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I'm going to be the odd duck.
Maybe I'll regret it, but I bought a 5200 sq ft 2 story home at age 60 and single.
It's my first house and a bit of a trophy house.
It made sense in that my housing cost was 1975 a month when I rented. It's now 2775 a month.
With tax deductions it comes down to 2184. So it's 200 a month more to live in a much nicer and larger house.
The Kicker for me is the walk out basement is a 1200 sq foot in law unit I get 950 a month for.
So my housing drops to about 1200 a month which is much less than renting was. I'm in a better neighborhood with better schools so I hope there is also appreciation.
Only time will tell if it was the right move. If it came down to it , I could rent the house and live in the in law unit with no stairs and the rent for the house for about 2600 and then housing would be only about 175 a month.
Genuine curiosity, but what do you do with all that space? I'm in 1800 sq ft with a 13 year old boy and for the two of us, it's more than enough room - meaning there is at least one room too many that we could do without based on the limited use it gets. I'm glad to have it though, because it will definitely help resale - if I had a husband, I'm sure that we'd want that extra space. Or I might even feel that this wasn't quite enough room for a family of 3 or 4.
But I honestly can't imagine 5000+ square feet and how I would ever use all that space, never mind furnishing, cleaning, heating and air conditioning it.
Genuine curiosity, but what do you do with all that space? I'm in 1800 sq ft with a 13 year old boy and for the two of us, it's more than enough room - meaning there is at least one room too many that we could do without based on the limited use it gets. I'm glad to have it though, because it will definitely help resale - if I had a husband, I'm sure that we'd want that extra space. Or I might even feel that this wasn't quite enough room for a family of 3 or 4.
But I honestly can't imagine 5000+ square feet and how I would ever use all that space, never mind furnishing, cleaning, heating and air conditioning it.
I concur. I am currently renting a 300 square foot place that I am quite comfortable in. All I need is a nicely appointed one bedroom. However, two is the goal.
A small space is really easy to clean and maintain.
I cannot wait until I am in the position to go house hunting. It will be very interesting.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,280 posts, read 8,435,178 times
Reputation: 16493
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74
Genuine curiosity, but what do you do with all that space? I'm in 1800 sq ft with a 13 year old boy and for the two of us, it's more than enough room - meaning there is at least one room too many that we could do without based on the limited use it gets. I'm glad to have it though, because it will definitely help resale - if I had a husband, I'm sure that we'd want that extra space. Or I might even feel that this wasn't quite enough room for a family of 3 or 4.
But I honestly can't imagine 5000+ square feet and how I would ever use all that space, never mind furnishing, cleaning, heating and air conditioning it.
I really only have 4000 ft of it as I rent out the basement. Really it doesn't seem as large as I thought it would feel. My rental house was 1600 sq ft and I was content with that, but I did want some upgrades as far as finish and a lot of the smaller homes around here don't have that. To get those you pay to have them put in but when it come to resale you won't get it back. If I bought a house for $300K which is what my old rental is up for sale now for and put in $50k for a kitchen, windows, siding, landscaping, etc the house is still only worth about $315K as that is what they go for in that size range.
I don't use a bathtub and really wanted a nice walk in shower and a small house won't accomodate that. I also like a 3 car garage and the smaller houses don't have that usually
Also the smaller house probably won't have a basement I can rent out. I always wanted a basement I could be happy living in in case I want to go cheap and rent out the house. Some smaller houses have basement you can live in, but many have 7.5 ft ceilings. Mine has 9 ft ceilings in the basement.
In the past I owned a photography studio but I wound up owning enough rentals where I could retire.The bigger house allows me to still dabble in portraits as it's big enough for a shooting space and office and production room.
It really made more sense to buy the larger house and with the renter it's less than what I paid to rent a 1600 sq ft house. Yes, utilities are more, but in my previous post I already factored those into the housing cost and it's still less.
If I ever decide to just travel full time, I can rent out the house and live in the 1200 sq ft in law unit for virtually free.
The neighborhood is all bigger houses and is more upscale affluent. The schools are also better here too. No kids, but good for resale.
Only time will tell if I made the right choice. I do like all the space and you quickly get used to it.
I really only have 4000 ft of it as I rent out the basement. Really it doesn't seem as large as I thought it would feel. My rental house was 1600 sq ft and I was content with that, but I did want some upgrades as far as finish and a lot of the smaller homes around here don't have that. To get those you pay to have them put in but when it come to resale you won't get it back. If I bought a house for $300K which is what my old rental is up for sale now for and put in $50k for a kitchen, windows, siding, landscaping, etc the house is still only worth about $315K as that is what they go for in that size range.
I don't use a bathtub and really wanted a nice walk in shower and a small house won't accomodate that. I also like a 3 car garage and the smaller houses don't have that usually
Also the smaller house probably won't have a basement I can rent out. I always wanted a basement I could be happy living in in case I want to go cheap and rent out the house. Some smaller houses have basement you can live in, but many have 7.5 ft ceilings. Mine has 9 ft ceilings in the basement.
In the past I owned a photography studio but I wound up owning enough rentals where I could retire.The bigger house allows me to still dabble in portraits as it's big enough for a shooting space and office and production room.
It really made more sense to buy the larger house and with the renter it's less than what I paid to rent a 1600 sq ft house. Yes, utilities are more, but in my previous post I already factored those into the housing cost and it's still less.
