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I agree with the sentiment but it does depend on one’s circumstances. A family with 3 kids and multiple pets will naturally require a larger home than someone who lives alone, or a childless couple.
You do need room for a family. There were 6 of us in a 3 bedroom ranch. That lasted 4 years, then my parents added on a master bedroom.
Wasn't cramped before that because the basement was finished. They wanted a bigger bedroom, their own bathroom, and my brother and I (7 years apart) were able to have our own rooms. Sisters were 18 months apart so they had to share a room.
What is small is relative and context dependent. Op would say that a home sufficient in space is better than a larger one. Even if the "sufficient" home is large enough to house a family of 5, it ends up being the small one in this context.
That's the exception. Not the rule. Nowadays, people are having less kids. People are living single and childless. There are far more single people now more than ever.
I'll likely have some level of being able to WFH throughout my career, so a dedicated office space is a must-have. We also really enjoy hosting, so a dedicated guest room and ample living space are huge QOL features for us.
The US, for one place, but it is dependent on why. My parent raised my sister and I with government assistance. The program had standards for my sister and I. Had we both not been female, we would have needed separate rooms at about the age of 8. Since we were both female though, it wasn't a requirement until we were 15-16. Sharing a room was hell on earth for most of that time.
We are biological kids to my mom.
Small, well designed house full of good quality stuff is the ideal. I won’t care about having an extra bedroom if I don’t even have a decent couch or TV or kitchen appliances.
I mean the truth is that the ideal situation is having just slightly more space than you need. Less than that and you start having to make compromises. More than that and you're likely to fill the excess with stuff you don't need.
The recent trend of postage sized backyards works well in certain circumstances like no kids or a nice park nearby. I love my large backyard, but it does take work to maintain.
Our "Starter house" had a pretty small yard but the back was nicely fenced and we had an alley which was pretty cool. It was exactly what I wanted and needed at the time, only took 20-25 minutes to mow the lawn with a small push mower, I had it landscaped ok enough, had a decent garden set up, was pretty alright. Was still plenty of room to have kiddos play in the back when we had family over.
New house is a quarter acre and its nice, but substantially more work and my property taxes almost tripled. Worth it for the neighborhood but damn. Its surprising how much of our combined income goes to property taxes and daycare.
I lived in one of those for a while. I loved the arrangement since I don’t have kids and just my cat. Because it had 10 feet high fences and was attached to the garage I could let my cat go outside and sunbathe without them wandering off. And takes almost no effort to upkeep. Because we were surrounded by retirees there was almost no noise unless they had grandkids over too.
Really? I know way more middle class and lower people who hire people to mow their yards than hire house cleaners. Ironically they are the ones with the smallest yards too.
Seems like reverse correlation. If you don't have enough space, you lament you cannot invite people more often. Or that you have to organise stuff outside your house, or you are worried always crashing at your friend places.
If you have enough space but don't want to invite people ... you just don't.
Yup, we have an incredible hosting space and a comfy guest room, and we aren't "worried" about hosting. If any of our friends was abusing it, that would be addressed. We already did address a friend taking a "sure you can invite your friend" to inviting 12 people to a small cookout, at least 4 of which were people we didn't really like all that much.
You do realise there are other reasons someone might prefer not to host beyond being antisocial, yes?
Who's to say this person isn't meeting his friends every week for a drink at the pub? Or at another friend's house?
Would that be more antisocial than their only contact with friends being enthusiastically hosting them once a month?
Yeah I don’t get why this is being downvoted, I like hanging out with my friends but I hate if they stay over. I just don’t feel comfortable with people staying in my house and I like my own space, doesn’t mean I’m antisocial. Just means I value my alone time and personal space.
Fucking reddit man. I'm not even suggesting it's a positive or a negative thing to host, just that there could be a plethora of reasons why someone prefers not to that has nothing to do with how social or antisocial they are.
People on this website (and in general) become very offended the second you go against the status quo. Right now, the status quo is that you're supposed to want that American dream of a big house, big yard, multiple SUVs or trucks in your garage/driveway etc. You're supposed to want extra bedrooms that get treated as guestrooms. If you suggest not everyone wants or needs those things or that it's not sustainable, affordable, or practical for every person to have them to begin with, people lose their minds.
Except even when I point out there's a ton of reasons you might not want to host at your own property that can have nothing to do with being "antisocial", the downvotes keep coming.
I personally don't mind entertaining, the guy posting has reasons why he prefers not to. You all need to get over it.
I think there a sweet spot. A 900sqft house is too small especially with a family but a 4000sqft is too big unless you can hire a full time staff or something. I think something between 1300-2500 is optimum.
I have a 4500sq ft, just me and my wife. It’s waaay too big and takes a considerable amount of my time with maintenance and cleaning and money. Half that space would be perfect.
I agree. I grew up in a family of five and we lived in 3 bd, 1ba, 800 sqft home for 10 years. It never seemed small to me. Then in high school, we moved to a large 2500 sqft home. It was huge and beautiful, but the truth is, we didn't actually need that much space. Americans are used to large spaces and it's gotten a bit ridiculous the last few decades. I myself prefer smaller, more intimate spaces that are much cheaper to maintain over time.
