House size - family of 5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

I would not want a house that big to clean and care for. 3000 would be great to me but it’s the layout that’s important. I don’t like staying alone or cleaning my tiny house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

Out home is 8,000 sq ft and it’s too big. We don’t need 7 bathrooms. We didn’t want a house this big, but to get the outdoor space we wanted, this house was the best option.

[Anonymous]

Used to live in a 5500 sq ft home (family of 4, 2 young kids) and it was too big. We had to move for work and downsized to 2800 sq ft (1200 sq ft unfinished basement). Once we finish the basement I think we will be happy, but 2800 feels tight especially since our kitchen is smaller than in our old place. Layout makes a huge difference, our old house had a strange layout (multi split level) and our current house is more usable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My home is 1300 square feet and it is not enough room. We are a family of almost 6 and 2 dogs. I think we’d be good in around 2000-2300 square feet.

Now that sounds awful.

We are a family of 5 in a 3500 sq ft house in McLean - a little more space would be nice, maybe up to 5000 sq ft would be nice, but anything over that feels unnecessary even if housekeeping were included.

However comments like this and everyone lying about not wanting 10000 sq ft sums up why some folks on DCUM can't fathom why the orange one won - what we enjoy here, our values, are not normal for a lot of other people. Yes 1300 for 6 and pets is small and "sounds awful" by 2021 DCUM standards, but remember that was par for the course growing up in the 70s and 80s. More siblings for GenX, shared bedrooms in ramblers, tiny cape cods, or apartments, but a lot of us were happy because we didn't know what we didn't have. Full disclosure I vowed I'd never share a bedroom after college, and fortunate I was able to keep that

Blah blah blah the person said it’s not enough room for their family. They didn’t say “we’re in a small space and we love it!”

[Anonymous]

We have 3,000 square feet. It would be too much, BUT our attic isn’t properly ventilated, so anything plastic melts when we put it up there. So 3,000 with three living spaces and a fourth bedroom which can double as an attic in a pinch. We have two kids. We have doors on the downstairs rooms, which I love. I’m sure that when we get the roof fixed, the house will feel a little too big.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

Out home is 8,000 sq ft and it’s too big. We don’t need 7 bathrooms. We didn’t want a house this big, but to get the outdoor space we wanted, this house was the best option.

Yes. We didn’t want 3,000 square feet, but when we moved houses were going fast. If I could have built, I would have wanted 2,500 square feet with an oversized garage and a great attic. I love having 2.5 bathrooms with two kids. I’m so sorry you got stuck with 7. I wish builders were incentivized to build reasonably-sized homes.

[Anonymous]

Where do you all live and have these huge houses?

We are a family of 5 and live in 2,100 sq ft if you count our finished basement. It is perfect for us. We have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, an open floor plan on the main level, and a big family room and bathroom in the basement. My FIL needs to come live with us so we are looking to move but are priced out of our Capitol Hill neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about “ideal size” or minimum size. For any new house you won’t really want to go below about 5,000 so ft or so. It just isn’t worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do you all live and have these huge houses?

We are a family of 5 and live in 2,100 sq ft if you count our finished basement. It is perfect for us. We have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, an open floor plan on the main level, and a big family room and bathroom in the basement. My FIL needs to come live with us so we are looking to move but are priced out of our Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Any close in neighborhood in MD or VA.

[Anonymous]

We had 4,600 but just moved to a new city and into 4,100 sf. At 4,600 we had rooms we rarely went in and honestly it was bigger than we needed. 4,100 we use every room daily. It's also a different layout but just about right for now.

Two of our kids are also either in or soon will be in college so we have no need for a bigger house. We will soon have empty rooms.

[Anonymous]

"Bigger" houses are just better value. If you start looking at $/sqft, it keeps dropping as you go bigger.

Why? Because the majority of the cost is in the initial land/permits/project approval/acquisition etc etc. Whether you build 3000 sqft or 5000 sqft, the costs do not scale linearly.

So, yeah, there may be dead space in a bigger house, or rooms that "you never go into" (although, I refuse to believe that), but that's what getting built, whether you like it or not. This is one of, if not THE reason, housing has become so expensive. They keep building bigger...because well, we keep buying them. Stop buying bigger houses and the builders will downsize in a heartbeat.

p.s. All these people talking about the 70s and 80s...a typical TV then was 27"...today it's 65". The typical dining table size was four chairs then...today it's six and growing. You couldn't fit your kids xboxes, PS3/4/5, BD player etc etc in a 70s house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

I live in an actual 10,000 sqft house but I have a ridiculously large family.

There is no way I would want to stay in my house if there were only five of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Bigger" houses are just better value. If you start looking at $/sqft, it keeps dropping as you go bigger.

Why? Because the majority of the cost is in the initial land/permits/project approval/acquisition etc etc. Whether you build 3000 sqft or 5000 sqft, the costs do not scale linearly.

So, yeah, there may be dead space in a bigger house, or rooms that "you never go into" (although, I refuse to believe that), but that's what getting built, whether you like it or not. This is one of, if not THE reason, housing has become so expensive. They keep building bigger...because well, we keep buying them. Stop buying bigger houses and the builders will downsize in a heartbeat.

p.s. All these people talking about the 70s and 80s...a typical TV then was 27"...today it's 65". The typical dining table size was four chairs then...today it's six and growing. You couldn't fit your kids xboxes, PS3/4/5, BD player etc etc in a 70s house.

Why is that hard to believe? There are some rooms I never go into.

[Anonymous]

We have 3000 sf above ground with a 750 sf finished basement (playroom/ exercise room). We have 2 girls and think this is the perfect size. We use every space and don’t need any more than that. Part of what makes this sf ideal though is an incredibly functional and efficient modern layout. No wasted formal spaces. We have two dedicated offices on the first floor. And 4 dedicated bedrooms on the second floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody saying "We're ok with xxx sqft" is lying. Period.

In the end, it's ALWAYS about money. If you could afford 10,000 sqft (and the accompanying maintenance), you'd do it in a heartbeat.

I've yet to meet an actual person, who said, they don't like their house, because it's too big.

That's the reality check.

I think you’re wrong that there are no people who could afford to pay somebody to do all the cleaning and maintenance a 10K home would require, I know that there are some even if they aren’t going to say that to your face. But yes obviously money is a consideration for me as it is for the vast majority of the commenters, and “you don’t have to consider size as long as you have enough money to pay somebody to manage all the sq. ft you can’t handle” seems like an irrelevant and unhelpful response.