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Me and the wife to be are about to buy a new home. The plan that we are looking at is the 3br one. I started looking around at the builders site and saw another plan which has 4brs. The 4br is 358 sq feet bigger and costs $9000 more. It also includes a formal study. When doing the calculations the 3br comes out to $108 sq/ft and the 4br comes to $93 sq/ft.
You don't provide enough information to make a legitimate judgment. What is the square footage of each plan? Are room sizes comparable? Is the quality of the materials equal? Are the upgrades comparable? Would the lots be comparable in price and desirability? Can they both be built on the same lot or does one require a larger lot or different development? How do they compare on one level vs. two level and which is in most demand in the area you are looking at? How much house do you need?
1845 vs 2203 sqft. Room sizes are comparable. Materials and upgrades are the same. The lot sizes are also the same. I dont know how the one level vs two compare. Right now it will be me and the wife to be with plans to have a family in the next year.
The more rooms you have is always a better thing as it opens up more buyers who can buy it on the resale circuit, families with more kids... You need to look at floorplan. You mentioned 2 story, but where is the master bedroom? In my market, master bedroom upstairs is not very good for resale no matter how many bedrooms you have. What does the yard look like? If they are the same size lots and one house is bigger, that means the smaller house has a larger yard, unless you're talking about the 2 story home again, which would probably have the larger yard as you build up and not out.
It's all about how you live day to day, and then put resale as a second thought. But overall, without knowing the rest of the details, a 4 bedroom will sell better than a 3 bedroom.
You didn't say if you like the bigger floorplan. Are the kitchens and baths comparable. It sounds like you're not only getting a 4th bedroom but also a study, so you're really getting 2 additional rooms. If you like the floorplan and can afford the additional $9k, I'd go for the bigger home, because you're only paying $25/sf for the additional space.
Me and the wife to be are about to buy a new home. The plan that we are looking at is the 3br one. I started looking around at the builders site and saw another plan which has 4brs. The 4br is 358 sq feet bigger and costs $9000 more. It also includes a formal study. When doing the calculations the 3br comes out to $108 sq/ft and the 4br comes to $93 sq/ft.
I think you need to compare other homes in the neighborhood. If the majority of homes in that specific neighborhood are 4 br and less than 30% are 3 br, than it will kill your resell value having a 3 br.
However, if the majority of homes (greater than 50%) are 3br, than you are probably safe.
If the 3 br home had a den and a door you maybe able to cheaper convert that 3 br into a 4 br by just adding a cheap closet when reselling.
The "study" is probably just an enclosed formal living or formal dining. Does the smaller house have the formal areas that the larger home does not? I'm just thinking it's not "added" space, but re-worked space.
I've seen 4 bedroom homes where they have squeezed the extra bedroom into the space of the 3 bedroom home by making all the bedrooms smaller. This is a negative because it made all the rooms extra small. If this is the case I'd go with the 3 bedroom.
If the 4th bedroom can be used as a home office for you or does not take away from the home it can be a benefit. A larger 1 story home can have a larger foot print and eat up more yard space so If it results in a small yard that can also be a negative.
When you get into 4 bedroom homes I'd consider a 1 1/2 or 2 story home. Trying to squeeze in all those rooms in 1 story can kill a good floor plan.
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