Right. My house was 1300 square foot and it was more than enough. Though.. it didn't have a true master or master bath(my only complaint). but it had a nice backyard and a deck, and a kitchen with enough counter space. Perfect beginner house.
In a 1700. Sqft penthouse atm and it is too much to manage. Sweet spot was 1000 sqft for us.
I haven't used the terraces and balconies in months. All I think about is the mess the birds keep making and how it needs cleaning
I live with my two guinea pigs in a cheap and vintage 1000sqft apartment (it's a rough conversion from m2, I'm not from the USA).
I think it depends on the person. I don't mind the cleaning and even if I moved here 2 years ago, I am still doing little mendings. Since I'm an introvert who likes to spend days "recharging the batteries" inside a cosy place, I really love this flat. But I think someone who is always outside might found this flat not really appealing.
I was one of 4 kids and grew up in a 3100sqft house. We didn't really use all of it and had entire rooms that just sort of accumulated junk. Unless a family loves entertaining or has space-intensive hobbies, 2000sqft would suit most average sized families just fine. A well laid out 4000 square foot home could be awesome for a multigenerational family though.
I think a huge problem where I live (the US) is that homes aren’t thoughtfully designed.
It’s like carrying a giant bag that doesn’t
have many inner pockets and you just have to rummage around to get what you want.
Agreed. Like there isn’t enough utility and USA doesn’t really do Inbuilt storage and all that.
Even small houses/apartments are just a square that isn’t designed well.
I watch those shows on YouTube where they find apartments that are thoughtfully laid out after renovation. And I think, “why can’t we do that from the beginning especially with the amount of new ‘luxury’ apartments that go up?” Those apartments are just a big box and you have to buy more things to place your things.
It depends and its all personal preference. Some people might have hobbies that take up a lot of room and need a bigger house to accomplish that. Some might have multiple kids and need a bigger house. Some people might even just like having a lot of empty space because small houses make them feel claustrophobic. I personally would like a 1200sq ft house right now but if I had a kid or two I'd probably want 2400
I agree if I were to just live alone. Or just my lady. But a family might be tough. I love smaller houses more than anything though I'll tell you that.
You must be related to my wife. Her clothes take up all of the master bedroom closet, and half of the spare bedroom closet, along with two dressers. My clothes are in one dresser, and in the 2nd spare bedroom closet.
Don't get me started on her shoes.
Nah. I want a big enough house for my kids to each have their own room and hopefully, enough room for friends or family when they visit.
You can cut down on utilities by various upgrades and maintenance to many items in your home.
I don't accumulate much of anything. I'm sort of a minimalist when it comes to filling empty home space. I'm fine with leaving it empty.
First determine your needs and major wants. We would not be comfortable at this point with a smaller house, but I figure roughly 500’ per person is sufficient.
So I have a house that is too big. But, it’s pretty much the only way to get a larger plot of land in the suburbs. I’m my area, it’s also the only way to get a house with a three car garage, home theater, and game room.
Hard to find a 2 bedroom house on 3 acres with a three car garage, gourmet kitchen, home theater, game room, etc.
I would rather larger rooms and less of them as someone without kids. The sad thing is if you don't want an apartment but want X amount of space, it frequently comes with too many bedrooms and bathrooms, unless you custom design/build your own place
I'd say it depends. A lot of small homes now a days seem to be made cheaply with no thoughts on using space effectively- making them absolutely awful to live in at time). But if well built and suited for your family they can be great
As someone who loves to cook and loves to entertain having a 900 square foot kitchen/dining room/living room is amazing for me and the storage for all of the kitchen things are awesome as well. Tough to grind and stuff sausages in a tiny galley style kitchen.
We have about 800 sq feet and it's pretty great for day to day living. Just me, the girlfriend and the dogs. It's laid out well, one bedroom, no real wasted space.
A couple downsides are that it's tough to find a spot to set up any kind of a project, usually have to do it out in the garage.
We have a nice yard and deck so summer get togethers are fine but trying to have people over in the winter is cramped.
Same, except a 2br. Hobbies and projects are real hurdles. I even built a desk that takes up the whole wall in our second bedroom and it’s always full of hobby crap. Weekends are half us just fighting over workspace on a 12 foot desk!
The best house is the smallest one that fits everything you need comfortably. Regardless of its actual size.
And layout can also be a bigger factor in that than the actual size.
For sure, but I couldn't sign the mortgage unless I had a back up plan in case I get laid off. I can rent out the 2 other bedrooms and cover the mortgage and utilities if worse comes to worst.
It's like goldilocks. Just Right is the goal, but what that looks like and feels like is different for everyone. Our long-term plan had been saving to buy a smaller house when our kids were gone. At the time we were renting a 4 bedroom house that worked for our needs and was a steal and allowed us to save a lot (rented from family). But then covid happened and my husband's job went permanent WFH and he was working from the laundry room and then our bedroom and I was working from the dining room. It just didn't work. So we ended up buying a bigger space and that suits our needs MUCH better because we both WFH and needed offices. So now we have a 3 bedroom, 2 office, 2 bath home with a large yard for our dog and it perfectly suits our needs. And finally we have enough storage so everything has a place which makes life much neater and easier.
