!!What is with the HUGE required size of new houses in Texas!! (New Braunfels: apartment, HOA)

[jetakai]

I am a little old lady, getting older before I retire. I want to buy a piece of property in Texas., Thank you to all the folks who recommended the New Braunfels area. It looks wonderful. I have a driving trip next year with my mom and brother to go do a look see.

Now the rub. My little house plans for myself, is a small octagon, 12 foot walls, makes the house a little under 700 sf. Beautiful rock walkways and a 360 degree porch.

Every CCR I have looked at, requires house foot prints to be 2200 sf, some 2300 (Vintage Oaks) and 2700 for some of the gated communities.

My question...WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO CLEAN IT.

I don't want to spend my golden years cleaning a house that big! I live in a 1000 sf house now, and I closed the doors to part of it. I just need a kitchen, living room, a bay window for my little plants, and my bedroom and bathroom. I take things out and put them away. I sure don't need a room that's a sutdy, and one a media room (I looked at some of the house plans...there are rooms I don't even know what they are for). And hallways....hallways are a wasted space...you can't do anything with them, why would I want five hallways in one house. That's a whole room by itself.

And I tried looking for small subdivisions on google, that produced nothing. I want about an acre of land where I can put my little house and just putter around. Why the heck do Texans need such big houses...is it for the belt buckles?

PS: anyone who knows a subdivision around New Braunfels without such huge required sf for the house, I would love to hear about it. Thank you.

[HtownLove]

Texans have taken up hoarding nowadays. Its a big fad.

To keep up appearances we need huge houses to disperse the hoard and make our craziness less apparent

[SVTRay]

This is Texas, buy a piece of land and build the house to your likings? I'm guessing a lot of those size requirements from HOA/Sub-Divisions are designed for families. Our old house was 2700 livable space and it got real small once our son was born.

[verybadgnome]

And cleaning that extra space isn't the end of it. Maintenance will be more as will A/C and heating. Of course this being Texas you will also get ripped with possibly thousands in extra property taxes.

It was in the news lately that many electricity providers in Texas couldn't keep up with demand for A/C during these hot days. We can all thank the builders and developers who mandate minimum home sizes for doing their part to not only waste energy but also in the longer term require the building of more power plants which brings about increased costs and pollution.

[JayBrown80]

I feel your pain. There is a small house movement happening in the country right now, but unfortunately it is still in it's infacy. It just seems that people are CONVINCED that they need 1200 sq ft of living space PER PERSON in their house, I don't know why. There are a lot of studies on the subject, that are pretty interesting reads. The American attitude towards living space is strange to me, especially in Texas. I mean, look at the posters in this thread...a 2700 sq ft house is "small" for 3 people, one of them being an infant?

I have been in the same boat with you, and I can tell you that you will not be able to find a housing community or an HOA that allows reasonable sized houses. They are afraid small houses will pull down the property vaule of the other mcmansions in the area. The best thing you can do is 1) buy some acreage that is not part of an HOA and build whatever you want, or 2) find an older home you are willing to fix up, they typically come smaller.

There are pros and cons both ways, but I have spent 5 years trying to find lots in communities that allow reasonable sized houses, and they are few and far between. I am just trying to save you the trouble.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

. I mean, look at the posters in this thread...a 2700 sq ft house is "small" for 3 people, one of them being an infant?

I need room for my hobbies

Anyhow, no one is forcing anyone to own a large home. Sure fancy sub-divisions may require X amount of square feet among other things but it's not a state law...at least in Texas anyways. Heck, my mother lives in a 1300 sqft home for the same above mentioned reasons...she's actually thinking about selling it and getting a small apartment. I've also seen people buy a single acre of land and live in an old school bus or pop up camper.

As for larger homes, it's their money to do with as they please and they create jobs. We got a new sub-division popping up behind our place back home right now and they've been working on a single house well over a year now. The place is giant but it's only got two occupants! Do I care, nope. These two people has created jobs for a small work force going on two years...possibly three years.

[neddy]

I doubt you are going to be able to find a small house on land in a subdivision around NB. You might find a smaller home (older) in town but not on "land" you should get a realtor and ask. Plan for it to be somewhat pricey if to the west of town.

[joqua]

There's nothing to prevent a person from acquiring a building site that's NOT in a development and building to their own design. Might mean living outside town/city limits though, depending on strictness of building codes.

Developers and developments that allow individuality are going to be hard to find, as has already been pointed out.

And...

Anyone wanting to do their own thing on property they own is still going to have problems unless they buy property somewhere that building codes are non-existent, or not enforced.

As for smaller homes generally, there are plenty of so-called "patio home" developments around the state. Along with condos and town houses that are generally smaller in sq footage.

[Pontificator]

Originally Posted by jetakai

I am a little old lady, getting older before I retire. I want to buy a piece of property in Texas., Thank you to all the folks who recommended the New Braunfels area. It looks wonderful. I have a driving trip next year with my mom and brother to go do a look see.

Now the rub. My little house plans for myself, is a small octagon, 12 foot walls, makes the house a little under 700 sf. Beautiful rock walkways and a 360 degree porch.

Every CCR I have looked at, requires house foot prints to be 2200 sf, some 2300 (Vintage Oaks) and 2700 for some of the gated communities.

My question...WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO CLEAN IT.

I don't want to spend my golden years cleaning a house that big! I live in a 1000 sf house now, and I closed the doors to part of it. I just need a kitchen, living room, a bay window for my little plants, and my bedroom and bathroom. I take things out and put them away. I sure don't need a room that's a sutdy, and one a media room (I looked at some of the house plans...there are rooms I don't even know what they are for). And hallways....hallways are a wasted space...you can't do anything with them, why would I want five hallways in one house. That's a whole room by itself.

And I tried looking for small subdivisions on google, that produced nothing. I want about an acre of land where I can put my little house and just putter around. Why the heck do Texans need such big houses...is it for the belt buckles?

PS: anyone who knows a subdivision around New Braunfels without such huge required sf for the house, I would love to hear about it. Thank you.

I think you'd make a great neighbor, and I hope you find your spot! Your quest sounds not unlike my own in the next few years. Smaller, smaller, smaller..........but fabulous!

[ETex2]

Credence Clearwater Revival is into building houses now?