Ok- Another House Question- How Much SF Do You Have?

I don't think the square footage is as important as storage space, room flow, garage space, attic space and "feel". I would prefer smaller bedrooms and larger living areas, given that choice, but with kids, a nice yard is a huge draw as well.
Don't forget to consider location, location, location and resale value, etc.

We are a family of 4 and the puppy with 1300 sq which includes the sunroom which the girls use often.

We're a family of 6 + a great dane. We're in 2400 SF, with an additional 800 in the basement (but that's unused and is glorified storage at the moment). It feels very small for us now. We're looking to upgrade to 5k - 6k SF.

I think design can be more important than SF. And what you like is more important than size. And location and outdoor space trumps all!

I live with my daughter in a 1 bdrm condo that's about 800 SF. We are in a great neighborhood with $1M+ houses and a view of an urban and beautiful lake.

I have friends who live with a family of 5 and a dog in a house that is 800 SF. We can make do with what we can afford!

We have 4 people in 4000 sf. Honestly we probably only use about half of that. We have a lr and dr that are never used at all that are huge. I would gladly exchange a huge laundry room with shelving, cabinets, lots of counterspace and closets for both of those rooms. Go with the smaller one. You won't use the sunroom as much as you think-ours is rarely used. It sounds like you get a better vibe in it and yard is really important.

We have one property that weve been renting out to people that is 2000 sf, it was built in 1984 and we spent 115 on it. The house i am living in is only 1700 sf but somehow it feels like more space, it was my parents house, built in 1976, and its value is said to be 110

Ill give you some advice ive learned through both houses, brick is better than siding and 1 stories are much more manageable (cleaning and repairs)

oh, there are 4 of us, me and my husband and our 2 girls

I have a 4bed, 2000 sq. finished for 4 people.

$70,000 is a big difference. However given the location of the extra space it comes down to your life style. My husband is a smoker and I make him smoke outside. I also love being outside but not in the elements, so a sun room /screen porch is a big selling point for me. Especially in TX!

If you were to buy the smaller place and then add a sunroom, you would easily be at $20,000+ to add on.

When comparing the two houses, look at the bedrooms and the kitchen. Picture yourself at meal time, birthday time, and bedtime. Take a folding chair with you and sit in each of the rooms. Picture your day/time in that room. Which feels more comfortable.

Which has 'little issues'? The little issues over 10+ years will become big issues.

M.

I have a family of 5, sometimes 7 when the SS's are here and we have almost 2800 sq. ft.

4 bed, 3 baths, big kitchen, dining room, family room, living room, laundry room + home office.

It felt huge when we bought it 10+ years ago...but now it feels small!

Our house is just under 2000 sf, and that is pretty small for this area. We traded the size of the house for land. We have 3 acres and love it. We love the house, too because the rooms are very large, but there aren't very many rooms. We also have tiny bathrooms - don't love that. We're a family of four.

4 people in my home, 3 bedrooms.. about 1475 sq feet... but we just came from a 895 sq foot apartment, so this is heaven.

Personally, I would go for the less expensive home. With the money you save, you could do upgrades to the home and get a better return when you go to sell it, or build a better savings, build a college fund or go on vacation.

i have no idea how much sf we have. 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. i'm an idiot iwth details i gues.

but just wanted to comment, isn't it funny how you just kind of have to wing these huge decisions like buying a house, unless you live in it for a week or so you aren' ever going to know which really truely is better. from your post it sounds like you like the smaller one, and that was what i was leaning towards as I read it.
if you are huge entertainers indoors then the bigger might be better, but i would be fine with the smaller one and picnices in the back yard.
good luck, it helps to hear others opinons!

We're a family of 3 in 1300 sq ft (3 beds 2 baths) and loving it! Real estate is very expensive here so our options were in the 1200 - 1500 ft range anyhow but the house we picked is extremely well laid out. The house and yard require very little work to keep up and our heating bill has dropped to half. We did have to pair down and chose different furniture for this to work, but the increase in time and $ that resulted is so worth it!

We are a family of five (6yr old, 4yr old and 10 month old. We finally bought our first home, it is double what we have ever had, 2400SF 1200 upstairs (it's a rambler) and 1200sf down (800sf is finished) we love it. The basement has a large family room and large rec room, we have a large laundry room and a den down there. Upstairs has a great size kitchen and dining and a large living room. 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1.5 bath upstairs. only downside is there is no bathroom in the basement as of now. But room to put one later.

