Perfect size house for a family of 5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would get a 5 BR and at least 3.5bath. At least 3200-4000+ square feet. I assume you want a SFH. Also at least 5000 ft lot as a family with 3 kids can be noisy and you don’t want to have to deal with neighbors complaining about noise. If you can’t make a noticeable upgrade, I would not bother and would make the current home work.

Op here - where are you finding such big houses? And at what price? Our current house is about 10 miles from downtown and that’s the farthest we want to be. We bought 6 years ago and it was $700,000.

We're house hunting and there are lots of 5 BR new builds in Vienna and Arlington, but the tradeoff is the house takes up most of the lot so there isn't a lot of yard.

If you want yard, there are a lot of 5 BR houses in places that are farther out like Fairfax Station but the tradeoff is commute to the bigger job centers (DC, Arlington, Tyson's).

[Anonymous]

Our place is 2700 sq. feet. Each kid has their own room. In an ideal world, we'd have a bigger bonus area for the kids. Never felt like we needed it pre-Covid, but now we've converted a small landing area into a sort of kid hangout space. Wish it were a proper room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take it there’s no basement, OP?

Op here - yes there is a basement but not finished. We are planning on finishing it within the next year or two.

If you like your house and neighborhood, finish the basement, refi and use equity to do that if you don’t have cash on hand. Create an office area, guest room and bathroom in basement. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perfect for me? 3000-3500.

We have 3 kids (17,15,11).

Right now we have a huge house at 4,800sf (5BR/5BA) and it's way too big. We are moving in the next year and are looking at 3000-3500sf. Each kid gets their own bedroom, an office/den area and a space for the kids to hang out that's not their bedroom (trust me you want this with teens).

I agree, we have 3 kids, 3 levels (finished basement) about 1,100 sq ft each floor, plus a screened in porch. House is just right, and wont be too big when kids move out.

[Anonymous]

You need at least 5 bedrooms, parents, 3 kids, one guest. Or four bedrooms and a multi purpose room that can function as a bedroom.

[Anonymous]

We only have about 2200 counting the finished basement for 3 kids with a 4.5 year spread between them, and it's tight but fine. I wouldn't mind more storage space (since our basement is finished our house has very little) and a bigger yard, but I really don't need more house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each kid can have their own room? 2600 sounds about right.

Op here - unfortunately not. We need the 4th room for a dedicated office/guest room. DH works from home now (Covid) and so do I and that probably won’t change any time soon. The office is used daily so it can’t be turned into a kids room.

Then WHY didn't you say this in your original post,? How do expect to get answers when you deliberately leave out this important information!!!!!

You are a grown woman and some people live in houses of 1,000 sq ft with three children and others have 5,000 sq ft with one child! You have a family and you live where you can afford!

In the age of trump, stupidity has become king.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need at least 5 bedrooms, parents, 3 kids, one guest. Or four bedrooms and a multi purpose room that can function as a bedroom.

Bull?

[Anonymous]

We have a 5 bedroom house and love it. Finishing the basement now with a guest room. Playroom, master bedroom, 3 kids rooms and soon a guest room. My kids are young and need the playroom more than I need an office

[Anonymous]

Don't think so much on the square footage but rather layout, flow, and storage

[Anonymous]

We have similar age ranges (planning for 3rd now), so I don't have experience currently with how it really works, but my thought it that we can keep using our 4th bedroom as a guest room and office until my oldest is in high school, and then she can use that room as her bedroom for a few years and we'll just make the sacrifice for that time?

[Anonymous]

We have 4 bedrooms upstairs with a master bath and half bath. We have 2 kids. If I had a third kid (not happening) I’d definitely want a 5th bedroom and 3rd upstairs bath. As it is, the shared bathroom causes regular squabbles. Both in timing (both want it at the same time) and neatness (one messy, one neat.)

[Anonymous]

^^hall bath not half bath. It is a full hall bath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 4 bedrooms upstairs with a master bath and half bath. We have 2 kids. If I had a third kid (not happening) I’d definitely want a 5th bedroom and 3rd upstairs bath. As it is, the shared bathroom causes regular squabbles. Both in timing (both want it at the same time) and neatness (one messy, one neat.)

Op here - yes I am worried about this later on as well. We have two girls and a boy. They would all have to share the upstairs hall bath. We have a master bath on suite that we would use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 4 bedrooms upstairs with a master bath and half bath. We have 2 kids. If I had a third kid (not happening) I’d definitely want a 5th bedroom and 3rd upstairs bath. As it is, the shared bathroom causes regular squabbles. Both in timing (both want it at the same time) and neatness (one messy, one neat.)

Op here - yes I am worried about this later on as well. We have two girls and a boy. They would all have to share the upstairs hall bath. We have a master bath on suite that we would use.

If it’s feasible for you, I’d want another full bath in that scenario. Another bedroom would be nice but the bath seems more important.