Regret buying a big house?

[Anonymous]

We are in 4300 square feet, so not huge compared to some PPs here, but definitely more than we needed for 2 parents and 2 young children. The nice thing is that we have tons of living space with 4 living/family room type spaces. The con is that we have big bedrooms that no one really uses except for sleeping. The kids used to play in their bedrooms when we were in a small TH, but now we're all just in the various living spaces downstairs, and the bedrooms just gather dust.

It is nice for when we have guests though. And because we have the space, we entertain and have overnight guests frequently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in 4300 square feet, so not huge compared to some PPs here, but definitely more than we needed for 2 parents and 2 young children. The nice thing is that we have tons of living space with 4 living/family room type spaces. The con is that we have big bedrooms that no one really uses except for sleeping. The kids used to play in their bedrooms when we were in a small TH, but now we're all just in the various living spaces downstairs, and the bedrooms just gather dust.

It is nice for when we have guests though. And because we have the space, we entertain and have overnight guests frequently.

bedrooms are for sleeping, so what's the issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents have one that I have used since they host a lot of family events and we try to help out. I would never bother with one and they aren't huge fans of it either. Lugging around the hose/ and or accessories you need to do a good job isn't much less of a hassle than just carrying a good vacuum, and the performance of the central vacuum system just isn't the same as a regular vacuum. Also, the central vacuum system technology is much harder to update since its part of your home, whereas vacuum technology is changing. My parents don't use theirs anymore. They keep a Meile on one floor and a Shark on the other.

The vacuum itself is just installed on the wall so that could be updated at anytime. You can always buy different attachments. I personally love ours and would definitely install.

Our house has one. I'd never seen or heard of these before moving here. My then two year old got the surprise of his life when he opened one of the little doors to a hose portal the day we moved in. I'm not sure what he was expecting, but certainly not a blast of sound and huge suction vortex. I still laugh when I think of the look of horror and shock on his face. I work at feeling bad about it, but it was such a perfect slapstick moment.

One other nice thing on the big house front depending on layout and your tolerance for chaos and mess: we were able to turn a chunk of our basement into a sport-court like space. Our kids have had a blast playing soccer, floor hockey, etc. down there when the weather is bad or it's too dark to play outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see. What do I regret about having a house with a study, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen/family room, five bedrooms (one used as a workout room), five full bathrooms, a powder room, a media room, a finished basement, and a mud room? Nothing, really. It's a great house and is zoned for top schools, too.

Were you looking for a different answer?

Not the OP, but did you just look at the subject and post without reading the thread? Plenty of people have pointed out the cons of living in a larger home.

Glad your house is working for you, but we have no use for five full bathrooms, five bedrooms, and a media room. So your house would not fit our needs, and that is fine.

The question was whether those of us living in larger houses have regrets. The answer was not at all.

Perhaps you could work on those reading comprehension skills.

My comprehension skills are fine. You responded to the OP with a nasty post - implying of course everyone loves their big houses, and I was pointing out that several people have chimed in that there it's more complicated and there are downsides.

Take the stick out of your ass, you have contributed nothing but nastiness to this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's see. What do I regret about having a house with a study, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen/family room, five bedrooms (one used as a workout room), five full bathrooms, a powder room, a media room, a finished basement, and a mud room? Nothing, really. It's a great house and is zoned for top schools, too.

Were you looking for a different answer?

Not the OP, but did you just look at the subject and post without reading the thread? Plenty of people have pointed out the cons of living in a larger home.

Glad your house is working for you, but we have no use for five full bathrooms, five bedrooms, and a media room. So your house would not fit our needs, and that is fine.

The question was whether those of us living in larger houses have regrets. The answer was not at all.

Perhaps you could work on those reading comprehension skills.

My comprehension skills are fine. You responded to the OP with a nasty post - implying of course everyone loves their big houses, and I was pointing out that several people have chimed in that there it's more complicated and there are downsides.

Take the stick out of your ass, you have contributed nothing but nastiness to this thread.

Here's betting your family members wish their house had more space so they could more easily get away from you.

[Anonymous]

We just went from 5200 (including basement) SF to 7200 SF (including the finished basement). Honestly it's too big. We were looking for a 5 bedroom and ended up with a 6th. Our bedroom has this giant living room area which we hardly use- we may use it more in the winter as it has a beautiful fireplace but this far it's hardly been used. The first floor bedroom/bathroom currently has no furniture in it- I'd like to blow it out into a giant mud room but have been told that the house will be more valuable with a first floor bedroom.

That said. We have lots of kids over all the time. We love to entertain. This was the right house for us die to neighborhood/location/backyard privacy- but I could easily sheer off 1000 SF and be happy.

[Anonymous]

I feel like many of these posts are not from ppl who live in the DMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like many of these posts are not from ppl who live in the DMV

Clearly not. 7200 sq feet? That's in Nebraska for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like many of these posts are not from ppl who live in the DMV

Clearly not. 7200 sq feet? That's in Nebraska for sure.