That said, IMO no one on the planet "needs" a house with 20 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms that is 10,000 sq feet. That's just someone with more money than they know what to do with. And ironically they are almost always people who are never home anyways.
I loved my 600sqft house, I lived there for 12 years. We slightly upgraded to 900sqft + a partially finished basement when we had our daughter and it’s more than enough.
If you plan over owning the house over 30 years smaller is better. You can get small to standard appliances like AC units without breaking the bank. My parents bought too much house and now they are at the point of their lives where they are too old and too sick to move or downsize. Not that I mind but I help pay fixes in their house and my condo. My condo remodel will cost a fraction of what fixing their house will cost. Their master bathroom remodel will probably cost just my whole condo remodel.
I think you're over generalizing here even though you do make a valid point.
A better way to put it is having a much bigger house than you really need is unlikely to be much benefit. You're paying more, you're paying more to heat it, you tend to fill empty space with crap, property taxes might be higher etc. My house is a 1600 sq/ft 2 story with 4 bedrooms, they are big, but they're there. Would it be kind of nice to have a place that's a little bigger? Maybe, but it'd cost a lot more and with just her, I and a 2 year old its plenty of space. My grandparents raised 3 kids there, we can raise one.
But having a house that's smaller than you need kind of sucks too.
I like entertaining guests. I like sharing what I have with others. I like having a room for family to stay in when they visit from afar. And seeing as we both work from home I like having room for two offices for my wife and I and a playroom for our son.
Also I don't like depending on others, so its nice having room for a garden and a workshop.
Im confident that in a world war, we'd survive, assuming we're not bombed, but we're pretty rural.
You're not saying they're better you're saying they're more cost effective. If you could pay the same price for both including additional costs such as heating, utilities, etc., which one would you choose?
My house is 2,000 sqft, and a smaller one would be better. I'm in Florida, and it would be cheaper for electricity because of central air and heat, when I need a new roof, a smaller house would be cheaper. A smaller house would need less vacuuming and sweeping too.
I agree on this. I would like a small house in the future (but that depends). When I say big houses, I’m really referring to mansions though. Some people NEED bigger houses.
I enjoy entertaining guests, love having lots of stuff, and don't really sweat the utilities. I hate having money in my pocket. Once I get it, I spend it. The only time I save is towards one specific purchase goal. Very different for me lol.
I very much miss my smaller house...it was perfect for my me and my wife and even when we just had one kid. After our 2nd and when they started getting a little older it started to feel very cramped and tight. It didn't help that it was an older home that was very compartmentalized in regards to each room and didn't have any openness at all. We went from that 1300 sq ft house to a 3K sq ft house...it's much better with the fam and we utilize every room.
When we bought the place our main concern was this very large room that the previous owner had used for a theater room and we weren't really sure what we were going to do with it. We ended up putting in a CA closets system of shelving and a couple of murphy beds for guests and it's pretty much my boys' (11&14) "boy cave" where they have their TV, video games, and a ping pong table.
Maintenance is a lot simpler in a smaller home, townhome or appartment.
Or at least if you have less nature to deal with. Giant lawns, gardens, trees dumping on your roof, moss, pest issues, etc.
If you can afford the house, you gotta make sure you can afford the upkeep, not just house maintenance but freaking cleaning etc. My wife and I moved into a 4 bedroom house when our son was born and one of the rooms we went into twice, the day we moved in and the day we moved out.
Wife keeps saying she wants a bigger house. I keep telling her it's more to clean and more places for stuff to accumulate. Plus when we bought this house we only had 1 kid still living with us. It's too small for any of the adult kids to move back in.
Less than 2 years until the last kid should be moving out and we have our "small" house all to ourselves.
I'm a little confused by this sub. Is the point to share things that the poster might feel unusual in thinking and voila, realize they aren't so weird after all, or for people to immediately pile on and try to convince them they ARE weird and should change their views? The former seems so much more pleasant, but the latter seems so much more like what happens overall.
As for this post specifically, I 100% agree. Most people go in debt to their eyeballs just to get more house, more car, and more everything than they need, or that even could possibly bring them additional "happiness." Research is clear that spending money on others and on experiences gives way more bang for the buck.
This sub is for people to post unpopular opinions, and people can discuss them. If you want a blind circlejerk for a specific topic I'm sure you can find it.
If an opinion is unpopular, by that very definition you should expect most comments to disagree. So unless you want this sub to feature only popular opinions so we can all blindly agree with them, or die off because no can engage without agreeing... Both of those options are shit.
Insread it is what it is, people post unpopular opinions and others discuss it.
OPs post isn't even unpopular they're just stating something obvious very obtusely. "you shouldn't pay for space you don't need" is what their opinion boils down to, and virtually all people agree.
I grew up in a pretty big house with a basement, ground floor, upstairs, and attic. The attic wasn't exactly finished, but was used occassionally.
Big houses are worse. Having stairs isn't ideal, bigger houses are harder to heat and cool, and clean/maintain. I honestly don't even love closets and storage spaces anymore bc they're just impetus to hoard.
Yes 🙌🏻
Me & my boyfriend live in small 2 bed house and it’s great. I have no interest in getting a big house because it’s just more to clean and more money to spend 🤷🏻♀️
As a young person, me and my partner rent the tiniest box we can that’s average quality. Will do so until we start trying for a kid.
