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Old 01-19-2012, 05:50 AM
 
Location: Vermont
5,439 posts, read 16,831,630 times
Reputation: 2651

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I don't see any problem with a 400 sq ft home for a single person or even a couple.

We live in a 1.5 level condo with about 450 sq. ft on the ground, maybe 650-700 sq. ft total. 2 adults, baby and dog. It would not be so tight except that I work at home.

when I look at homes they are in the 1100-1300 sq ft, 3 bed, 2 bath range. They have gotten real good at squeezing everything you need into smaller spaces. The bedrooms have simply gotten smaller, and the living space larger. Formal dining rooms in many cases no longer exist.
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Old 01-19-2012, 09:09 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest View Post
what is it about people who live in small homes wanting everyone else to downsize? i remember when i was looking for a house, my brother's baby mama came with us to look at one. they live in a tiny apartment in manhattan. the place was "too big" according to her. i think a lot of this desire for OTHER PEOPLE to get smaller homes is based on jealousy.

anyway, my brother is now trying to sell his tiny apartment after about 4 years owning it to get a slightly larger crappy apartment in manhattan. that was supposed to be his apartment for growth.
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Old 01-19-2012, 09:35 AM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,022 posts, read 14,442,452 times
Reputation: 5570
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainNJ View Post
what is it about people who live in small homes wanting everyone else to downsize? i remember when i was looking for a house, my brother's baby mama came with us to look at one. they live in a tiny apartment in manhattan. the place was "too big" according to her. i think a lot of this desire for OTHER PEOPLE to get smaller homes is based on jealousy.

anyway, my brother is now trying to sell his tiny apartment after about 4 years owning it to get a slightly larger crappy apartment in manhattan. that was supposed to be his apartment for growth.
No, no need for everyone to downsize.. it's my personal choice as I simply have better things to spend my hard earned cash on.

I'm a little bothered by many people who constantly complain about not having enough money and not being able to lighten up their budgets despite their best efforts to clip coupons, drive less, eat out less, etc. when they've not done much to lighten up the largest item in their budget: Housing.
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Old 01-19-2012, 10:08 AM
 
Location: NJ
31,771 posts, read 40,580,083 times
Reputation: 24590
Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar View Post
No, no need for everyone to downsize.. it's my personal choice as I simply have better things to spend my hard earned cash on.

I'm a little bothered by many people who constantly complain about not having enough money and not being able to lighten up their budgets despite their best efforts to clip coupons, drive less, eat out less, etc. when they've not done much to lighten up the largest item in their budget: Housing.
i guess i shouldnt have been so general. im sure many people do it for themselves and couldnt care less what others do. id also take issue with someone complaining about their bills while having more home than they can afford.

ive also been getting a lot of this agenda 21 info lately so im particularly sensitive to this stuff.
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Old 01-19-2012, 11:39 AM
 
24,488 posts, read 41,062,294 times
Reputation: 12919
It comes down to personal preference. I don't go around telling people who live in small homes to upsize. I don't tell people who drive a Yaris to upsize.

I love that people like small homes on small land. That leaves more land for the rest of us.
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Old 01-19-2012, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,614 posts, read 21,205,218 times
Reputation: 13664
I could do something like that in the good weather months because I really don't spend that much time indoors. It would have to be a little bigger that the one in the video; I'd need a separate sleeping space for my daughter, and a normal-sized bathroom. I do dig the stainless steel deck plate, though.
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Old 01-19-2012, 01:44 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,660 posts, read 57,778,624 times
Reputation: 46126
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlawrence01 View Post
The REAL determining factor is how close you want to be to your spouse .. all day long.
Quote:
Originally Posted by duster1979 View Post
I could do something like that in the good weather months because I really don't spend that much time indoors. ...
Have a shop / craft room / greenhouse / or garage.

Several of my friends live in REALLY nice small apartments that are tucked inside barns and shops.

I envision a rural community with small houses / 4 plexes and a shared shop / activity building that has guest qtrs and a commercial kitchen with attached greenhouse. Few animals and gardens around, and hopefully someone that is a home-body in the community to watch the joint while some of us are traveling.

