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I don't have a picture of it because... I've never seen one -- except in superhero and spy movies, but here it goes...
My husband and I, we want to buy a house. We want a big house, but no more than two bedrooms.
I was thinking we could save money by not buying a house with needless bedrooms and get awesome ... well, get an awesome everything else instead (plus, we wouldn't have to demo half the walls or anything - that would suck). Almost all the new-home-builders' websites I've looked at don't even build houses with less than three rooms -- and the ones that do are tiny, apartment-sized boxes.
Do awesome we-don't-have-kids houses only exist in movies and far off dreams? What do I call this kind of house if it does exist? A studio? A flat?
It can be. If you are not finding what you want from the builders that is pretty much your only option, other than to settle for something that is not really what you want.
You should search "floor plans" and skim what they have... some are pretty nice... and you can buy it cheaper than hiring an architect to design... much cheaper...
If you look around you can do it just as inexpensive as a tract built home.
I sketched out my own plans, found a builder, had his architect draw it up and came in around $52 sq ft.
Unfortunately very few builders have architects that work for "free"... a lot of architects charge based on what the home is "worth"... that's way, way overpriced... very few charge a flat fee... on top of that, you need an interior designer... again some builders have their own that will work for "free".. and they can just as pricey if the house is expensive...
I don't have a picture of it because... I've never seen one -- except in superhero and spy movies, but here it goes...
My husband and I, we want to buy a house. We want a big house, but no more than two bedrooms.
I was thinking we could save money by not buying a house with needless bedrooms and get awesome ... well, get an awesome everything else instead (plus, we wouldn't have to demo half the walls or anything - that would suck). Almost all the new-home-builders' websites I've looked at don't even build houses with less than three rooms -- and the ones that do are tiny, apartment-sized boxes.
Do awesome we-don't-have-kids houses only exist in movies and far off dreams? What do I call this kind of house if it does exist? A studio? A flat?
How big of a house is "big"? To some people 2500 square feet is big and to others at least 5000 square feet is big.
Fewer bedrooms doesn't necessarily mean less money if the rest of the house has substantial square footage. There will be a closer correlation to cost using square footage than number of bedrooms.
What do you mean by "awesome everything else"? Oversized rooms? Upscale marble/hardwoods/granite? Extensive upscale crown molding? Library? Exercise room? Gourmet kitchen with top of the line appliances? Other high quality materials?
There is also much less of a market for two bedroom houses. Unless you plan to live in the house the rest of your life you will have more difficulty selling a two bedroom home than one with three or more bedrooms.
Racelady is probably right about the custom home if you want something different. Or you could just buy a movie set.
What do you want instead of bedrooms Just "nothing" space, or office space, music space, media room, dining room et cetera?
Bedroom == closet --- closet == cheap.
Media room == surround sound, high end video --- EXPENSIVE...
I have seen houses listed as "empty nesters dream" when it has only two main bedroom. Such homes are often ranches, or at least have MBR on first floor.
Unfortunately very few builders have architects that work for "free"... a lot of architects charge based on what the home is "worth"... that's way, way overpriced... very few charge a flat fee... on top of that, you need an interior designer... again some builders have their own that will work for "free".. and they can just as pricey if the house is expensive...
No one mentioned architects working for free, not sure where you got that from. The fee as a percentage of total cost is mostly on commercial jobs where the architect many times has to be on the job site. For a residential home you can usually get a flat fee or hourly dependent upon how much involvement you want from the architect.
What do you need an interior designer for?
Of course you can have one if you want to pay for one but there is no NEED for onr.
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