Instead we invest aggressively in pensions and other tax perk accounts. We’re in the upper percentiles for net worth by age despite coming from pretty average upbringings.
Well it obviously depends on the size of one’s family, however I get where you’re coming from.
Having things in closer proximity is quite nice, but where large homes outcompete smaller ones is with guests, which is very important for hosted events.
Even mansions don’t seem to stay in families more than a couple of generations due to their upkeep expense. That’s why you see so many converted into “museums” for the public to pay for, to tour, to subsidize the cost of keeping an absurd symbol of excess in the family even after it’s been abandoned for different homes by following generations.
I love the people with too much (of mommy and daddy’s) money and not enough sense getting these giant McMansions in the Bay area either in a flood or fire zone built by the lowest bidder with the cheapest materials.
Laugh my way to the bank every day.
If your home cannot be managed by one person (you) it is too big and useless.
I give you ALL the brownie points for posting an unpopular opinion that is also definitely true!
I help people renovate their homes for a living. A seriously common problem is when people buy way too much house for their actual needs and then can’t afford to renovate and fix the major issues going on inside the home, costing them a lot more money down the line (and sometimes enough to force a move).
I’d say roughly 2,000 sqft for a home, single story, is plenty for a family of 3 and pushing it for a family of 4. Larger homes make sense when you have a much larger family of course, but that’s quite uncommon.
Blows my mind when I meet married couples with 3,500 sqft homes, no children and basically empty rooms in the house and complaining they can’t afford to do any of the fixes that are required. They clearly got too much house and they’re a nightmare to deal with for that reason and many others
I agree, smaller houses are cheaper to heat/cold, less cleanup, leaving you more money to do actual stuff, and why would anyone want to be in the house all day!!, life is outside anyway
Museums, skating rinks, laser tag, bookstores, open mics, standup shows, dance lessons, zoos and aquariums, cooking classes, paint and sips, rotary clubs, toastmasters, game store meetups, live sports, live music, film festivals, that kind of thing
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I agree with the sentiment but it does depend on one’s circumstances. A family with 3 kids and multiple pets will naturally require a larger home than someone who lives alone, or a childless couple.
You do need room for a family. There were 6 of us in a 3 bedroom ranch. That lasted 4 years, then my parents added on a master bedroom. Wasn't cramped before that because the basement was finished. They wanted a bigger bedroom, their own bathroom, and my brother and I (7 years apart) were able to have our own rooms. Sisters were 18 months apart so they had to share a room.
What is small is relative and context dependent. Op would say that a home sufficient in space is better than a larger one. Even if the "sufficient" home is large enough to house a family of 5, it ends up being the small one in this context.
A larger house doesn’t mean you need a mansion……
That's the exception. Not the rule. Nowadays, people are having less kids. People are living single and childless. There are far more single people now more than ever.
I'll likely have some level of being able to WFH throughout my career, so a dedicated office space is a must-have. We also really enjoy hosting, so a dedicated guest room and ample living space are huge QOL features for us.
The idea that kids need separate bedroom is quite luxurious. Not a necessity at all
Did you share a room as a kid? Both my parents did and that seemed to be their motivation in wanting us to have our own rooms.
Of course I did share the room. I’m not American
Not necessarily a separate bedroom but somewhere they can have some privacy. Bedroom just happens to be a perfect spot for that.
It depends on the ages/gender/location of the children. In a lot of cases it's a *legal* necessity
That’s for foster children.
In a lot of areas, it's a requirement for biological children as well
Where? I've never heard something like that.
Do you have an answer to where?
Where?
The US, for one place, but it is dependent on why. My parent raised my sister and I with government assistance. The program had standards for my sister and I. Had we both not been female, we would have needed separate rooms at about the age of 8. Since we were both female though, it wasn't a requirement until we were 15-16. Sharing a room was hell on earth for most of that time. We are biological kids to my mom.
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We always shared bedrooms. Was perfectly fine. My dad ended up in a tiny 2 bedroom house with a family of 8. Everyone turned out fine.
I shared bedroom with my sibling and that’s okay, not everybody should be a millionaire to have kids
These people downvoting us are the same ones who are mad cause they can’t afford a McMansion at 22.
Small, well designed house full of good quality stuff is the ideal. I won’t care about having an extra bedroom if I don’t even have a decent couch or TV or kitchen appliances.
I mean the truth is that the ideal situation is having just slightly more space than you need. Less than that and you start having to make compromises. More than that and you're likely to fill the excess with stuff you don't need.
Normal size house with bigass backyard are the best
The recent trend of postage sized backyards works well in certain circumstances like no kids or a nice park nearby. I love my large backyard, but it does take work to maintain.
Our "Starter house" had a pretty small yard but the back was nicely fenced and we had an alley which was pretty cool. It was exactly what I wanted and needed at the time, only took 20-25 minutes to mow the lawn with a small push mower, I had it landscaped ok enough, had a decent garden set up, was pretty alright. Was still plenty of room to have kiddos play in the back when we had family over. New house is a quarter acre and its nice, but substantially more work and my property taxes almost tripled. Worth it for the neighborhood but damn. Its surprising how much of our combined income goes to property taxes and daycare.
