Does anyone think their house is too large?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking 5000 or 6000+ sq ft. To me, half of that seems plenty, but I've also lived in apartments for a long time. I can't decide if I would adjust to the large space or if I might find it excessive for what we need. (Family of 4 with 2 kids). Plus the costs of cleaning, maintenance, utilities, furnishing, etc. seems like a lot. But I don't know if anyone would prefer a smaller houses, all things (including cost) equal.

Most people can afford bigger homes in their 40's when kids are in teen years, they grow up and move out and you end up as empty nesters in huge homes to maintain. Buy something around 2500-3000 sq ft so you can retire in peace without having to downsize.

Hm I didn't think about this! I'm in my 30s and my kids are very little so I feel like I have a ways to go. Is 2500-3000 the size that people typically consider downsizing to as they get older? I thought downsizing would be like, moving into a townhouse or apartment with tons less maintenance. But enlighten me please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking 5000 or 6000+ sq ft. To me, half of that seems plenty, but I've also lived in apartments for a long time. I can't decide if I would adjust to the large space or if I might find it excessive for what we need. (Family of 4 with 2 kids). Plus the costs of cleaning, maintenance, utilities, furnishing, etc. seems like a lot. But I don't know if anyone would prefer a smaller houses, all things (including cost) equal.

Most people can afford bigger homes in their 40's when kids are in teen years, they grow up and move out and you end up as empty nesters in huge homes to maintain. Buy something around 2500-3000 sq ft so you can retire in peace without having to downsize.

Hm I didn't think about this! I'm in my 30s and my kids are very little so I feel like I have a ways to go. Is 2500-3000 the size that people typically consider downsizing to as they get older? I thought downsizing would be like, moving into a townhouse or apartment with tons less maintenance. But enlighten me please!

I'm not sure there is an average here, but our house (3 kids) is about 3000 square feet. Our youngest is in college now, and in 10 years or so I'll be ready to move to a CCRC where the independent living units that interest me are about 1800 SF. I think we're on the lower end of what what people consider livable. Too much stuff makes me itchy.

[Anonymous]

I'd expect the number of people who think their house is too large is exactly the same as the number who think they make too much money which is the same as those who think their kids are too successful. Zero.

[Anonymous]

I certainly think there is a point where it is too large, what that point is I am not 100% sure, but I'd say anything over 4000/4500 is probably too large for a family of four.

For me, my ideal is 3000-4000sq feet. That is what we would like to buy eventually. Currently in a 2K TH and it's enough for the two of us, but I am sure once we have kids it won't be large enough. Would have loved to buy something bigger from the get go but at 7% rates what we could afford diminished significantly

[Anonymous]

We have 3000s fr, no basement. We do have a garage. It’s a little too much for us right now. I would have preferred 2,500, but this is what we could afford. If we could afford weekly cleaners, I’d say it was perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd expect the number of people who think their house is too large is exactly the same as the number who think they make too much money which is the same as those who think their kids are too successful. Zero.

Hi. My house is too large. I can’t quite clean it all every week. 3, 000 sq ft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd expect the number of people who think their house is too large is exactly the same as the number who think they make too much money which is the same as those who think their kids are too successful. Zero.

Hi. My house is too large. I can’t quite clean it all every week. 3, 000 sq ft.

That’s what cleaners are for.

[Anonymous]

Ours is 4200 sq ft and we bought it mid 20s. We basically shut off all the upstairs bedrooms and never used any of them except for one guest room. We never used the office, formal living room or formal dining room. It wasn't hard to clean or maintain because we just didn't use a lot of the rooms and they didn't get dirty.

We now have 3 kids and use every single inch of our home. I host nearly every holiday and we have lots of happy memories in the formal living and dining room. Every bedroom is full. It is a LOT to clean. I'd never want a larger home unless it came with a full time housekeeper.

[Anonymous]

My old house drove me nuts. I had a 1,600 sf four level split so only 400sf per level and felt tiny.

My new house is 2,000 sf per level and feels great

[Anonymous]

It depends on the floor plan. Our house is 6,000 sq ft and we use every room almost every day, except for the guest rooms. However, this house only has one more room than our last house that was 3,500 sq ft. Each room is bigger, obviously, but none of them feel awkwardly large, just nice and spacious. We looked at houses of equivalent size that had many more smaller rooms and those felt "too big" -- as in there were several rooms that we would never use.

[Anonymous]

We custom built a 8000sqft home in McLean back in 2012 - when no one was building or buying. Cost $1.6m (inc land). Now worth over $3m. Can’t complain. Been a great place to live and we can downsize nicely and put plenty of $$ in our pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd expect the number of people who think their house is too large is exactly the same as the number who think they make too much money which is the same as those who think their kids are too successful. Zero.

We have a 5,000sqf house. It’s too big. We’ve never used several of the rooms.

[Anonymous]

I have a 6500 sq ft SFH. It’s too big mainly due to the 2k sq ft basement. If you think of the main two floors, it’s 80% used daily. Things like the spare bedroom and bathroom are situational.

You have to overbuy or under buy house in today’s market. I’d be stuck in a tear down otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Our house is 5200 square feet and it’s too big. We pretty much use every room (formal dining room is used for schoolwork/tutors mostly) except the second floor family room but many/most of the rooms are too large. Cleaning, maintenance and decorating costs are all excessive. We have three HVAC systems and it seems like we’re constantly having issues or needing to replace one of them.

I think 3000 square feet would be plenty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking 5000 or 6000+ sq ft. To me, half of that seems plenty, but I've also lived in apartments for a long time. I can't decide if I would adjust to the large space or if I might find it excessive for what we need. (Family of 4 with 2 kids). Plus the costs of cleaning, maintenance, utilities, furnishing, etc. seems like a lot. But I don't know if anyone would prefer a smaller houses, all things (including cost) equal.

Most people can afford bigger homes in their 40's when kids are in teen years, they grow up and move out and you end up as empty nesters in huge homes to maintain. Buy something around 2500-3000 sq ft so you can retire in peace without having to downsize.

Hm I didn't think about this! I'm in my 30s and my kids are very little so I feel like I have a ways to go. Is 2500-3000 the size that people typically consider downsizing to as they get older? I thought downsizing would be like, moving into a townhouse or apartment with tons less maintenance. But enlighten me please!

I'm not sure there is an average here, but our house (3 kids) is about 3000 square feet. Our youngest is in college now, and in 10 years or so I'll be ready to move to a CCRC where the independent living units that interest me are about 1800 SF. I think we're on the lower end of what what people consider livable. Too much stuff makes me itchy.

+1. I’d say 1,500-2,500 for empty nesters. Big enough to host adult kids, but too much space to maintain in daily life. I see people upgrading to big homes when their kids are teens and just scratch my head. Little kids, sure, but when you’re on the tail end of parenting, feels short sided. Particularly in this housing market.