So, How Big IS Your House?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Sheeer luxury!

 

[TargaDave]

The house we just sold was almost 4000 sq ft. We dumped and decluttered and moved down to a 2400 sq ft house.

After 6 more months of decluttering and selling, we now do not use 3 of the rooms of this house. I gave the girls the formal living/ dining rooms for a media room (put a futon in there), and use one of the bedrooms for storage!

I will never have a house that big again; I want a smaller house and a bigger RV!

Pretty similar here, headed from 3,600 down to 2,000 in just a few months (yeah), however we are in the smaller house ==> bigger boat category (My older brother sold his last waterfront home for $2.3M and downsized to a smaller $1M place on the same lake; had real snotty neighbors in the big house, much nicer neighbors in the smaller one)

Very nice place Want2retire (way better than "dollar store" in my view). I assume that you are outside levy system on higher ground??

 

[W2R]

Very nice place Want2retire (way better than "dollar store" in my view). I assume that you are outside levy system on higher ground??

Thank you! I love my house. No, very poor assumption! The city of New Orleans is below sea level and is protected by a complex and gargantuan system of levies, canals, and giant pumps that has been in place for maybe a century or more, and I am within that system. In the past the levy/pumps/canals system provided New Orleans with a degree of protection and drainage unavailable to surrounding low-lying communities. Unfortunately, this system was damaged during the flooding after Katrina, when pumps sat in water for weeks and other damage occurred, and funding is absent for its complete repair.

My own house is 2.8 feet below sea level, which makes it one of the higher parts of town. I am a mile and a half from my work, a couple of miles to the "good side" of the 17th street canal (Frank's house is about half way between). My house had no roof damage and no flooding, and neither did his, although most others in our neighborhoods did. We both had considerable minor damage due to wind. We had neighbors' trees ending up in our yards, doors blown off, broken windows, huge amounts of debris, and so on. My formerly upright tree that you can see on the left behind my house in the photo of the front yard, ended up leaning on my roof but not damaging it so it is history, as is my refrigerator. My house cost $160K in 2002, which came to $177K including interest by the time I got it paid off in 2006. Most of that price was for neighborhood (the house would be far less if it was in a higher crime area). It was worth $205K before Katrina, but with the housing slump it may be worth less right now. I would take $185K for it today (anybody want to make me an offer? ), but my realtor is a pretty tough cookie and he would probably get me $200K if I told him to sell it. Not quite, but almost a Dollar Store price when compared with East or West Coast prices.

Today my house looks pretty much the same as the photo, which was taken in 2002 just before I bought it. Looking at the photo, I can see that I do need to get out there and trim the bushes, though!

 

[ziggy29]

My home is a 1558 square foot, 3 bedroom 2 bath, brick house built in 1972 on a 5,000 square foot lot in one of the nicest/safest of New Orleans neighborhoods. Here are some old photos (though it still looks much the same) showing the house from the front yard, and a shot taken in the back yard:

...

I do wish it had a garage, so when we move north that will be on my "wish list". I will hate to leave it, but as always, logic must prevail.

Nice. Here's the one we downsized to -- we really liked the rock exterior (no painting the house!), but in a 64-year-old house there are a few upgrades that needed to be made. The bent antenna is no longer there (replaced by a satellite dish).

Also the garage is detached, which is a pain sometimes, especially since the laundry area is out there. It's about 1150 sf; I do wish it was 200-300 sf larger at most, but if I had that, I'd probably want another 200-300 sf and I don't want to go into that affluenza death spiral. At a whopping $85K, it also allowed us to be mortgage-free and cut our property taxes by 75% versus our larger home in Houston (about $1200 versus $4600 out there).

 

[W2R]

Ziggy, I LOVE your house!! It is just beautiful. I especially love the arches and the way the stonework was done around the top of them.