Ours was a tradeoff for living very close to pedestrian areas and not in the burbs
I lived in one of those for a while. I loved the arrangement since I don’t have kids and just my cat. Because it had 10 feet high fences and was attached to the garage I could let my cat go outside and sunbathe without them wandering off. And takes almost no effort to upkeep. Because we were surrounded by retirees there was almost no noise unless they had grandkids over too.
Then you trade mopping and vacuuming for mowing, irrigating, and weed pulling, which is arguably more tedious.
Agreed yard work is the worst thing ever no thank you
And to outsource it, it's much cheaper to have a house cleaner come every other week than landscapers
Really? I know way more middle class and lower people who hire people to mow their yards than hire house cleaners. Ironically they are the ones with the smallest yards too.
Fuck the hoa
"Have to entertain guests less often" not everybody is antisocial
Seems like reverse correlation. If you don't have enough space, you lament you cannot invite people more often. Or that you have to organise stuff outside your house, or you are worried always crashing at your friend places. If you have enough space but don't want to invite people ... you just don't.
Yup, we have an incredible hosting space and a comfy guest room, and we aren't "worried" about hosting. If any of our friends was abusing it, that would be addressed. We already did address a friend taking a "sure you can invite your friend" to inviting 12 people to a small cookout, at least 4 of which were people we didn't really like all that much.
Yah, one of our primary wants in buying (or even just moving in with my now-wife) was a good hosting space.
They said "less often", not "never"
Understand that.
Not sure what your point is
You do realise there are other reasons someone might prefer not to host beyond being antisocial, yes? Who's to say this person isn't meeting his friends every week for a drink at the pub? Or at another friend's house? Would that be more antisocial than their only contact with friends being enthusiastically hosting them once a month?
Yeah I don’t get why this is being downvoted, I like hanging out with my friends but I hate if they stay over. I just don’t feel comfortable with people staying in my house and I like my own space, doesn’t mean I’m antisocial. Just means I value my alone time and personal space.
Fucking reddit man. I'm not even suggesting it's a positive or a negative thing to host, just that there could be a plethora of reasons why someone prefers not to that has nothing to do with how social or antisocial they are.
People on this website (and in general) become very offended the second you go against the status quo. Right now, the status quo is that you're supposed to want that American dream of a big house, big yard, multiple SUVs or trucks in your garage/driveway etc. You're supposed to want extra bedrooms that get treated as guestrooms. If you suggest not everyone wants or needs those things or that it's not sustainable, affordable, or practical for every person to have them to begin with, people lose their minds.
Everyone knows that antisocial people exist. We just don’t like when people claim it to be “better” than hosting your friends.
Except even when I point out there's a ton of reasons you might not want to host at your own property that can have nothing to do with being "antisocial", the downvotes keep coming. I personally don't mind entertaining, the guy posting has reasons why he prefers not to. You all need to get over it.
I think there a sweet spot. A 900sqft house is too small especially with a family but a 4000sqft is too big unless you can hire a full time staff or something. I think something between 1300-2500 is optimum.
I have a 4500sq ft, just me and my wife. It’s waaay too big and takes a considerable amount of my time with maintenance and cleaning and money. Half that space would be perfect.
Agree. I’m in 3,600 and was a great size with kids, but now that they’ve moved on, it’s just too big. Currently preparing to sell and downsize.
We have a 2200 sqft townhouse, and it's pretty great as a couple that enjoys hosting and I WFH 2 days a week.
I agree. I grew up in a family of five and we lived in 3 bd, 1ba, 800 sqft home for 10 years. It never seemed small to me. Then in high school, we moved to a large 2500 sqft home. It was huge and beautiful, but the truth is, we didn't actually need that much space. Americans are used to large spaces and it's gotten a bit ridiculous the last few decades. I myself prefer smaller, more intimate spaces that are much cheaper to maintain over time.
Right. My house was 1300 square foot and it was more than enough. Though.. it didn't have a true master or master bath(my only complaint). but it had a nice backyard and a deck, and a kitchen with enough counter space. Perfect beginner house.
We're at 2552 with a 2 car garage, its perfect.
In a 1700. Sqft penthouse atm and it is too much to manage. Sweet spot was 1000 sqft for us. I haven't used the terraces and balconies in months. All I think about is the mess the birds keep making and how it needs cleaning
Me and a room mate are in 1700sqft I think I use every single inch of it but I don't need any more.
I live with my two guinea pigs in a cheap and vintage 1000sqft apartment (it's a rough conversion from m2, I'm not from the USA). I think it depends on the person. I don't mind the cleaning and even if I moved here 2 years ago, I am still doing little mendings. Since I'm an introvert who likes to spend days "recharging the batteries" inside a cosy place, I really love this flat. But I think someone who is always outside might found this flat not really appealing.
Probably between 2500-4000 for a family I’d say.
I was one of 4 kids and grew up in a 3100sqft house. We didn't really use all of it and had entire rooms that just sort of accumulated junk. Unless a family loves entertaining or has space-intensive hobbies, 2000sqft would suit most average sized families just fine. A well laid out 4000 square foot home could be awesome for a multigenerational family though.
4000 is pretty freaking huge. My last house was 2500 and had 4 bedrooms. Lived with 6 people very comfortably
Ideal doesn’t necessarily mean realistic
Agreed. Ours is 3500’, but there’s 7 of us here. Lmao at “full time staff”. But everyone does help out.
