Do you think homes are getting way too big?

I think if you scratch the surface you’ll find that many of the people in those big homes are struggling just as hard to keep a roof over their heads.


Poverty is definitely a serious problem but I believe a greater problem for the average person is understanding needs vs wants, impulse control, the inability to manage money, etc…

I see a very disturbing trend of people that believe the government should be responsible for their comfort and care instead of looking at what they can do to help themselves.
 
My wife would think it, I don't. If some billionaires have the money to build and maintain them including the complete staff (cooks, house maids, gardeners, chauffeurs, etc.) I don't have a problem with it.

Although I'm not rich, I always favour capitalism over socialism and communism.
 

Aunt Bea said:
I think if you scratch the surface you’ll find that many of the people in those big homes are struggling just as hard to keep a roof over their heads.


Poverty is definitely a serious problem but I believe a greater problem for the average person is understanding needs vs wants, impulse control, the inability to manage money, etc…

I see a very disturbing trend of people that believe the government should be responsible for their comfort and care instead of looking at what they can do to help themselves.
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One of the "Wealthy Suburbs" here in Perth - Cottesloe. Overlooking the Indian Ocean.
Average price on Marine Parade is AU$5.3 million.
Every time I drive that road, I never see anyone inside the houses.
Too busy earning money to afford the mortgage.
Sure, a percentage would pay upfront.
 
Bretrick said:
One of the "Wealthy Suburbs" here in Perth - Cottesloe. Overlooking the Indian Ocean.
Average price on Marine Parade is AU$5.3 million.
Every time I drive that road, I never see anyone inside the houses.
Too busy earning money to afford the mortgage.
Sure, a percentage would pay upfront.
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I used to drive by luxurious seasonal homes where I honestly believe that the caretakers enjoyed them more than the owners.
 
Our house, for three adults, is 2000 sq ft; 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, den, kitchen. living room, dining room. We never use those last two. We used to use them at Christmas when I had relatives coming, but no more. We prefer to watch TV and use the PC in this little den (it has the recliner and the napping sofa.) I use the third bedroom and its big table to do puzzles.

We could be just as happy in 1000 square feet, but I must have the huge, fenced in back yard for the 10 pound dog. (?)

I think builders need to rethink the traditional 3 bedroom house now that many families are much smaller. I would rather have two big bedrooms than three tiny ones. Some of the kids bedrooms are far too small. Formal dining rooms have gone out with the fine china and silver sets, that space can be used for other things.
 
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It's the complete opposite way around here..

New houses are getting to be so small....

I remember looking at a new build recently, and

the master bedroom had small built in wardrobes ( closets).. but was just big enough to take a double bed, but there was no space for drawers or anything else..


We;re so overcrowded, space is at a premium.. now.. and the govt have made a pledge for another Million and a half new homes by 2027.... it's shocking !
 
We are still building big homes. My house is 3800 square feet ranch style, which is small compared to homes being built in the new section with 5-6000 square feet. My family room is all but 1000 square feet. We would like to downsize, but prices still remain high in my area of Pennsylvania.
 
My clients live in those huge homes the OP speaks of.

Between 5000-8000 square feet, 4-5 bedrooms, a bathroom for each bedroom plus a downstairs powder room for guests, formal living and dining room, upstairs and downstairs den, study, sunroom etc.

All that room and two people live there. Kids gone, homes and families of their own. The kitchen, downstairs den, and master are the only rooms used.
 
We had one of those 2,1500 sq ft homes in Illinois. 4 bdrm 2.5 bath.
We did run 2 businesses out of it. My home day care downstairs where the family room and 1/2 bath was.
Hubby upstairs with his engraving business in one of those and I had a craft room in another.
We made use of every inch of that house. When we retired it was too big then and we sold it.
Not all the homes around us had businesses in them. There were a few who did work from home.
Those businesses in the home was great for tax purposes though.
 
Just me and 3 dogs alone in a 4bed, 3 bath, 2 living, 2 dining, 2300 sqf ft. Seems silly but downsizing in my area would not make sense. Smaller homes are at a premium price for the size with property tax and insurance. My home with the size and location, it is still cheaper for me to stay here, insurance and property tax is less than moving to a smaller home.

I have even looked at moving to another town, smaller but they have a higher property tax rate. The smaller Texas towns are growing so fast that the property taxes are increasing to accommodate the need for schools and infostructure to support the growth.