No. Close maybe? Moved to Denver. Housing prices aren't like inside the beltway, but the house we own and rent out in ashburn is the same size (willowsford). Housing prices here are very similar to suburb prices there as we are in a boom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents have one that I have used since they host a lot of family events and we try to help out. I would never bother with one and they aren't huge fans of it either. Lugging around the hose/ and or accessories you need to do a good job isn't much less of a hassle than just carrying a good vacuum, and the performance of the central vacuum system just isn't the same as a regular vacuum. Also, the central vacuum system technology is much harder to update since its part of your home, whereas vacuum technology is changing. My parents don't use theirs anymore. They keep a Meile on one floor and a Shark on the other.

The vacuum itself is just installed on the wall so that could be updated at anytime. You can always buy different attachments. I personally love ours and would definitely install.

Perhaps they got a dud model then, because they've had a hard time getting what they need for it to work well. The hose and inputs are definitely not standard vacuum size and feel. In that case, OP, maybe just shop carefully if you do get one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like many of these posts are not from ppl who live in the DMV

Clearly not. 7200 sq feet? That's in Nebraska for sure.

No. Close maybe? Moved to Denver. Housing prices aren't like inside the beltway, but the house we own and rent out in ashburn is the same size (willowsford). Housing prices here are very similar to suburb prices there as we are in a boom.

WTF? You post on here and live in the Midwest? GTFO. No one wants to hear about your 720@ sq ft home that you bought for under $2m. Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like many of these posts are not from ppl who live in the DMV

Clearly not. 7200 sq feet? That's in Nebraska for sure.

No. Close maybe? Moved to Denver. Housing prices aren't like inside the beltway, but the house we own and rent out in ashburn is the same size (willowsford). Housing prices here are very similar to suburb prices there as we are in a boom.

WTF? You post on here and live in the Midwest? GTFO. No one on here wants to hear about your 7200 sq ft house that cost you under $2 mill. Go back to your Midwestern country town and talk to your neighbors who can relate to you, because obviously there is a world of difference between your country life and ours.

[Anonymous]

Our house is the biggest I've ever lived in--3700 sq feet (but It hink our large basement included). However I wish the space were better apportioned--smaller bedrooms but 5 of them versus 4 large bedrooms. We have a HUGE master bedroom, but we rarely spend time in it--and yet our closet and master bath are not that big, but I dont feel like putting the $$ into expanding them. We dont really have a mudroom, although we have a ton of storage in the basement and the full height but unfinished attic (if we stay her elong term, we will finish and make into a separate suite with study).

I like having a semi-separate living and family room--the kids have claimed one, and we have claimed the other. The best thing about our house is that we have a decent (but not huge) flat yard with a fire pit, so we do a ton of summer entertaining (very social neighborhood). Its also great to have a large basement--its where the only tv we own is, plus a separate area for treadmill and I think it will be good when the kids are older and want a hangout space.

anyway, I would never buy a house larger than this and I have a feeling that if we sell, we will move into a slightly smaller home but in a neighborhood that is walkable to everything. Unless we move to a place with cheaper housing or we need to have aged parents live with us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me, the layout is more important than all the square feet.

I think many of the new houses have too many living areas.

We went from 2400 sq. ft to 5600 sq. but our layout is terrible and although it is nice to have all the storage space, we would have been fine with a 3,000 sq. foot house with a better layout.

Agree that too many bathrooms to clean is a PITA plus all the time it takes to change out towels and refill soap and TP etc.

It is nice when you have company.

Ideally, I would like an average sized home with great layout and a lot of land.

I don't understand the people who love to live in crowded subdivisions. Give me open space and acres any day! It is so peaceful to be outside and enjoy nature and quiet.

Your ideal way of living is incredibly space-intensive and not a great idea on many levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, the layout is more important than all the square feet.

I think many of the new houses have too many living areas.

We went from 2400 sq. ft to 5600 sq. but our layout is terrible and although it is nice to have all the storage space, we would have been fine with a 3,000 sq. foot house with a better layout.

Agree that too many bathrooms to clean is a PITA plus all the time it takes to change out towels and refill soap and TP etc.

It is nice when you have company.

Ideally, I would like an average sized home with great layout and a lot of land.

I don't understand the people who love to live in crowded subdivisions. Give me open space and acres any day! It is so peaceful to be outside and enjoy nature and quiet.

In this area, to have such a large house, chances are you have cleaners to do this.

I dislike cleaning bathrooms but the reality is we are still only using a couple of bathrooms in any heavy duty sort of way. Our other bathrooms stay reasonably clean so cleaning them isn't that much of a chore. Sooo nice to have a guest bathroom and powder room that I can just spiff up as needed.