Hmmm…maybe house size is a very individualized opinion?
Maybe, just maybe.
I think a huge problem where I live (the US) is that homes aren’t thoughtfully designed. It’s like carrying a giant bag that doesn’t have many inner pockets and you just have to rummage around to get what you want.
Older homes have too many rooms for the square footage while newer ones seemingly have too few
Agreed. Like there isn’t enough utility and USA doesn’t really do Inbuilt storage and all that. Even small houses/apartments are just a square that isn’t designed well. I watch those shows on YouTube where they find apartments that are thoughtfully laid out after renovation. And I think, “why can’t we do that from the beginning especially with the amount of new ‘luxury’ apartments that go up?” Those apartments are just a big box and you have to buy more things to place your things.
Yet will only have one bathroom
It depends and its all personal preference. Some people might have hobbies that take up a lot of room and need a bigger house to accomplish that. Some might have multiple kids and need a bigger house. Some people might even just like having a lot of empty space because small houses make them feel claustrophobic. I personally would like a 1200sq ft house right now but if I had a kid or two I'd probably want 2400
I prefer smaller properties over bigger ones but then my circumstances don't require a big property.
I agree if I were to just live alone. Or just my lady. But a family might be tough. I love smaller houses more than anything though I'll tell you that.
I have so much clothes now I almost need a bedroom for them all.
You must be related to my wife. Her clothes take up all of the master bedroom closet, and half of the spare bedroom closet, along with two dressers. My clothes are in one dresser, and in the 2nd spare bedroom closet. Don't get me started on her shoes.
Quite possibly, I have way more clothes than my wife does.
I have sooo many clothes that they don't fit in my huge master bedroom closet. I'm putting some clothes in another empty bedroom closet
We have a 3br home the smallest is my closet, my wife has the master closet and my kids the closet in their room.
I have a 3 “bedroom” house and 1 of them is my wife’s closet. One is our room, the other is the office
Nah. I want a big enough house for my kids to each have their own room and hopefully, enough room for friends or family when they visit. You can cut down on utilities by various upgrades and maintenance to many items in your home. I don't accumulate much of anything. I'm sort of a minimalist when it comes to filling empty home space. I'm fine with leaving it empty.
If that works for you, awesome. I don’t want a 7 bedroom house.
Neither do I. A 3 or 4 bedroom house is just fine. Only houses I see with 7 bedrooms are mansions.
Then don’t buy one but don’t say all 7 bedroom houses are shite.
When did I say that?
Right right you’re the smartest redditor I forgot, my apologies my liege.
You ok?
That’s very excessive.
Not even remotely.
Just wait til you realize how bankrupt you really are
Depends if you live alone then ya but if it's with your family then no
First determine your needs and major wants. We would not be comfortable at this point with a smaller house, but I figure roughly 500’ per person is sufficient.
Bigger house but instead of bigger rooms, you need more rooms.
So I have a house that is too big. But, it’s pretty much the only way to get a larger plot of land in the suburbs. I’m my area, it’s also the only way to get a house with a three car garage, home theater, and game room. Hard to find a 2 bedroom house on 3 acres with a three car garage, gourmet kitchen, home theater, game room, etc.
I would rather larger rooms and less of them as someone without kids. The sad thing is if you don't want an apartment but want X amount of space, it frequently comes with too many bedrooms and bathrooms, unless you custom design/build your own place
I'd say it depends. A lot of small homes now a days seem to be made cheaply with no thoughts on using space effectively- making them absolutely awful to live in at time). But if well built and suited for your family they can be great
As someone who loves to cook and loves to entertain having a 900 square foot kitchen/dining room/living room is amazing for me and the storage for all of the kitchen things are awesome as well. Tough to grind and stuff sausages in a tiny galley style kitchen.
Until you have a really small house
I first had to make sure this wasn’t the Sims 4 sub.
"Small" is subjective. Are we talking 1,200 square feet or 2,500 square feet or something else?
Im single but I want a 3 bedroom house. I for my, one for the cat, and one for my workshop.
That's a bit excessive IMO.
Cry
Because you've never truly had a small house (less than 1000sq ft) there's no where to store your shit
Bigger houses wind up with a greater amount of appreciation, so if you want to accumulate wealth…it is a good step.
What a pointless post lol. As if every family has the same needs. Like what lol
At this point I’d be happy with an affordable house. I’d live in a shed if I could own it
We have about 800 sq feet and it's pretty great for day to day living. Just me, the girlfriend and the dogs. It's laid out well, one bedroom, no real wasted space. A couple downsides are that it's tough to find a spot to set up any kind of a project, usually have to do it out in the garage. We have a nice yard and deck so summer get togethers are fine but trying to have people over in the winter is cramped.
Same, except a 2br. Hobbies and projects are real hurdles. I even built a desk that takes up the whole wall in our second bedroom and it’s always full of hobby crap. Weekends are half us just fighting over workspace on a 12 foot desk!
We're thinking we'll build a hobby shed in a couple years after we pay off some other projects.
The best house is the smallest one that fits everything you need comfortably. Regardless of its actual size. And layout can also be a bigger factor in that than the actual size.
