what's up with ~1500 sq ft houses?

[rh71]

those who are saying 1300sqft is plenty big... if you have kids, and they have toys, it becomes a lot smaller... it's not too small for people to roam, it's too small for all their stuff that can't be outside. Nowadays everyone has lots of toys. Can't compare to when we grew up. Adults have more "toys" too.

 

[IronWing]

those who are saying 1300sqft is plenty big... if you have kids, and they have toys, it becomes a lot smaller... it's not too small for people to roam, it's too small for all their stuff that can't be outside. Nowadays everyone has lots of toys. Can't compare to when we grew up.

Don't buy stuff you don't have room for. Get rid of crap. If you don't use it, lose it. Sell your children. That's what we do. 1300 sf is plenty.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Those figures were off the top of my head. Please post your estimates.

What part exactly do you disagree with? Having to pay taxes? The amount paid to child support? Food cost, auto cost, insurance?



If your paying $150 a month for health insurance, that is pretty good. I usually pay about $100 - $115 every week for myself and family. My total health insurance bill is about $425 or so a month.




Most Americans pay about 1/3 - 1/2 their income to taxes and do not realize it.

You also forgot to add in child support cost, that is an easy 20%

I'm just guestimating in that above figure. My monthly healthcare costs is $60. But if it's as high as you say it is, then there is no way a person making $36K can buy a $135,000 home.

 

[bhanson]

I'm just guestimating in that above figure. My monthly healthcare costs is $60. But if it's as high as you say it is, then there is no way a person making $36K can buy a $135,000 home.

His quote was for a family, you're just paying for yourself.

Health insurance goes way up for family rates.

 

[bignateyk]

I live in a 3-level split 1500sq foot house. Perfect size for my wife and I. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms.

Definitely will get a bigger house when we have kids though. No point in paying for a big house now while we have no use for it though. I'll keep saving $3000 a month for the next few years and then when we have kids I can plop down the down payment on whatever house I want.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

135,000 * .06 (6% for interest) = $143,100 - but then again, insnt the interest compounded yearly?[/quote



The cost of a 135k home. It isn't 135k * 0.06

The word of the day for you is "amortization".

at 6% (You'll need what 675+ credit score to get that?) your total amount repaid is $291,382. AS others have noted - figure a $910 mortgage payment.

Add $3000/yr for taxes.
Add $1200/yr for HOA or maintenance (varies wildly if you are into condos)
$2400/yr for homeowners insurance.

$1460 for the house is more reasonable.
$200/month heating/cooling (might be part of electric)
$50-$100/month electric
1 person takes roughly $100/week to eat. $400/month food
Vehicle can run $250/month
Insurance on that vehicle the same $250/month
Fuel will vary wildly but I use $120/month.

$2780 and I haven't really gotten started on misc stuff.

6% on a $135K house with 20% down is $910 with taxes/insurance.
If your homeowners insurance is $2400 a year on a $135K home you are getting raped in the butt by Mike Tyson's gloved fist.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

His quote was for a family, you're just paying for yourself.

Health insurance goes way up for family rates.

They do? I guess it's because my conservative company owner pays 100% of "health insurance" and the employees only pay $60 a month for Dental and Vision for the family.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Don't buy stuff you don't have room for. Get rid of crap. If you don't use it, lose it. Sell your children. That's what we do. 1300 sf is plenty.

Do you have any good hard working children that can run weaving looms?

 

[Modular]

They do? I guess it's because my conservative company owner pays 100% of "health insurance" and the employees only pay $60 a month for Dental and Vision for the family.

You're certainly lucky! My health insurance is about $150/month for PPO. If I were to add coverage for family, it would be about $550 a month. I can't afford to have a family...:'(

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

It's Dallas. *shrug* Not great, but not quite as bad as the rest of the country.

But home prices are sweet right now - especially if you don't mind a 30-45 minute commute to the telecom corridor. I wish I was buying now.

The commute is even better when you live in the Telecom corridor. Richardson is the sweet spot for Dallas. It takes me 15 minutes to get to work on a bad day.

 

[bhanson]

They do? I guess it's because my conservative company owner pays 100% of "health insurance" and the employees only pay $60 a month for Dental and Vision for the family.

Oh wow. Well your company is awesome and is certainly the exception.

:thumbsup:

 

[shadow9d9]

They do? I guess it's because my conservative company owner pays 100% of "health insurance" and the employees only pay $60 a month for Dental and Vision for the family.

Don't worry, the money for the "health insurance" comes from what they would have paid you as part of your salary. Since conservatives refuse to have real reform, that cost is incredibly high. Just think of it as a huge salary deduction! Enjoy!