Any more room and it would be too much to clean!

btw it costs 30,000 just to put in a bathroom, so if there are lots of things you want to change to the cheaper house keep this in mind, 70,000 ads up quick. So if the one for 70,000 is perfect (or as perfect as you can get) then it might be worth it.

We are a family of 3 (daughter is 16). We do have a very large lot that backs up to a wooded area with wildlife, etc and we would not trade that for the world. We love the bobcats, owls, etc.

Our house is 4000+ a few SF, 3 car garage, 2 attic areas. We have more privacy because we are not set as closely to our neighbors as most in the inner part of the neighborhood.

We have a very open plan.... LOVE LOVE the huge kitchen/family area. We also LOVE the Master down. Daughter and her friends have the run of the upstairs...3 bedrooms, 2 bath, game room and small library area. Downstairs has the formal areas, large Master w/large bath area, huge family/kitchen, huge pantry, good laundry, extra full bath and another large guest bedroom that we converted to our office.

We do use our space. The downside is there is a lot to clean!!!

We have a 3000sf house that we Iive in that I would love to sell. Three teenagers all living at home plus many friends that come and stay for nights or weeks. The size of the house isn't my complaint, it is the configuration. What look like Wow! spaces when you shop turn into dead spaces when you live. We have a lovely open entry that soars to the second floor and has a Western exposure with HUGE arched windows over the door. You know where I'm going with that-in the summer it is a bear to keep cool so that is not only wasted space but expensive wasted space. Never use the formal dining except 2 or 3 times a year and wish it was a more flexible space. Huge living area-I'm the only one that ever sits in there and reads. The nice thing about that space is we made it "sacred"- NO TV allowed in there. So I love it, but no one else does. The game room upstairs is VERY used. It has four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths so everyone has their own room which is really nice. But NO storage except in the kitchen and our bedroom. TINY laundry which I hate. I had to put the ironing board in our closet because there is no other place for it. There is an office which is used constantly.
We came from a 2100sf house when the youngest was a baby. I loved that house but there was no game room. We did have a screened porch which we used a LOT but the toys were taking over. When kids are babies the toys are big;3 once they get older, the toys are small. I didn't see your first post so I don't know how old your kids are.
We also have a 1600sf cabin in Colorado and while we don't live there full time, we did spend the summer there. It has a tiny living area, two huge bedrooms upstairs and a huge master. Smallish kitchen and a dining area. Big laundry and one bathroom. That house feels MUCH larger than the one I live in full time for two reasons. TONS of storage-closets, a shed, an unfinished basement and not a decades worth of acquired stuff. Another bathroom would be nice there but somehow we managed. Of course, in Colorado you can spend the whole summer outside and we basically did.
So look at the space.
I have an enormous badly planned kitchen in this Texas house. My stove is on the island with not enough space around it to plate dinner. Then tons of inconvenient counter space at the ends-good only for setting things on but not actual food prep. Loads of "living space" downstairs but only one tiny coat closet for storage beyond our master closet.
I would go with the small house and see if you could enclose a porch to make it a screened one-that is what we did at our old house. There was a covered porch and we had someone come build a brick ledge around, then a carpenter framed it and put in screens. Really cute and with an outdoor ceiling fan it was great. VERY little money involved.
Sorry this is a long post but after having lived in a few houses, you get to know what you love and hate. Look very objectively at both houses-think how you would really use the spaces. Stand in that kitchen and imagine how you would fix dinner. How much storage is there? Is there at least one quiet space? It could be very tiny and still be enough if you can grab a book and be alone. An office for us is the big requirement, computer and bill paying space with doors to close off the mess. Look at the closets. Is the laundry room a decent size? If you have kids, you will be in that laundry room a lot!
And my other suggestion is get rid of stuff. It is my big goal-make everything go away. I fantasize about having a fire where everything but the photos and kids' baby books gets burned. It's a slow process but I think clearing out enables you to live in a manageable space without paying for more space than you need just to store stuff you don't use.
Good luck! House hunting is so much fun.

