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I live alone in a 3,100 sq ft house (well, with my bicycles) and use pretty much every bit of it. And, I bought it myself as a single female. I could sell it tomorrow at twice (or more) of what I paid for it, but location, location, location. Besides, the only two condo buildings where I would accept living, I'd be paying another $100K or more for half that space (or even less).
So no problem in selling large houses here, suburbs or not. In fact, in most of the urban core here, they are tearing down small ranchers and building two large (vertical) houses on the same lot.
It's a shame because those small ranchers were pretty well built and are just the right size for most retitees.
By the time you reach mid 60s-70s most people come to realize that they don't want to be "rattling around in a big house." It's time to downsize and simplify your life in all arras Everyone is trying to get rid of stuff.
In the super expensive Boston suburbs, laws are being passed against tearing down perfectly good houses and replacing them with gigantic mcmansions that the greedy developers like to build.
An old, beautiful, well built mansion is one thing...and maybe a senator or the governor might need something like that in which to entertain. But mcmansions are considered tacky and ostentatious. Current residents do not want them built because they spoil the neighborhood.
Most of todays young people didn't grow up in rowhouses or shacks. Most grew up in small towns or suburbia (at least in this part of the country) so they have nothing to prove. Not many want gigantic houses and most appreciate older houses. People coming from other parts of he country often want one of those cheaply built new houses or a mcmansion.
Huge houses are kind of a hard sell around here. People aren't very much into showing off and New Englanders tend to be practical. The greedy developers are building tons of CCRF around here though. I don't think there'll be much demand for them once the boomers die off.
Economics teaches us that there is no such thing as an economic need, only wants & desires. You want a small house; I want a large one. Neither of us needs them.
1. That blog was down last time I checked. Car Hole, LOL! God that is so true. Why is the car hole always in the front? How I hate the car hole.
2. Economics is... never mind. Let me just say, shelter is a need.
I notice that most of the posters expressing contentment with their large house in the suburbs are speaking in the plural. You are mostly part of a couple. A couple can be happy and properly maintain a large house together. My mom had friends, mostly widows, living alone in houses in her suburban neighborhood. Most of them could not keep them up and the house was deteriorating around them. There was a real lack of senior services in the area, no public transportation, hard to get around to shop, visit doctors, etc., most neighbors worked during the day so there were few people around. If there are two of you, you may enjoy the quiet and freedom, but one person rattling around in a large house can be terrified. So be aware that things change, and it might be kinder to your spouse to settle now into a place where he or she will be happy carrying on when you are gone. Your loss will be disruption enough.
It's a shame because those small ranchers were pretty well built and are just the right size for most retitees.
By the time you reach mid 60s-70s most people come to realize that they don't want to be "rattling around in a big house." It's time to downsize and simplify your life in all arras Everyone is trying to get rid of stuff.
In the super expensive Boston suburbs, laws are being passed against tearing down perfectly good houses and replacing them with gigantic mcmansions that the greedy developers like to build.
An old, beautiful, well built mansion is one thing...and maybe a senator or the governor might need something like that in which to entertain. But mcmansions are considered tacky and ostentatious. Current residents do not want them built because they spoil the neighborhood.
Most of todays young people didn't grow up in rowhouses or shacks. Most grew up in small towns or suburbia (at least in this part of the country) so they have nothing to prove. Not many want gigantic houses and most appreciate older houses. People coming from other parts of he country often want one of those cheaply built new houses or a mcmansion.
Huge houses are kind of a hard sell around here. People aren't very much into showing off and New Englanders tend to be practical. The greedy developers are building tons of CCRF around here though. I don't think there'll be much demand for them once the boomers die off.
so you're ASSUMING that people who buy "huge" houses are pretentious. And you know this how? because they own a huge house?
it's nice that folks romanticize smaller/minimal living ("simplify one's life") but not everyone shares those same views. There are many who like having space and that's their prerogative. Even when I retire, my retirement home will be a minimum of 2000 sq ft, but one story. I grew up in tight quarters and I have no desire to return to that. If I choose to spend my money on a house, then that's my choice. It has nothing to do about "proving" anything to anyone. I love my house, period.
