How big of a house do you need?

[debtfreeme]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

iwould be happy with a house that is mine. i don't care how small it is.

[zakity]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

"Zakity - can you do an outdoor room? That's what made our small house so bearable. We poured a huge patio and then covered it with one of those 2 car carports. We put a hammock and some chairs out there and that's where the kids rode their bikes, etc (little kids).

Then, we bought an unheated greenhouse and spent quite a bit of time in there. On sunny winter days it could be 40 degrees warmer inside than outside (I even got hot on many occasions)."

We use the unheated garage as a tv/play room for the boys when it isn't way too cold. We also have a little over an acre with trees to climb and room to run when it isn't raining or sometimes when it is.

[Ima saver]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Debtfreeme, I agree with you. It is better to start with a small house and then move up when you get some equity built up. The smallest house I have lived in was 1900 square feet. That is not so bad when the rooms are open. I think high ceilings help too. I don't think I would want a house smaller than 2500 sq. ft. now.

[Snoopy2645]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

well my house is 864 sq feet I looked it up from my thing when I bought the house but I dont think that includes the basement. Geez my house seems small compared to everyone on here I have been telling my husband we need a bigger house we have 3 growing girls the house keeps getting smalller maybe I can get him to look at this thread
he seems like he will be perfectly happy here forever me on the other hand I am not so sure I moved in it was just me & my daughter now its 5 of us & 2 dogs!!!

[cercis]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Snoopy, most likely that does not include the basement, because 864 is a fairly small footprint.

I think I'm somewhat like your dh. I did think 840 (no basement) was too small, but 1400 was perfect. 1800 is HUGE. My MIL visited over the weekend at and one point we all needed space, we were all able to go to a separate room and be alone for a while. The day we feel crowded in this house will be the day I sit them all down and have a loooong talk about the environment and our impact.

[abowers]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

My parents house is about 2000 square feet -- which was for my parents, my sister, and me. It is a cape cod styled house-- there were 2 br's and bathroom upstairs, 2brs, living room, kitchen, family room, bathroom downstairs + a huge basement -- It was plenty of room but my parents have a lot of stuff taking up that space.

Currently my boyfriend and I are in a 500 sq foot 1 BR apartment.
It's actually not as bad as I thought it might be, we could probably use another bedroom or an extra small room as an office, so we both have space to do our work once I'm in grad school too.

A house is a long way away so I'm not even worried about that right now.

[cicy33]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Mine is about 1300 sq ft and way to small with the kids here every weekend. (4 of them) but once the additional bedroom, office and bathroom is finished that will add about 600 additional sq ft and that should make it so much easier to breathe. I have a business at home and requires a fair amount of space for desk and papers and filing cabinets and right now all is shoved into our current bedroom, which is about 12x12. my new one is about 15 x 20. I cannot wait! my treadmill will fit in my room and not my boys! I agree size of family is a big indicator. I don't like being on top of each other. I like my space and peace and quiet, kids like to be noisy and I hate telling them to shhhh! all the time

[Ima saver]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

I guess I am spoiled at 3200 sq. feet. We are building a spec house that is 1800 sq ft., but if they finish the basement (or my husbnd does) it will be 3600 sq. feet. 5 befrooms, 3 1/2 baths, exercise room, rec room with small kitchen and the other usual rooms, living , dining and kitchen.

[elcheapo]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

1475 square feet was exactly what we needed and thats what we bought

[Firefly]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Anything smaller than 1000 sq ft to me is small. I would love a 1400 sq ft house.

[cercis]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

1475 square feet was exactly what we needed and thats what we bought

Just out of curiosity, is there a formula you used to figure what you needed or was that a comfort thing?

I remember coming up with a formula once, I think it was something like 200sqft/person plus 600sqft for common areas. But that was my own formula.

[pyotr]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Unless you want to play at being Raskolnikoff, my formula is 750 sq ft per person. I've lived in apartments smaller than this and it was miserable.

[Ima saver]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

I have a studio apt. above one of my garages. I can't imagine anyone living in anything that small.

[cercis]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Pyotr - that's insane. How can any one person need that much space? I mean, sure if it's only ONE person, maybe, but when you have a house, you don't need duplicate kitchens and living rooms. You don't need a bathroom for each person, etc.

So, for a family of four you really think you need 3,000sqft?

A GOOD sized bedroom is 200sqft (and that's actually a lot larger than any I ever had up until now) so if each person has one good sized bedroom to use to get away and then you have 600-1000sqft of common space (kitchen, bathrooms, living room, den, etc) I can't imagine how someone would feel at all deprived or cramped.

Ima, my family of four lived pretty comfortably in 840sqft. We would have been even more comfortable if we had decluttered more.

[pyotr]

Re: How big of a house do you need?

Let me adjust my formula. Make that 1000 sq feet per person. Actually I'm with ImaSaver on this one - you need ideally 1600sq ft per person, but it's a hassle to do all that cleaning.