EnjoyIt wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:38 am
Normchad wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:21 am
mffl wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:47 am
I'm shocked at the number of replies strongly opposed to even a moderately sized home (i.e. 3000sqft). Is there anyone here who has a big home and likes it?
Personally, we're in a 4000sqft home with 4 kids and looking to upsize. Certainly we could end up regretting it, but we already don't regret the 4000sqft home, so we have some prior data on how it might work out for us.
To each his own, I suppose. I do appreciate hearing others' opinions as we're thinking about a change. Good stuff.
The wife and I live alone in the 6000 sq. Ft. Chad Palace.
It’s fine.
Don’t love it, but don’t hate it either. The heating and cooling bills seem perfectly reasonable to me.
But honestly, it is a waste. I never go upstairs. I never go downstairs. We only use about 1200 square. Ft on a regular basis.
I don’t buy big houses because I like big houses. Rather, for the places I want to be, suitable small houses just don’t exist.
Can you please elaborate on the bolded statement. How is it possible that there are no houses less than 6000 sqft in your area? What makes that area so different? I ask because in a 1 mile radius around my 5000sqft house there are homes ranging from 2000 to 10,000 sqft.
A lot depends on the area. In a lot of high end areas, every house is going to be 5K+ sq. ft. Likewise, in a lot of areas, there's simply no demand for 2K sq. ft. houses, which are considered starter houses.
There are many areas and subdivisions that actually prohibit lots below a certain size and houses below 3K (some set the minimum threshold at 5K) sq. ft.
As I mentioned above, people who talk about larger houses always being more expensive to own and maintain typically don't quite understand the considerations that account for certain categories of expenses, which frequently don't have all that much to do with the square footage. They also frequently don't understand what appeals to people about larger houses, as they keep thinking that a larger house must have more rooms that don't get used.
Quite often, larger houses don't necessarily have more rooms, or, if they do, they're not the countless empty bedrooms that some people think of. Instead, they may have things like more bathrooms, so that each bedroom may have its own full bathroom, which is something that tends to be a highly desirable feature in every price range. A larger house may have a dedicated office (or two), which is something that people in smaller houses are now paying a premium for creating, as many people have been forced to work from home and will continue to do so. The bedrooms themselves may be larger and they may have larger closets. The master bathrooms may be more spacious, as are master closets. There may be a dedicated entertainment area, such as a true media room, a home gym, a play room, etc...
The cost of furnishing a larger house isn't necessarily higher, as a large bedroom won't exactly cause you to put three beds in it. You can certainly spend more on higher end furnishings, but that's a matter of personal preferences, which has very little to do with the square footage. There are plenty of people in smaller places who spend a small fortune furnishing them and, because of the square footage limitations, are limited in the types of furnishings that they can use. As I mentioned above, your insurance costs may actually be the same or lower, and you may be able to obtain a significantly better, more comprehensive insurance policy, which is not something that is ever available on smaller and less expensive places. Your taxes will generally be higher, as will your cleaning costs (or, if you do it yourself, it'll obviously take you longer to do so). Your utility costs will frequently be about the same and may even be lower, as it all depends on the quality of construction, insulation, etc... The same goes for the overall upkeep, as higher quality materials that frequently are incorporated into larger, higher end houses can also be much more durable.
In other words, a larger house doesn't have to be the money pit that some posters here mistakenly think every large house is.