Any regrets buying a big house? (Howe, Point: apartment, lenders, neighborhood)

[apchar]

The utility bills and property taxes are a concern. Not so worried about the insurance. I've been feeding potential addresses from a realty website into my insurance company rate finder and it looks like the size of the house is not nearly as important as the age and Heaven help you if you have a pool. Rates for comparably sized houses were from $100 to $230 / month. Property taxes vary from $6k to $10k / year for a big house depending on where you live.

[MurphyPl1]

Originally Posted by Rakin

You'll love your $600 a month electric bill and huge maintenance costs.

I'd recommend you stay under 3200 sq ft. (or about)

Who has that high of electric bills? I've got an open floor plan 3650sf home and our bill has never been close to that. Actually it's never been over $400.

[sossie]

If you have a newer house the utility bills won't be too shocking..we have 5300 sq ft electricity with pool and 3 a/c units max and a family of 6 highest monthly bill was $398..gas was around $170 for the coldest winter month here in north TX-we run a fireplace too (no real heating benefit but it looks pretty) Previously We had a 3000 sq ft 100 yr old house in a cold climate and our utility bills were outrageous 12 mths of the year.
5300 sq ft is even large for us but I like our lot so I'm not going to move for a long while-besides it keeps the teens from bickering. Depending on the layout you may find 1800-2000 sq ft a good size. I have found that there is a lot of wasted space in our house…huge dining room that rarely gets used and 99% of the time it is the kitchen/greatroom/dining nook that we spend all the time in. If it were me on my own I would live in a nice part of the city-close to my work and buy a loft (with parking) and just divide the space how I wanted it…But alas it's not! Also try and buy as close to work as possible so you can enjoy that house! My husbands commute takes less than 10 minutes so he gets to enjoy his house

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

Who has that high of electric bills? I've got an open floor plan 3650sf home and our bill has never been close to that. Actually it's never been over $400.

I've had $600-700 electric bills in the summer with a 10 year old 4800 sqft home with a pool.
And that's with no kids at home.

But electric rates back in 2006-7 were a lot higher.

[aexchange]

My wife and I downsized from 3600 sq ft to 2800 sq ft. Wasn't due to concerns about not using the space as it was just coming to grips with what we actually needed and used versus trying to keep up with the Joneses.

[arizcats13]

It really depends on when the house was built. There is going to be a big difference between a large home built in 1999 and one built in 2009.

Our electric bill on our 1990 1800 sq ft starter home was the same as our current bill on a recently built 4000 sq ft home.

[BStinson]

Originally Posted by arizcats13

It really depends on when the house was built. There is going to be a big difference between a large home built in 1999 and one built in 2009.

Our electric bill on our 1990 1800 sq ft starter home was the same as our current bill on a recently built 4000 sq ft home.

It's not only about when home was built but also how it was built and if it has been maintained and if appliances and systems were changed or not. Older homes can be made as efficient as you want. Anyways, electric bill isn't what people base there house size upon. It depends on how much space you need, what sort of floor plan, low ceilings that make house an efficient prison cell or high ceilings that make even a cottage feel spacious and open, etc

[Squirl]

Our house is 4400 sq feet. Too big for 2 people and 2 dogs. We really use just 3 rooms. If we buy another place it will be no larger than 2000 square feet. It's not a real issue for us as far as the cost of utilities, it's more just cleaning and decorating. I would like to live in my whole house and not have rooms I barely walk into. I walk into my home office a few times a month. Never use the formal living or dining rooms, 2 bathrooms go untouched, 2 bedrooms are never used. Wet bar is a total waste of space. But all these things need dusting and cleaning.

[stan4]

Love it until the utility bill for a grand comes in.
Then don't love it so much.

But I wouldn't trade right now.

[HockDad]

I think it depends on the family and how you use your house (and what you feel comfortable paying for (and can afford)). We have a 5,500 square foot house for a family of five (young kids mostly). I would not want the house any smaller and if I decided to build I would likely build a tad larger (larger master closets, a work out room, etc.). Couple of reasons why the house works for us:

1) plenty of room for kids to have their own space;
2) I like the family room/media room (as do the kids);
3) we have work parties and parent parties at our house 3-4x a year. These parties can exceed 75 guests. Because you never know the weather it is nice to have indoor space.
4) Because of the value of the lot, it is hard to build a smaller house and not lose money. You can't spend 500k-on a lot and then build a 3,000 square foot house (it won't appraise in Dallas unless you are in Highland Park, etc.). Moreover, even if it did appraise, it is a bad business decision because your price per square foot would exceed the comps)