We can share the mowing (I hate mowing... HATE mowing... pnw = 6" growth / week).
I will bring my 3 John Deeres and Kubota, so you can use my tractors if you like to mow.!! (I will also bring my car hoist / Bridgeport / Lathes / woodshop / TIG & MIGs, .... and excavator / bulldozer, quilting frames, 3 commercial sewing machines, tillers, ...) let's downsize together!
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Old 01-19-2012, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Keosauqua, Iowa
9,614 posts, read 21,205,218 times
Reputation: 13664
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
Have a shop / craft room / greenhouse / or garage.

Several of my friends live in REALLY nice small apartments that are tucked inside barns and shops.
I hit "submit" before I finished my thought; I was going to say, I could take it a lot better if I had a shop where I could work on my various hobbies. I've given serious consideration to building a gambrel-roofed garage with an upstairs living space.

Quote:
I envision a rural community with small houses / 4 plexes and a shared shop / activity building that has guest qtrs and a commercial kitchen with attached greenhouse. Few animals and gardens around, and hopefully someone that is a home-body in the community to watch the joint while some of us are traveling.

We can share the mowing (I hate mowing... HATE mowing... pnw = 6" growth / week).
I will bring my 3 John Deeres and Kubota, so you can use my tractors if you like to mow.!! (I will also bring my car hoist / Bridgeport / Lathes / woodshop / TIG & MIGs, .... and excavator / bulldozer, quilting frames, 3 commercial sewing machines, tillers, ...) let's downsize together!
Sign me up; I love to mow!
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Old 01-19-2012, 02:02 PM
 
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
4,472 posts, read 17,664,444 times
Reputation: 4095
I clicked the link and at first thought they were children's playhouses! Actually I think I've seen bigger playhouses here in the Valley, I could never live in something that tiny. My current house is a little over 3100 sq ft and I think that's fairly small compared to other properties around me. My first townhome out of college was about 2600 sq ft and I thought that was a bit cramped for being single. I guess I've always enjoyed having space and separate spaces for things (i.e. laundry room, office, living room, formal dining room, etc). I don't like the idea of everything blending together especially in a space that small.

I don't need anything monstrous but I like to have something decently-sized. About the smallest I'd want to go would be around 3000 sq ft, I'd like to have something around 4000 sq ft with large bedrooms, bathrooms, dedicated office/library, etc. I think my current bathroom is bigger than some of those "homes".
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Old 01-21-2012, 12:47 PM
 
18,671 posts, read 33,286,569 times
Reputation: 37088
(Living alone here all my life, so that's the limit of space that I want or need). I lived in studio apartments in the city for many years. One had a perfect layout and use of space, about 400 sq.ft. It would have suited me forever, except it was an apartment with a crazy rent control board and a psychotic guy upstairs and I didn't want to live in the city anymore.
Bought a 750-sq.ft. cottage 35 miles from the city on a wonderful lot. Plenty of space for me, but it was badly built (a hammer and a six-pack on weekends, as they say) and it crumbled/rotted. When I wanted to rebuild, the town gave me so many restrictions and a $30K septic requirement. I now have a 1250 sq.ft. custom house that is gorgeous and more than I could ever want, certainly plenty. I don't use the basement "for storage" because I have nothing to store. I would not have been allowed to put anything much smaller here, no mobile anything, and certainly not a tumbleweed micro.
I also had a lot in a rural area (subdivision at 8500 ft.) in sw Colorado. Not allowed to bring in a small house on wheels and then put it on a real foundation- 'That's an RV". I have seen semi-rural developments in Maine (coastal, true) that require a minimum of 2000 sq.ft.
I think it's quite difficult to find any place near anything where you can put in a tiny house. A friend was hoping to get a Katrina cottage-type house for herself on a relative's property in Florida and that wasn't allowed either.
That said, the 2500 sq.ft. and up houses I've seen on HGTV are ghastly. Absurdly high ceilings (rooms where no one wants to be), lots and lots of walk-through space that isn't really useable or people want to be in, kitchens you can throw a football in. They do tend to be in areas where land is cheaper (the South, Midwest) and not here in eastern Mass.
I think it's very hard to find anyplace that is building new smaller houses (not micros) because the cost is often in the land, not the house, so more house, more profit.
I don't see the post-war small ranches of my parents' days, maybe 1000 sq.ft. with tiny three bedrooms, $10K new in 1950! Most people added onto these houses. Those small ranches in my current town have mostly been added on to and are very nice for living at any size. I don't see this kind of house being built new, though. Are they?
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