Downsizing from 5000 to under 2000
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Anonymous
| Moving to the DC area after being out of state for about ten year and adding three children. Extreme sticker shock and coming to the realization we will be buying a house under 2000 sq feet for our family of five - probably looking at a 1700 twin. Any advice? Kids are in elemenary and middle school. Mostly worried about the living space and the common areas. The 'living room' of some of these houses are smaller than my current master bathroom. |
Anonymous
| Get rid of most of your stuff. |
Anonymous
| boo hoo |
Anonymous
Anonymous
well there was of course the debate between DC proper and the burbs. DC won. We both work in DC and all three kids will be at school in DC. |
Anonymous
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What is a “twin”?
Our DC house is 1650 sq ft plus a basement. We only have 1 kid, so it’s more than enough space for us. With 3 kids in 1700 sq ft, I assume 2 kids will share a bedroom? Is it 3BR, 2BA? Make sure there is good storage for all their after-school stuff: backpacks, duffel bags, shoes, books, coats. Everything needs a place otherwise it will create clutter. Or rent a bigger place for a couple years. Your monthly payment renting a 4BR is probably less than your mortgage payment buying a 3BR. |
Anonymous
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What is a twin?? Which neighborhood are we talking about?
We are in a 1600 sq ft rowhome with two kids. No basement. It’s what we know so it’s not a big deal to us. We’re very organized because we don’t really have the space to have stuff everywhere. Your kids are old enough to help out with this. We do spend a lot of time out of the house. COVID times were tough but we don’t work from home so much anymore so that’s been a relief in a way. It’s obviously doable. People all over the world live in much smaller spaces. You just need to have less stuff. You’ll find you need less stuff, too. |
Anonymous
OP this is what you're moving to. |
Anonymous
| I’d rent a bigger place for a couple of years. Also - have you spent time in DC proper since you left? It’s changed a lot the past 10 years, some good, some bad. Had friends who left in 2016/2017 (peak DC golden era) and who came back in 2023/2024 and… they weren’t thrilled. The ones who rented in the city went to the suburbs when the lease was up and the ones who bought based on the DC they remembered are pissed and debating selling at a loss (maybe good for you though??) |
Anonymous
| What is your budget? Why r u moving here?! |
Anonymous
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We live in a 1800 sq ft house with three kids. It’s actually not too bad. It’s a 4 bedroom house; our middle schooler has his own bedroom and the two younger elementary age kids share. I work from home so the fourth bedroom is the office.
We are organized and have a place for everything. We put up closet systems in all the bedroom closets, cabinets in the laundry room, and use ikea kallax shelves for our small entryway area to use as cubbies and a bench. We have a big shed in the yard for extra stuff. Every year I try to toss or donate stuff we don’t need. So don’t worry about it - you can do it! Just consolidate your stuff. |
Anonymous
| What neighborhood are you planning to move to and what is your budget? |
Anonymous
| Make sure you buy a home with a basement or attic or both. |
Anonymous
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Love the contrast between this and the “downsizing from 8k sq ft to 5k sq ft” one.
Previous poster brought up a good point, the average sized dwelling in the US compared to Europe is way higher. We Americans just love our space and our extra stuff. |
Anonymous
+1 |