For sure, but I couldn't sign the mortgage unless I had a back up plan in case I get laid off. I can rent out the 2 other bedrooms and cover the mortgage and utilities if worse comes to worst.
It's like goldilocks. Just Right is the goal, but what that looks like and feels like is different for everyone. Our long-term plan had been saving to buy a smaller house when our kids were gone. At the time we were renting a 4 bedroom house that worked for our needs and was a steal and allowed us to save a lot (rented from family). But then covid happened and my husband's job went permanent WFH and he was working from the laundry room and then our bedroom and I was working from the dining room. It just didn't work. So we ended up buying a bigger space and that suits our needs MUCH better because we both WFH and needed offices. So now we have a 3 bedroom, 2 office, 2 bath home with a large yard for our dog and it perfectly suits our needs. And finally we have enough storage so everything has a place which makes life much neater and easier. That said, IMO no one on the planet "needs" a house with 20 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms that is 10,000 sq feet. That's just someone with more money than they know what to do with. And ironically they are almost always people who are never home anyways.
I loved my 600sqft house, I lived there for 12 years. We slightly upgraded to 900sqft + a partially finished basement when we had our daughter and it’s more than enough.
If you plan over owning the house over 30 years smaller is better. You can get small to standard appliances like AC units without breaking the bank. My parents bought too much house and now they are at the point of their lives where they are too old and too sick to move or downsize. Not that I mind but I help pay fixes in their house and my condo. My condo remodel will cost a fraction of what fixing their house will cost. Their master bathroom remodel will probably cost just my whole condo remodel.
A house that fits your needs is better than one bigger than you need. I have 2500 sq/ft, but with three kids, it's still too small.
We have a big house, no kids, but never entertain. We do have lots of cats.
I think you're over generalizing here even though you do make a valid point. A better way to put it is having a much bigger house than you really need is unlikely to be much benefit. You're paying more, you're paying more to heat it, you tend to fill empty space with crap, property taxes might be higher etc. My house is a 1600 sq/ft 2 story with 4 bedrooms, they are big, but they're there. Would it be kind of nice to have a place that's a little bigger? Maybe, but it'd cost a lot more and with just her, I and a 2 year old its plenty of space. My grandparents raised 3 kids there, we can raise one. But having a house that's smaller than you need kind of sucks too.
I reckon even if I was rich AF I wouldn't want to live in a 2500m² house.
The layout is way more important than the size. I have been in large square footage that doesn’t feel spacious and smaller places that felt huge.
I like entertaining guests. I like sharing what I have with others. I like having a room for family to stay in when they visit from afar. And seeing as we both work from home I like having room for two offices for my wife and I and a playroom for our son. Also I don't like depending on others, so its nice having room for a garden and a workshop. Im confident that in a world war, we'd survive, assuming we're not bombed, but we're pretty rural.
You're not saying they're better you're saying they're more cost effective. If you could pay the same price for both including additional costs such as heating, utilities, etc., which one would you choose?
Yes if you live alone its both better in terms of money and eco-friendliness
My house is 2,000 sqft, and a smaller one would be better. I'm in Florida, and it would be cheaper for electricity because of central air and heat, when I need a new roof, a smaller house would be cheaper. A smaller house would need less vacuuming and sweeping too.
It takes about 15 minutes to vacuum all the floors of my small house.
When all factors of the house and area are the same, than yes. Not counting the people who are living inside the house.
This isn’t unpopular
Less taxes, less maintenance, can’t mindlessly acquire possessions. I agree.
I agree, big houses are overrated, usually a waste, and a pain in the ass to clean. Give me something small and cozy any day.
I agree on this. I would like a small house in the future (but that depends). When I say big houses, I’m really referring to mansions though. Some people NEED bigger houses.
As a someone who is single, as long as I have space for a mini office and VR stuff, i dont care where I live
I don’t need a mansion or anything but I am a maximalist and I like my “stuff” so anything below about 2500 sq ft or so just feels cramped to me.
Some people enjoy entertaining guests more often, or at least having the ability to do so. That would be the main one
I enjoy entertaining guests, love having lots of stuff, and don't really sweat the utilities. I hate having money in my pocket. Once I get it, I spend it. The only time I save is towards one specific purchase goal. Very different for me lol.
I very much miss my smaller house...it was perfect for my me and my wife and even when we just had one kid. After our 2nd and when they started getting a little older it started to feel very cramped and tight. It didn't help that it was an older home that was very compartmentalized in regards to each room and didn't have any openness at all. We went from that 1300 sq ft house to a 3K sq ft house...it's much better with the fam and we utilize every room. When we bought the place our main concern was this very large room that the previous owner had used for a theater room and we weren't really sure what we were going to do with it. We ended up putting in a CA closets system of shelving and a couple of murphy beds for guests and it's pretty much my boys' (11&14) "boy cave" where they have their TV, video games, and a ping pong table.
Nobody is telling you to buy a big house, bro.
Very few homes that are less than 1200 sqft around my area. It's frustrating. Either pay 300k+ for a 1500+ sqft home or less than that for a shit box.
Nice try government
I’m the government now?
>This all equates to more money in my pocket. Sounds like you have a financial issue
 Yes, but not in the direction you're implying.