 

[SampSon]

this thread is ridiculous.

In europe, few people have places with area over 100m^2, which translates roughly to 1000 sq ft. and they live perfectly fine there.

Who gives a shit how Europeans live? If Europe is a such a panacea, go setup shop there.

Europe is the second smallest continent but has like the third highest population of all continents. Also when you say "europe" what specific country or region do you mean? There are many countries and cultures over there. I find it funny how we (americans) whine about europeans (them) just grouping everybody in America under a blanket statement, when we do exactly the same thing.

Here is another thing that is too small in "Europe"http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/35C6D092-8889-4B5D-99BF-E02DCB80602D/42-17592833.jpg

 

[Bignate603]

We live in a pretty small house, it's about 1,200 sq ft. It's enough for what we want for the time being and fully expect to move into another house in the next year or two. We bought at the bottom of the housing bubble, got the $8,000 tax credit, and our payment is only $600/ month including insurance. An apartment of similar size in this area would be $800+.

People get roped into buying some kind of "dream home" which costs more to buy, more to keep up, more to heat/cool. If owning the perfect house is important to you that's fine, but I prefer to keep more of my income free to do stuff.

 

[brianmanahan]

It's not about the square footage, it's about the acres. I'm looking for 50+ acres, don't really care about the house as long as it's solid.

 

[Brigandier]

It's not about the square footage, it's about the acres. I'm looking for 50+ acres, don't really care about the house as long as it's solid.

This is always as I thought. Who cares if you have a 5000 sqft house if you only have an acre. Why act like you're better than someone with 1500 sqft on 20 acres. But I guess hillbillies shouldn't get any respect.

 

[Sasiki]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._460470104637_659749637_6269066_2846216_n.jpg

3 bedroom, 2 bath. 2000 sq ft. It could be a 4th bedroom if the 280 sq ft bonus room was redone. We bought this place back in April for $115k on 2 acres of land. It's an L shape house. the other part goes back on the left hand side. This place was built in the early 60's by the father of the guy we bought it from. It's amazingly well built and spacious. Two of the bedrooms are 14 x 16ft. My living room is 12 x 30. It's an old farm house. There is 17 acres of winter wheat surrounding me on 3 sides right now lol.

I grew up in a 4br / 1ba house with 2 parents and 2 sisters. We never thought it was a horrible living arrangement.

 

[brianmanahan]

This is always as I thought. Who cares if you have a 5000 sqft house if you only have an acre. Why act like you're better than someone with 1500 sqft on 20 acres. But I guess hillbillies shouldn't get any respect.

bah, we don't need any from these yuppie suburban hipsters.

 

[Brigandier]

bah, we don't need any from these yuppie suburban hipsters.

As if someone who doesn't respect themselves could give respect...

 

[Born2bwire]

You're obviously somewhat familiar with the area if you namedropped Pekin But it's really about managing expectations...on both sides of the argument. It's not Peoria, CR, Omaha(in particular), Bloomington, ect are exactly wide spots in the road. The Peoria area has a metro population of over 1/4 million people. We've got (I think) the only level 1 trauma center in downstate IL. Cat HQ is here and all of the ancillary support shops for Cat. Three hospitals, and an airport that has free parking You can get about anywhere you want in 20 minutes, traffic is almost a non-issue and outside of the ghetto area in downtown Peoria it's a very safe. I could say many of the same things for CR, Des Moines and Bloomington. Omaha is an entirely different story and is a very large city (by midwest standards). It's got a metro reach of over a million people, has a significant fortune 500 presence. Cost of living standards are much in your favor and there's an abundance of parks, golf courses, and trails.

But they aren't flashy, fancy, or exciting places. They don't have Ikeas or major touristy hotspots. No mountains or white sand beaches. But to make up for that you get dirt cheap housing, reasonable wages relative to the area, short commutes, excellent school districts and nice, big safe yards to raise yo kids.

In my case for Peoria, I'm only a 2 hour drive from Chicago, 3 to St Louis and 4 to Indy. I can hop a round trip flight to Vegas for $120 and one to Tampa, FL for $100 depending on deals. Considering it only takes me 15 minutes from about anywhere in the area to drive to the Airport and about 20 minutes to get through security I've got a leg up on traveling from O'hare. Sure I'll have to connect through there for many flights but I'm still not banging my head on the dash trying to get through traffic and then getting jacked $50 a day for parking.

I might have to drive farther in a lot of these areas, but at least I'm not jammed up bumper to bumper. When I lived in Phoenix I had a 6 mile drive that could take over an hour and a half depending on what was going on with traffic and accidents. I can damn near drive to Chicago in that same time.

