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Lol. I am a single male, with a cat, and I cant live in anything less than 4 bedroom house now 2700sq feet and 450 feet garage attached. I lived in Army dorms, and then 2 bedroom apartments, and now after buying my house and paying the same as I did for the apartment, I can never go back. The fact that you dont use the rooms doesnt mean you wont. What happens when you need them? screwed. Better to have and not need than need and not have.
I have a little over .4 of an acre so im happy there too.
My friends have little 1000-1400sq feet homes, and the rooms are half the size of mine and they are already wanting to move. After people saw me with my home, 2 of mine are looking for bigger ones, and even have the option of room mates too to help split down rent.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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This is true, but still is no reason to have a smaller home. Ours is 3,000 sf with one bedroom for each kid and still one for crafts and one for a den that could be used for guests. We have stayed after the kids grew up because we still get out-of-town guests or have grandkids sleep over. The formal dining room is not used to eat but a few major holidays, but is always there if we need it. Interestingly, the new homes under construction in our area are mostly 4,000 sf and more, so apparently there is still a desire for large homes. It's not wasted money if you like having elbow room. There is also the health benefit of having to walk farther to get to the bedroom.
For several years I lived with just my parents in a 3600-sq ft house. The amount of space that was not used at all was dumbfounding. We would have been comfortable in a place a third of that size.
People can have whatever size house they want and can afford, I don't care, but if a family of three builds a 4000-square-foot house and claims they "need every bit of that room," I roll my eyes. (We know a family like this; and I know for a fact that many of those rooms are entirely or mostly empty). You want it, you don't need it. Just admit that.
A good friend of mine moved from California to Texas for his wife. He thought that having a house 3-4x the size of their San Diego home would help soften blow. Upon his many visits back, and subsequent return, he said having that much larger of a house was a huge mistake. Besides not ever using most the room, he spent a fortune to furnish them, his power bill was through the roof, and he felt like they were constantly cleaning.
What really got me was he said he was a prisoner to his house much of the year because of the weather, but still used the same space as he did here. The real kicker to the story is after they came back, they took a bath on everything to furnish it, didn’t really make anything on the sale, and couldn’t afford to buy anything like their old house back because of how much things appreciated.
The only positive he says is his wife cuts him so much slack these days as it was her idea to have a big house around family, but equally thought it was a foolish move a few years in.
A good friend of mine moved from California to Texas for his wife. He thought that having a house 3-4x the size of their San Diego home would help soften blow. Upon his many visits back, and subsequent return, he said having that much larger of a house was a huge mistake. Besides not ever using most the room, he spent a fortune to furnish them, his power bill was through the roof, and he felt like they were constantly cleaning.
What really got me was he said he was a prisoner to his house much of the year because of the weather, but still used the same space as he did here.
Yes, I've heard this story many times. Lots of former Californians have found that twice the house for half the price does not--to them--make up for crummy weather, and who needs that much space anyway.
My house is 2600 sq ft, 0.5 acres of land and it's way too much for the three of us. We had to have a 2 zone HVAC system and it put us back $11k. Electricity and gas bills are also pretty high compared to my old house, which was smaller.
I grew up in a small 1100sq ft home with 5 people and 3 dogs. We always seemed to be just fine.
If houses weren't so overpriced right now in the 1000-1500sq ft market right now, I'd move in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, it's harder to sell a "nicer" home now. Houses in my neighborhood sell for 400k+, and they're all sitting for months.
Smaller houses about a mile away that are selling for ~220k usually get multiple offers on the same day.
My house is 2600 sq ft, 0.5 acres of land and it's way too much for the three of us. We had to have a 2 zone HVAC system and it put us back $11k. Electricity and gas bills are also pretty high compared to my old house, which was smaller.
I grew up in a small 1100sq ft home with 5 people and 3 dogs. We always seemed to be just fine.
If houses weren't so overpriced right now in the 1000-1500sq ft market right now, I'd move in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, it's harder to sell a "nicer" home now. Houses in my neighborhood sell for 400k+, and they're all sitting for months.
Smaller houses about a mile away that are selling for ~220k usually get multiple offers on the same day.
That's the problem with buying a new nice big expensive house, unless you are in a hot market people can just build a new one for about the same price you paid for yours.
I'm happy in my small house. I would love a second bathroom but I don't need it, plus my bedroom is very large for a small home, the largest bedroom I've ever had.
I love my porch and would spend all day out there is I could. I almost never go in the family room because that's where my husband sits for hours watching TV shows I have no interest in.
Family rooms and living rooms are there so kids can have a place to watch TV while parents watch something else. It's quite handy to have a living and a family room though I suppose they could just watch TV in their bedroom.
I noticed the irony of the word "family" room in this sentence. It's a little sad, actually.
I grew up in a large home. One car garage with still plenty of storage space. Lawn shed. Laundry room was downstairs and has a toilet, sink, and the previous owner had a shower stall there. There is a bedroom downstairs that we always used as a gym or storage. The downstairs "den" was nearly 500 sq. ft itself.
The upstairs formal living room was never really used as a living room. My parents have a couch and a couple of recliners in there, a chess table, and misc. furniture, but no one has sat in there in years. It's a glorified storage room. The bulk of the non furniture space is their storage for bulky purchases from Sam's and Costco.
There is another den that's easily 200 sq. ft that they watch TV in an open area with dining and kitchen. There are three large bedrooms as well.
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