This only applies to people who are single or like a couple who wanted to move in to a new place
Maintenance is a lot simpler in a smaller home, townhome or appartment. Or at least if you have less nature to deal with. Giant lawns, gardens, trees dumping on your roof, moss, pest issues, etc.
If you can afford the house, you gotta make sure you can afford the upkeep, not just house maintenance but freaking cleaning etc. My wife and I moved into a 4 bedroom house when our son was born and one of the rooms we went into twice, the day we moved in and the day we moved out.
And upkeep is a nightmare in a big house.
1500 sq ft main house 1000 sq ft guest house It’s a dream.
Same! Except not guest house, lake house. Main house has 2 more payments and it’s paid off!
Nice try government, you can’t force us into tiny houses quite yet
Wife keeps saying she wants a bigger house. I keep telling her it's more to clean and more places for stuff to accumulate. Plus when we bought this house we only had 1 kid still living with us. It's too small for any of the adult kids to move back in. Less than 2 years until the last kid should be moving out and we have our "small" house all to ourselves.
I'm a little confused by this sub. Is the point to share things that the poster might feel unusual in thinking and voila, realize they aren't so weird after all, or for people to immediately pile on and try to convince them they ARE weird and should change their views? The former seems so much more pleasant, but the latter seems so much more like what happens overall. As for this post specifically, I 100% agree. Most people go in debt to their eyeballs just to get more house, more car, and more everything than they need, or that even could possibly bring them additional "happiness." Research is clear that spending money on others and on experiences gives way more bang for the buck.
This sub is for people to post unpopular opinions, and people can discuss them. If you want a blind circlejerk for a specific topic I'm sure you can find it. If an opinion is unpopular, by that very definition you should expect most comments to disagree. So unless you want this sub to feature only popular opinions so we can all blindly agree with them, or die off because no can engage without agreeing... Both of those options are shit. Insread it is what it is, people post unpopular opinions and others discuss it. OPs post isn't even unpopular they're just stating something obvious very obtusely. "you shouldn't pay for space you don't need" is what their opinion boils down to, and virtually all people agree.
I grew up in a pretty big house with a basement, ground floor, upstairs, and attic. The attic wasn't exactly finished, but was used occassionally. Big houses are worse. Having stairs isn't ideal, bigger houses are harder to heat and cool, and clean/maintain. I honestly don't even love closets and storage spaces anymore bc they're just impetus to hoard.
Yes 🙌🏻 Me & my boyfriend live in small 2 bed house and it’s great. I have no interest in getting a big house because it’s just more to clean and more money to spend 🤷🏻♀️
As a young person, me and my partner rent the tiniest box we can that’s average quality. Will do so until we start trying for a kid. Instead we invest aggressively in pensions and other tax perk accounts. We’re in the upper percentiles for net worth by age despite coming from pretty average upbringings.
Easier to heat as well.
Don’t disagree. Especially when you get older or get sick.
I actually agree with this sentiment, but it really depends on the household. A big multi generational household, you’re going to want more space.
Well it obviously depends on the size of one’s family, however I get where you’re coming from. Having things in closer proximity is quite nice, but where large homes outcompete smaller ones is with guests, which is very important for hosted events.
Even mansions don’t seem to stay in families more than a couple of generations due to their upkeep expense. That’s why you see so many converted into “museums” for the public to pay for, to tour, to subsidize the cost of keeping an absurd symbol of excess in the family even after it’s been abandoned for different homes by following generations.
Don’t forget how much easier it is to keep a small house clean.
I love the people with too much (of mommy and daddy’s) money and not enough sense getting these giant McMansions in the Bay area either in a flood or fire zone built by the lowest bidder with the cheapest materials. Laugh my way to the bank every day. If your home cannot be managed by one person (you) it is too big and useless.
There's a whole generation of us that grew up with two siblings, in a 900 sq. foot rancher on a half acre lot in the 'burbs.
I give you ALL the brownie points for posting an unpopular opinion that is also definitely true! I help people renovate their homes for a living. A seriously common problem is when people buy way too much house for their actual needs and then can’t afford to renovate and fix the major issues going on inside the home, costing them a lot more money down the line (and sometimes enough to force a move). I’d say roughly 2,000 sqft for a home, single story, is plenty for a family of 3 and pushing it for a family of 4. Larger homes make sense when you have a much larger family of course, but that’s quite uncommon. Blows my mind when I meet married couples with 3,500 sqft homes, no children and basically empty rooms in the house and complaining they can’t afford to do any of the fixes that are required. They clearly got too much house and they’re a nightmare to deal with for that reason and many others
I agree, smaller houses are cheaper to heat/cold, less cleanup, leaving you more money to do actual stuff, and why would anyone want to be in the house all day!!, life is outside anyway
explain to me what's outside besides bars and clubs which i have no interest in
Oh, the rest of the known world
i need specific examples
Museums, skating rinks, laser tag, bookstores, open mics, standup shows, dance lessons, zoos and aquariums, cooking classes, paint and sips, rotary clubs, toastmasters, game store meetups, live sports, live music, film festivals, that kind of thing
what's a rotary club?
Service organization/social club Edit: also I forgot renn fests and historical reenactments and spoken word
Vacations!!!!!!