So far yes, unnaccessable? Not all. You'd be amazed at the number of people that move here from big cities (like my basketball buddy from Brooklyn) that really embrace the area once they settle in and appreciate what they have here.

If you need an electric, ultra urban downtown area like Chicago, NY, or some other large cities provide then you won't be happy. But if all you do is drive home to your suburbian home and spend an hour in traffic each way and do little else than hang out with your family on the nights and weekends like many suburbian families do...then I've got a leg up on them in terms of standards of living, stress, and likely schools.

Again...managing expectations. I've got a great place to raise a family, good jobs for my wife and I, and a one stop sign, 15 minute commute to work.

Oh I'm not questioning the lifestyle. I lived in Champaign for 6 years or so attending the University. What I mean is that the costs for real estate are much different from something similar in Chicagoland. The living experience is fine. You get the same amenities and venues as you would in a good suburb but you get the added ease of open land. But the cost of land and housing is really cheap, especially if you are willing to go a few miles out of town.

 

[PingSpike]

Most houses are that size here, and in most parts of New England. Our housing stock is old as shit and development law changes have resulted in no significant new building since the 1970s baby boomer era that dotted the landscape with raised ranches. Those houses are typically 1700sf and that INCLUDES the basement because that is how they are built. Additionally reasons for smaller housing here is heating costs are outrageous and not optional.

I sort of find the thread amusing. The weather is awful here, but you have to go outside because your house is tiny. Californians meanwhile brag about their weather all day, then apparently buy houses that only come with the land they sit on and stay inside their gigantic air conditioned home all day?

One good part about a small house though (some one mentioned this as a bad thing but it depends on perspective) is that it forces you to deal with your junk. If you have a large house you will just put useless shit in a room and forget about it and let it pile up. I know I would anyway. If you have a small house, you're forced to confront it constantly and the mountain doesn't grow that much. Of course, I read an article that said since the 80s rented storage has gone way up as people desperately try to hold onto their garbage so maybe it really is a negative for most people.

 

[alkemyst]

My favorite apartment ever was also the smallest one I ever lived in. It's really about layout and functionality.

It wasn't much more than 450sq ft. The bedroom was big enough for a queen with about 18-24" on the sides and maybe 24-30" at the foot to the closet (which extended the full width of the room). That was plenty of room to get ready. It didnt count the full sized dresser we put at the foot of the bed which also worked to put a TV. The rest of the place was living room kitchen and bath.

Bathroom was about as small as it could be letting you still be able to change easily if you wanted. Small vanity, toilet and shower/tub.

On the small end of the bathroom the rest of it was the kitchen. It had room for a 36" table and just cabinets and appliances along one wall. It was small, but stored enough for two people with extras like blenders and griddles. Full sized refridgerator fit.

The rest was a decent sized living room. I broke it up with a desk/storage unit I built.

People clowned on it here, but it wasn't meant to be high end furniture, it was just a piece I built while I was renting. The landlord asked me to leave it and it's still in use today. It's a little less than half the living area and the bathroom is right off to the right of it. To the left of it, it held a fullsized sleeper couch. Four people could easily sit on it comfortably and we could all watch TV. At night if we had guests they'd sleep in that room on the pull out bed. It wasn't an ideal situation. What we did though was close our bedroom door and knock before we exited. That gave our guests privacy and the ability to play with each other if they wanted without having someone walk in on them.

The workarea was about 4' deep and 7' wide, 7' tall on the right and about 5.5' on the left. The main desk top was about 24-30" deep. Two people could sit at it pretty comfortably. It held a lot of books and a 21" CRT later on. In the picture is a 19".

The current owner uses the shelves that face the living room for decorations and stuff.

My wife was from Japan and to her it felt better than normal since she had her own bathroom and a bigger oven than she ever had.

Moar pics:

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

My house is 1354, 3bd, 1 bath. I'm single with no kids and one dog and it's perfect for me. If I had kids I could make it work but would still feel claustrophobic. Heating per month is about $60 gas.

 

[alkemyst]

My house is 1354, 3bd, 1 bath. I'm single with no kids and one dog and it's perfect for me. If I had kids I could make it work but would still feel claustrophobic. Heating per month is about $60 gas.

Around here 3/1 and 4/1's are common in any late 60's early 70's construction for the average person.

Upscale construction of that time added a second bath.

Fortunately down here all bedrooms were separate. When I was looking to move, some areas had 3 bedrooms, but you had to go through bedroom 1 to get to 2 and 3 and bedroom 2 to get to the third. The third bedroom had to pass all through each if they had to pee in the night.

Terrible layout, but was very popular in many areas.