As for the derision towards McMansions, they wouldn't build them if there wasn't a demand. It may not be a demand in your part of the country because there's a glut of older homes but in other parts of the country, new construction is big. I don't own a "McMansion" but I don't look down on those who do.
It sure is funny seeing so-called "unpretentious" people sneer at those who buy McMansions. Such irony.
So you truly have a small house. Vaulted ceilings are a good choice for opening up a small space. I believe you posted pictures before and you maximized a small space beautifully. Thank you for explaining your square footage, it gives a more complete picture.
I also have a 1-car garage. Most winters, my 12' rowing dinghy is dangling from the rafters and the trailer for my inflatable dinghy + motor are stored there along with various other debris. This year, my girlfriend has a ton of stuff stored there so there's no where to put my inflatable on the trailer. I need to deal with that disaster. I need to get a shed and put snow tires, lawn mower, bicycles, wheeled recycling bins, etc in the shed. I need to do something better for boat storage. All the debris needs to come out of the garage.
Smaller homes in the North and other areas have more useable space with attics and basements, which are not counted in the square footage. In FL we have a bigger house but no useable attic and no basement. Square footage descriptions are for the living areas only, above ground, not attics or basements. Garages are another area not considered in square footage either. There is lots of wiggle room on some of these so-called small houses.
I'm not singling you out, GeoffD. I'm pointing out that stating square footage isn't telling the entire story. My current house is larger, but with less storage areas than our smaller house. I could smugly say what a small house I lived in which is true, but disingenuous since I'm ignoring the basement and attic spaces that I used.
I have no place to hide "stuff" here, which is actually to my advantage, but it took a while to appreciate it.
And a lot of being in a smaller home is using that space efficiently.
One thing that makes small houses much better are built-ins.
Aghh that is the challenging part of the equation if one is planning a change in residence either at or during retirement. Trying to coordinate retirement in advance with a market peak is very difficult and avoiding a trough very desirable.
Unless you sell at the peak, rent, and buy after the market corrects. I've never managed to get the "sell at the peak" part right but I've bought a number of times at the bottom of the market.
Unless you sell at the peak, rent, and buy after the market corrects. I've never managed to get the "sell at the peak" part right but I've bought a number of times at the bottom of the market.
When we transplanted we sold, rented, bought and waited while the house was being built out of state.
We have a 25 year old, 6 bedroom, 4700 sq ft, 3 story house on a half acre lot adjacent to a park. We're retired. The house is long paid off. Although we've considered moving we've never found another place where the benefit exceeds the cost. Furthermore, we get the retiree property tax credit for Colorado homeowners. If we move, we lose it.
The benefit of staying here is it has plenty of room for children and grandchildren and their nanny to visit all at once. They're coming next week!
This is our 4th house. I designed it to exactly fit our needs. It is about 95% perfect for us. It has plenty of storage and I know where everything is. I've also updated everything so although it is big, it is energy efficient.
Furthermore, when you retire, you'll both be in the house at the same time for a lot of the time. Having space allows you to do projects without getting on each others nerves.
A house is kind of like a car. Each one sets a new baseline. For example, in a car, after you get the electric windows and the auto locking doors with key fob, you don't go back.
I worked my a$$ off for 43 years. I paid for this luxury and I'll enjoy it until I have to move. It will actually be easy to sell because our economy here is growing and houses in this area sell in about 4 weeks.
Markets don't always stay the same. I sold my first house (only 5 years old) for a 25% profit...20 years ago. My current house is nearly 15 years old...very same city...I would be lucky to have kept up with inflation - which is fine because I'm going to retire in it and never planned on it being an investment. "Boom times" don't last forever, by definition.
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