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As they say, the three most important things are location, location, location. Mortgage or no mortgage, for me, that location would not be in a rural area.
We were suburbia type folks but the only way we could afford to retire was to move to BFE. So we moved out of 4000+ sq ft in suburban Staten Island into 750 sq ft on 4 acres in BFE Southwest TN. There's more rural areas around us, but we are as rural as I could tolerate. We bought and rented it out for 3 years, 4 years ago we moved in. And with doubling up on mortgage payments during the renting years, we were able to throw a lump sum at it this year and it's now paid off.
We are still making improvements and expanding. In fact, we're in the middle of enclosing the carport into a room. With 4 cats and 2 very large dogs, there's just not enough room inside. The kitchen is next on the list and we are already looking at a project for a covered area on the deck (deck is 1200 sq ft).
I like not having a mortgage, although we just bought a new car and so still have a monthly payment besides the utilities (but no interest!). It gives us peace of mind to know that no matter what happens to either of us, the other will not need to move and there's no worry about paying a mortgage on half the income.
The former, if I could add on and build some decent outbuildings. And as long as there was decent cable, Internet and the area was within 20 miles of a nice town.
I would pick the 900 sq ft mortgage free home, 896 what an odd number.
In 900 square feet you can have an open kitchen dining living area, 1.5 baths, a master bedroom, 2 smaller bedrooms and a laundry area.
I would want to know how rural it was, I don't want to be an hour from a supermarket. where i live now is near Fort Myers and there are rural areas within 10 miles of me. I met a lady recently who owns a small 5 acre farm in the same town I live in and she rides her horse every morning.
Given that many homeowners feel put upon when they need to mow 0.2 acres of lawn once a week, I'd say they would never be good caretakers of 5 acres.
Answering your question might depend on location. A tiny rural home in a mild climate might be fine, but where people and pets are housebound due to snow or humidity for many months of the year it might be too small for comfort.
900 sq ft is too small. We have lived in an 1800 sq ft home and a 3000 sq ft home, and we now know that the perfect size for us would be right in the middle - about 2400 sq ft. However, we plan on retiring in place in the house we have now, which is in a great neighborhood in a great town in a great metro area with a great cost of living. Besides, I hope to have several grandchildren invading my 3000 sq ft home in 10-15 years! And the mortgage will be paid off by then, too.
Interesting points! Thanks for your feedback! And to answer a previous question, like I said, it is possible to expand. I actually found an example of someone living in a tiny 500-something square foot house, and they really made it work for them. The video is made by old people but honestly out of all the tiny home designs I've seen, I really like their's the best. It's really cozy and I wouldn't mind using their design as an example. Anything is possible!
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