We have 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and 1100 sq feet for 6 people. Things are very cozy here LOL! The home I grew up in was 1700 sq feet, 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and it was pretty comfortable for a large family (there were 7 of us, and at one point all 5 of us kids were teenagers living at home). As the kids get bigger, they literally take up more space in your living areas, so you need more seating, more room for them and their friends to sprawl out on the floor, etc., so do keep that in mind as you're looking at the living area.

No matter what you buy, there will be times when it feels too small. It's all in your attitude. Are you one who always sees that other people have more than you and are always seeing that you are missing out or are you the type to appreciate what you have and count your blessings? Your kids will model what you do.

We have had the blessing of small homes and we have had the blessing of larger homes but what really made us happy in each market was being content with what we had.

It sounds like, in this unpredictable economy, that it would be best to go with the smaller home if you have to take out a mortgage. Look to pay off the mortgage before your kids get to college. Then the amount of your mortgage payment can go to college tuition.

we now live in a 4b/2b 2,100 sf house, on 1 acre. It is quite comfortable. We have 2 kids, a dog and a cat.

But, we used to live in a 4b/2b 1200 sf house, on a city lot, and it was fine too. We just wanted a little more space and mostly a bigger back yard and out of town.

Our sf range for a 2nd home was min 1,600 sf. I think with 3 bedrooms instead of 4 you get a more comfortable feeling at 1,600 sf. 1,800 sf would be a little better...I think it is more about comfort than sf... :)

I have nearly 1800sf. And I've had upwards of 4 adults and 2 kids in my home. 3BR, 2BA, Full basement (basement not included in sf). I KNOW we could live in a smaller home (just hubby, 2 kids, and I).

When I was growing up, there was my mom, stepdad, 2 stepbros, and I in a 1000-1100sf ranch and we made it work!

We live in 1900SQ, family of four. It's more than enough space, although a lot of the space is "wasted." For example we have an opening foyer area that is the size of a bedroom, but obviously we can't use it as a bedroom. Right now it's great because it's where the kids have their "dance parties" and do the limbo, but most of the time it's silly.

A big question is if you have a basement and/or usable attic. We live in a slab ranch, so the 1900SQ is it. Oftentimes a usable basement adds another 400-500 feet of living space, plus all the storage. And storage space is really key. It's when we have too much "stuff" around that we feel like our house is too small.

We do have a really nice big backyard, so the house always feels bigger in the summer. We were so cooped up this winter that the house started to feel a little snug. But it seems like you'll be living somewhere where you don't have to worry to much about months and months of snow, so outside space is really important.

Hope this helps!

We are a family of 5 in just under 1200 square feet (basement adds another 900 sq feet but we use it for storage mainly) - and it is miserable. We have a screened in porch that we never use, mainly because my DH uses it as an extension of our garage. It currently has his motorcylce in pieces and stores tables we never use. I am a firm believer that you can never have too much space. I can always find a use for a room and in the event the family grows, you have the space. I also love to entertain and that requires space. Do you have house guests often?

Good luck and happy house hunting!

2200 with the same sf for the basement. There are 4 of us. Some people still consider our home small but I wish I can downsize. =(. We only have 3 bedrooms, our gas bill leaves our bum bleeding and it is a pain to clean.

My husband and I and our two kids live in a 2000 sq ft house. This is our first house, before this we had a 1000 sq ft condo that was way too small. Now I feel like this house is too big! We have 3 large bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Our kitchen and living room are huge and we didn't start out with a lot of furniture so I feel like we're always trying to fill empty spaces to make our house feel more like a home. I am also not a big fan of cleaning and I find it hard to keep up with cause there's so much to cover! But that's just me. I would love for our next house to be a little smaller but of course my husband wants a bigger house because he doesn't clean so that's not even an issue for him.

Ours is about 2340 sqft. There are 4 of us. Myself, husband, almost teenage son, 9 yr old daughter and german shepherd. We have a spare bedroom and bath (convenient to the pool) for when family comes to visit... which, even though we sometimes go long stretches without guests, they tend to bunch up almost on top of each other at other times. Hubby's mom is widowed and often comes at Christmas, and my folks come for several days at a time a few times throughout the year. SIL and her family come usually once a year for 3-4 days. My brother and his family come every other year for several days. BIL comes for long weekends a couple times a year. . . It is nice having the extra BR/BA so that they aren't all over the rest of our living space when they are here. Hubby works odd hours and having guests sleeping in the living room when he is getting up at 4:00 a.m. and eating breakfast (or coming in late after everyone is gone to bed) would make everyone uncomfortable.
We also have a small "formal" living room... which isn't used much, but has doors and is where my daughter practices her piano... so it is nice to have that separate space. Also fills in as space for an air bed when visiting family needs more than the one bed in the guest room. (My brother's family is a family of 6, lol).