If I ever decide to just travel full time, I can rent out the house and live in the 1200 sq ft in law unit for virtually free.
The neighborhood is all bigger houses and is more upscale affluent. The schools are also better here too. No kids, but good for resale.
Only time will tell if I made the right choice. I do like all the space and you quickly get used to it.
Interestingly, many of these apply to my 1800 sq ft home - the master bath is fairly small so I went with a larger shower with beautiful tile and a frameless glass door, nice sized linen closet and no tub which would have been wasted space as far as I was concerned. My basement isn't a walkout but does have 9 foot ceilings (they will be lower if I ever finish the basement but still 8 ft, so quite comfortable to be in). This was new construction so I got to choose the finishes and put in many nicer features. I'm in a fairly upscale area as well with great schools which was a major reason I bought here, since I have a kid in school. So I could go pretty much as crazy as I wanted in terms of options and finishes (which wasn't all that crazy) and not over do for the area.
But things like the photography space obviously uses up a lot more room than I could ever need, so thanks for that explanation. It sounds like you really love and enjoy your home and that's the important thing.
I love and enjoy my home as well, and within reality/budget constraints, it's closer to living in my dream home than I ever imagined I'd get to do. It's an amazing feeling to come home to that every night!
What you buy at this stage of your life really depends on how long you plan on living there. Do you plan on moving once you retire? Or are you looking for a house you can retire and age into? Bear in mind that your way of thinking may also change as you get older. We had a nice large two story home that we bought in our middle years. At one point I thought we would retire there. As we got closer to retirement age we decided to move out of state and go with a smaller ranch style house. Then we decided to move back home, but again, we went with a smaller ranch style house. Right now we snowbird, but we can age into either home.
If you plan on moving when you retire, buy whatever suits you now, with the idea that it fits in the neighborhood and can be easily sold when you're ready to move on. If you plan on staying into retirement, buy something you can age into.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,280 posts, read 8,435,178 times
Reputation: 16493
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74
Interestingly, many of these apply to my 1800 sq ft home - the master bath is fairly small so I went with a larger shower with beautiful tile and a frameless glass door, nice sized linen closet and no tub which would have been wasted space as far as I was concerned. My basement isn't a walkout but does have 9 foot ceilings (they will be lower if I ever finish the basement but still 8 ft, so quite comfortable to be in). This was new construction so I got to choose the finishes and put in many nicer features. I'm in a fairly upscale area as well with great schools which was a major reason I bought here, since I have a kid in school. So I could go pretty much as crazy as I wanted in terms of options and finishes (which wasn't all that crazy) and not over do for the area.
But things like the photography space obviously uses up a lot more room than I could ever need, so thanks for that explanation. It sounds like you really love and enjoy your home and that's the important thing.
I love and enjoy my home as well, and within reality/budget constraints, it's closer to living in my dream home than I ever imagined I'd get to do. It's an amazing feeling to come home to that every night!
Out here they really don't do new construction in a home that small so some of those nice features you were able to get weren't available unless you buy an older home and renovate which you won't get you money back out of.
Now back in California where I'm from housing is so expensive you could buy an older home, renovate with nice features, and it's worth it. My sister lives in a 1000 sq ft 2/1 home that has nicer amenities than me. It was built in 1958 and is worth just under a million. Buyers there value the upgrades more.
I had really thought of staying and buying the rental home I was at, but running the numbers for the renovation it just didn't make sense knocking out walls and moving things around. I do miss that house and neighborhood.
Like a lot of people stairs are a concern so one feature I liked was having an extra bedroom and full bath on the main floor so if stairs get to be a pain I'll use that one. The realtor called it an "au paire" bedroom. I thought it was funny because I thought if some one could afford that, they would be buying a nicer house than mine
I am interested in the type of properties single middle aged people without children buy.
Please list age.
Type of property:
Why did you choose this type of property?
What is more important? Space or Commute to Work?
Price. Did you stretch your budget to get in to your desired property?
Age: 62
Type of property: Single family house, center hall colonial
Why chosen: Great neighborhood, completely updated, great flow for entertaining without being "open floor plan." I fell in love with it from the photos and put in an offer before I even flew down to look at it.
What is more important? Space, because I was telecommuting.
Did I stretch my budget? No. I moved from a higher cost area.
Previous home (purchased with husband who is now deceased):
Age: 40
Type of property: Single family house, Cape Cod
Why chosen: Good neighborhood, good price, bedrooms on both floors so husband could be on different floor from my mother when she came to visit.
What more important: Commute to work
Price: It was at the top end of our budget. It still needed a LOT of updates and they weren't all done until I was ready to sell 20 years later.
I am interested in the type of properties single middle aged people without children buy.
Please list age.
Type of property:
Why did you choose this type of property?
What is more important? Space or Commute to Work?
Price. Did you stretch your budget to get in to your desired property?
I am currently sixty-six. I bought my house thirteen years ago as a single middle-aged woman whose grown children live elsewhere.
It is a single-family home of about 1800 sq ft with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a two-car garage, a bonus room over the garage on one-third acre. It was new at the time of purchase. I did not have to choose between space or time commuting. I don’t know which would have been more important if I had been forced to have made a choice. I chose it because it was semi-rural and because it is mostly all one floor. I do not need to use the bonus room if stairs become too much.
I did not stretch my budget to buy a house. I always have bought houses that were approximately one year’s wages (or less).
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