I have found the perfect home, the price is ok, but the taxes yearly show to be above I want to pay. I have a request in to know what the tax rate would be for an over 65 and homestead exemption, We shall see.
 
The house I'm in now is just under 2000 sq ft, which isn't large by any standards, but still more room than I need. For many years, we lived in a 2 bedroom,1 bath frame house, with less than 800 sq ft. We had a 2 car garage which was half as big as the house :) and provided storage space the house lacked. Except for the fact the neighborhood declined, we probably wouldn't have moved. It was easy to clean, less money to cool and heat, less maintenance all around, lower insurance & taxes. It's what you get used to. When it was built, people were satisfied with less, now they expect more.
 
The largest home I lived in was 2K square feet, but there were five of us living in it. Now that I’m by myself I downsized to a condo that is 855 ft.² and it’s perfect for me. I love having a smaller place. I actually am uncomfortable if a home is too big so I could never live in a huge home by myself or even with one other person.
 
My house is 2000 sq feet and I live in less than half, my bedroom/bath and kitchen/ laundry room...my bedroom is large with glass doors/windows across the back that I can see my back yard and a big portion of my property. Even though it is too big, I love it here and would not want to live anywhere else.
 
Well. Im one of the guilty ones. Just me and two cats in a two story 4000 sf house.
In my defense we paid $50k for this house in 1980. It was cheap because it was a former nursing home.
And it was so big that nobody wanted it. I wanted it because I like old houses and its in a perfect location.
Its in the country but its a mile from the freeway. And its close to everything.

I did look into downsizing. I dont care for whats out there. Its all new. Ranches and split levels and condos.
When the husband got sick we moved downstairs. I have plenty of space on the first floor.
A bath and the laundry is on the first floor. And the back door has no steps to the outside.

My house is paid for. I could net a chunk if I sold it but the money would just sit in savings.
I like my house and my stuff. Im not ready to move yet.
 
Homes are bigger than many need but seem to be what they want, or maybe what think they need. In my area it's been going on for over twenty years, and they're still being built so I see no sign of economic uncertainty.

My home, which I built in 1988, is around 1,850 sq. ft., tiny compared to most. Sure it was tight when we were a family of four but now it's just me so bigger than I really need.
 
againstthegrain said:
Home size is partly a function of land prices as developers pay more for property the projects need to be more costly to insure big profits so the size of the homes built increases.
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Yes I've read that the builders just won't build smaller homes because there is less profit for them. Also, when people complain that a single income in the past could afford a home, they forget what size those homes were.

Homes when I was born:
house I was conceived in.jpg
normal homes back in the day.jpg
 
HoneyNut said:
Yes I've read that the builders just won't build smaller homes because there is less profit for them. Also, when people complain that a single income in the past could afford a home, they forget what size those homes were.

Homes when I was born:
View attachment 458627
View attachment 458628
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Those houses are pretty close to the size house I live in now but I'm pretty sure the floor plan of those are a lot better.
 
We have a large home. Too large for 2 people. It’s a 3,000 square foot home but only 2 bedrooms.i rarely go downstairs exactjy to tend the the fire or do laundry.
If and when we have company, we have a blow up bed and a pull out bed in our sectional couch. It’s perfect for conpany since there’s a washroom down there..
 
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I have sat and listened to younger couples wanting a bigger house so each child could have their own room (because they never did).
Heard how they wanted full recliner sofas and bigger tv's so they needed a larger living room so they wouldn't be tripping on each other.
On and on all the reasons they really needed a bigger house. Then change the subject and ask them "What you been up to lately?"
Well we went to movies this and that night, went to mall this day, to the zoo, to a concert, to a ballgame, went to here or there for a
weekend trip, to chuckie cheese.... and of course working longer hours lately.
and I am sorry you have to ask silently ... Why do you need a bigger home and house payment when you appear to not ever
want to be home to take care of it? Very likely if you get that bigger house it will eat up allll that entertainment money, can you even
stand to be at home with each other? Guess you gotta dream or life isn't worth living.
 
I've lived primarily in my head my whole life.

The strange thing is that while my head has definitely gotten big over the years,
I'm not as happy about it as I used to be! I used to be glad about it and point out
to everyone how big it was... now, not so much.

I am having difficulty finding things lately... it seems to have gotten too big to manage
on my own anymore, so I'm trying to down-size into something much humbler.
 

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