We moved from 1,000 square feet to 2,600 square feet. We are a family of 5 (two boys and one girl). The boys currently share a room, but we do have 4 bedrooms so they could each have their own in the future.

We looked at houses that were 1800 square feet. They were "doable" but when it came right down to it, we wanted more space.

I would go with space if you like the house, but you have to like EVERYTHING. Do not settle. Who knows what the market will do. I'm glad we broadened our horizon and looked in a part of our area I wasn't familiar with. We stretched a bit to get in this house, and I had to move across the city away from my "comfort zone" but it was totally worth it. Yes I still miss my old neighborhood and friends, but I love having the space we wanted and the neighborhood school and parks and my husband can take the bus to work... it is perfect.

We looked at over 50 houses before finding this one.

Keep looking if it isn't everything you want and can afford.

J.

There are 4 of us, soon to be five. Our house is 4 bedrooms and 3600 sq ft with about another 900 sq ft in the basement wich is partially fixed up. When we were house shopping we didn't want an open floor plan and liked the fact that a house could have certain rooms. So, we looked at just about every model home in town, but none of them appealed to us. We finally found our home that is laid out like your traditional colonial style, We loved the fact that every room was separate...until we had kids. Now we kind of wish we had a more open plan. Although, we have quite a bit of sq ft, I also think some of it is wasted space, such as the living room and dining room, which we never use. Also, we have a huge entryway that wraps around the stairs and it just takes up soo much space. Although I love the wow factor of the house, it isn't neccessarily the most practical, but I do still love it! So, I would pay more attention to the layout rather than the sq ft. Good luck to you!!

I was spoiled in my last house with my ex, it was 3000 sf. the house i'm in now I think is way too small, 1950 sf. It's 4 bedrooms, 2 bath and has both a living room and family room, which is nice. It also has a separate dinning room. My hubby and i have 3 kids so each has their own bedroom. I'd really like an extra bedroom/ den to use as an office since both of us own businesses and sometimes work from home.

We are a family of 3 (hopefully to-be 4) and have a 3/2 with an unfinished basement. Our "finished" living space is 1500 square feet and finishing the basement would add an add'l 600 Sq Ft. When we have another child, we will need to finish the basement b/c we will lose our den/guest room and we have a lot of out-of-town visitors.

I feel very strongly that you don't "live" in your bedroom, so I would go with larger living space that is a good layout and open (if that's what you like). I also have the same mindset that my parents did, which is that "more house than you need is just more house to keep clean"! We spend the bulk of our time in the living room and kitchen and use our bedrooms for sleeping and "quiet" work time.

Good luck!

We have 4, sometimes 5 people in our home. Our home is 3200 sf, but 1000 of that is an unfinished basement that is the boys' play room for now.

forget the sf and the price how big are the bedrooms will they be cramped or enough space. also consider storage and look athow many repairsyou will need to make. ex if the house 70g less than the other needs 90g in repair just pay the other price and know what you are getting. I like the bigger kitchen concept toherwise it gets to crowded. i say go with your gut the smaller you feel more comfortable in

Ha there were 3 of us, our house is about 900sf. 2 bdrms 1 bath. We survived it and the trade off is the beautiful location, excellent schools, and wonderful established neighbors.

there are 4 of us here, we have 2400 square feet after a major addition was done. Good luck on the house hunting!

We are a family of 8 in a 4200 sqft house on 5 acres in the country. We homeschool, so everyone other than my husband is home most of the time. We use the space! I will say that layout is vitally important. It can make a smaller sqft home seem larger, but can also really cut up the larger sqft home, making a lot of the space unusable. We very often have people over for both meals and extended overnight stays. We have had 20+ people spend the night here several times. It is important for us to be able to do this. I designed my laundry room to hold all of the children's clothes. It is a huge room (20ft x 30ft), and I love it! Most people wouldn't need a room like that though. hehe

We live on 4 acres. Husband and I have 3 children. Our house is 2600 square feet. Then we have a detached office space that is 400 square feet. Hubby works from home and that is where he spends his work days. My mom also has a house on our property that is 1000 square feet. My house has 4 bedrooms.
We do not use all of our space. We live in our family room and kitchen area. We LOVE our outdoor space. So, I say go for the one that has the better back yard, especially since you felt comfortable there. If it feels like home, that is the one you want.

