I've been watching those shows where people go house hunting on TV.
Lately, it has been mostly young couples looking for their first homes.... one in particular was looking for a 4-bedroom home with a media room, formal livingroom and dining room, 3 bathrooms etc...
They were planning to live in it for two years (he's military on a 2-year assignment), and they had no kids -- nor was she pregnant.
The couldn't find one that suited them, so they ended up building a new house --
A new house they'd live in for 2 years, without any kids... AND, he's going to be on assignment a lot during that 2-years, so she'll be there BY HERSELF, in a 4 bedroom home.
Why do they need all that space? Why heat and cool it? Why build a new huge house someone else will then be compelled to buy for his bachelor pad -- or for the dog to live in while they build a house across the street?..
They had a nice down payment and could afford a mortgage of about $250,000. Why not buy a nice condo or townhouse that fits them -- which would have cost them about $150,000 -- and with their down payment, their mortgage would have been about $70,000. Instead, they bought a place that made their mortgage $223,000 -- -over three times what they would have financed had they bought a place appropriate to their actual needs...
Am I crazy for wanting to buy something that is just big enough for me, Hubby and 3 cats? 1 bedroom + den is big enough for us. Should I be wanting a big house in the suburbs?
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I have often wondered by my MIL bought a cavernous three bedroom house are she got divorced (and then hates living in it alone...) and with her, it was two things. One, she set up two of the bedrooms for her younger two sons (both in their 20's). make of that what you will. As an aside, it also helps make the argument for all of us visiting her since she has the biggest house and can accommodate everyone.
two, she says she thinks it will be easier to sell a larger house. families are looking for at least three bedrooms, so they would never look at a two bedroom. gotta have at least three. Apparently.
that said, there have got to be plenty of single people in the market for a one or two bedroom condo or townhouse, which seems like a viable option to me. If I were going to be on my own a lot, I'd rather be in a smaller space with less upkeep (yard work and the like). Point being, I've heard the argument for the bigger house and I still kind of don't get it.
These people are the same ones who end up in forclosure because they buy more house than they need. People have this idea that they have to have a big house.
What seeeking solace said...
And I love it when they go into what looks like a ballroom-sized bedroom, sniff, and say "our furniture won't fit in here."
My bedroom is 10 x 11! I barely fit in there.
But if they bought the house they actually NEEDED, people might think that was all they could "afford," and that wouldn't do at all. (Not that many folks who take out $250,000 mortgages can actually "afford" the house they buy.)
We have a two-bedroom, 1300 square foot house. It would be nice to have another bathroom, more closets and perhaps a little room/nook to use as a study. Otherwise, though, that's plenty of space for the three of us. Still, it'll be a liability when we have to sell. People who want 2 BRs don't want the yard.
My aunt, in her 70s, moved from a small 3BR/1BA to a big (like twice as big) 3 or 4 BR house with a big DR, a den, an exercise room, and a giant yard. I said that I thought it made more sense to move to a smaller place, and she replied, "No, because you have to room for your kids and grandkids to stay." Her three children all live in town--one a block away. Of her grandchildren, only one lives more than an hour away. Who is staying in those bedrooms?
We have a king sized bed, so it took a bit of geometry for us to put it into our bedroom, but it works -- and for goodness sakes, if you have a ton of furniture and it doesn't fit, get rid of it!!
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