moved about every 5-6 years growing up because housing came with my dad's job. So, when he would be offered or find something better we had to move.

 

We've been in our current home for 6 years and think we might move when both dds are grown and out on their own. So, we'd be here for about another 7 years.

[LibraryLover]

10 years.

[Loowit]

When I was a baby my parents moved a couple times, but when I was three they moved to their current home.  I lived there until I got married when I was 23.  After I got married we moved a couple times to different apartments, but finally found a rental that we stayed in for 5 years until we outgrew it.  We moved to our current home and have lived here for almost 11 years now.  I never planned to move from here, but DH got a job out of the area so we are fixing up the house to sell.  Hopefully we can find something nice but I will not want to stay in that area forever.  I will want to move back "home" if DH can find a job closer or after he retires.  I hate moving.

[Sparkle]

The house I am in now is the longest time I've ever lived in one - 13 years. I imagine DH and I will stay here until he retires, then I am hoping to move to a smaller town - not too far away. That would be my ideal.

[Farrar]

Wow.  That made me realize that I've lived in this house much longer than I lived in any house as a child.  I'd be curious to see the results correlated.  Like, do people who moved a lot as children also move a lot or are they more settled?  Did people who were settled as a child also become settled as adults or do they move more?