I believe ours is about 1600+. Me, Hubby and 2 kids. There are 5 bedrooms. Ours is good size, but the kids are pretty small. There are 3 upstairs and 2 downstairs - we use one for an office (I work at home) and the small one off the living room is a playroom/kids living room.

We are a family of 3 (plus a dog) and we have over 2,000 square feet - not counting the basement, which might add about another 900 sf. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. Plus a very very large yard. Our last place was very small (900 sf) so to us, this feels like a mansion LOL. But we love it! I love the space and will never live in a small home again.

3 small bedrooms, closet sized kitchen and bathroom, small 1100sf for 3 ppl and another baby on the way. I felt cramped before but now it will feel even more so.

This house need MAJOR fixing up, had holes in the plaster walls, garage door was eaten thru by the former owner's dog and the closet sized kitchen is atrocious. We got it for $89,000

It depends on what you need. We are in a 4 bdr 2300 sq foot house. I think it feels bigger than that--we use pretty much all of our space, so there isn't a lot wasted. We're also looking to move (we live near where we used to work, not near where we work now) and I'm looking for 4 bedrooms. We have 2 kids, but it's important to us to have a place for guests because our parents and siblings live out of town, and visit several times a year. If that isn't your situation, then you can live with less. We are looking for more than one living space so we can make a playroom out of one room (usually the formal living room). Because of our guests, we are looking for a formal dining room because a kitchen eating area isn't big enough when we have guests. (I wouldn't say we actually use it as a "formal" room though LOL). If you don't have lots of guests, you can get away with much less square footage. Storage space is a big deal too, so think about what you have to store. We have a storage room out back for outside things because we have a carport, not a garage, but some garages don't have much extra room anyway. Good luck!

I live alone and I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. The space is great and the master bedroom & bath are huge. The kitchen is also very large. It also has a formal dining room; however, I am putting it up for sale by the end of May because I plan to retire and move home to be close to family.

Prices are dramatically different in different parts of the country but my husband, son and I have an 1800 sf house. There are 4 bedrooms but one of the rooms is small so we use it as a study. Our previous house was over 2,000 but it was a very old house that did not have an open floor plan it felt much smaller than this one. Our current house is much more open and the perfect size for us.

We have 7 people in our family and have 2700 square feet. 5bd, 1 1/2ba, living room and dining room. Our living room is huge, that is such a blessing with a lot of children. Bedroom space isn't too important to me because the kids are usually in the living room with us, but lots of "living space" is a must!

There are 6 of us and our house is 2500 sq ft plus about 700-800 sq ft of finished basement. I like our house and we're comfortable, but I wish we had another bedroom and some unfinished area for storage. If we ever build or buy another house, we'll probably look for something around 4000 sq ft.

We have 3000 sqaure feet spread through 4 floors.
I have 2 kids, and my huband living there.

We have 2 adults, 2 young kids and a cat in a 3000 sf house and we love it. I don't mind the cleaning - it just gets cleaned as needed. We have an open floor plan, which I love.

Before we bought this house 2 1/2 yrs ago, we were 2 adults, 1 kid and 2 cats in a 1500 sf home and I felt clausterphobic with the toys climbing the walls.

2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 dog, and 2 cats living in 1800 square feet and rapidly outgrowing it. But in this economy and with the inevitability of increasing energy costs, I wouldn't go over about 2200 sq ft, plus I just don't want to clean it all. I think the key is best use of space, lots of built in, storage, etc. I love high ceilings, but we have a lot of wasted space in our current home.

We were seriously considering downsizing to about 1400 sq ft on an acre lot-just to simplify, have more outdoor space for gardening, playing, etc and to save $$$ on energy, etc. However, I would really like 4 bedrooms instead of 3 just in case baby #2 comes long...I like having a separate room and bath for guests, I think it's important for everyone's comfort when family comes to town.

I think the market is very unstable and that home prices are going to have to come down if all other costs continue to rise like they currently are. Don't bite off more than you can handle, but don't short yourself either.
Good luck, I love house hunting!