I have never known anyone with a rock house, and houses are sometimes made of rock in my future ER location. Do they present any special problems or advantages, in your experience? You mentioned not having to paint it, and that sounds great. Is it unusually drafty?

Maybe you could have laundry hookups installed somewhere inside your home. I do want an attached garage too. I hate getting caught in the rain bringing in groceries, and getting soaked. A carport would solve that, but there isn't room for one.

You got a great price on that house! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy NOT paying rent on the first of the month.

My property tax last year was $551, which is considerably less than before Katrina. I expect it to rise to about twice that this year. I won't know exactly until it happens, though the assessor sent out a letter warning everyone to expect a hike. He sent the same letter in late 2006 and it only went up $100 or so, but he says this time he means it.

 

[REWahoo]

Ziggy, what type of rock is that? I thought South Texas had nothing but limestone.

 

[ziggy29]

Ziggy, I LOVE your house!! It is just beautiful. I especially love the arches and the way the stonework was done around the top of them.

I have never known anyone with a rock house, and houses are sometimes made of rock in my future ER location. Do they present any special problems or advantages, in your experience? You mentioned not having to paint it, and that sounds great. Is it drafty?

Maybe you could have laundry hookups installed somewhere inside your home. I do want an attached garage too. I hate getting caught in the rain bringing in groceries, and getting soaked. A carport would solve that, but there isn't room for one.

You got a great price on that house! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy NOT paying rent on the first of the month.

My property tax last year was $551, which is considerably less than before Katrina. I expect it to rise to about twice that this year (won't know exactly until it happens, though the assessor sent out a letter warning everyone to expect a hike).

Texas has a high property tax rate (but no state income tax), which is why such a small and cheap place has a $1200+ property tax. The first year we were here we inherited the tax bill from someone with both a senior and disabled exemption and the bill was about $200!

I do enjoy the first of the month rolling around and not having a mortgage or rent payment. It's that much more that can be plowed into FIRE savings and other home projects.

Actually, the rock is a great insulator, particularly in the summer. I was surprised at how low our summer cooling bills have been, even with the smaller space. We do want to replace the windows with something more efficient eventually. My wife's dad has done some of that work in the past (he's a very handy guy who is a retired elevator mechanic), so when he visits us in March he'll get all the measurements so we can order the windows which he and I can install in his next visit after that. I think with the rock and new efficient windows together with a heat pump cooling at 15 SEER, we'll really get our cooling bills down.

As for laundry hookups...I wish there was room in here, but I don't see where it would be possible unless I convert the closets in one of the two bedrooms. We'd pretty much have to add on to do that.

 

[ziggy29]

Ziggy, what type of rock is that? I thought South Texas had nothing but limestone.

I'm not really sure what the rock is, but I know it was quarried locally.

Actually this part of central Texas has an abundance of granite. A lot of granite is quarried in this area even to this day.

 

[REWahoo]

Ahhh...central, not south. Big difference.

 

[ziggy29]

Ahhh...central, not south. Big difference.

Right. We're in the Hill Country.

 

[W2R]

Texas has a high property tax rate (but no state income tax), which is why such a small and cheap place has a $1200+ property tax. The first year we were here we inherited the tax bill from someone with both a senior and disabled exemption and the bill was about $200!

Your tax is amazingly low for Texas! I didn't realize exactly where your house was located.

I do enjoy the first of the month rolling around and not having a mortgage or rent payment. It's that much more that can be plowed into FIRE savings and other home projects.

Me too. On the first of the month, I smile all day long.

Actually, the rock is a great insulator, particularly in the summer. I was surprised at how low our summer cooling bills have been, even with the smaller space. We do want to replace the windows with something more efficient eventually. My wife's dad has done some of that work in the past (he's a very handy guy who is a retired elevator mechanic), so when he visits us in March he'll get all the measurements so we can order the windows which he and I can install in his next visit after that. I think with the rock and new efficient windows together with a heat pump cooling at 15 SEER, we'll really get our cooling bills down.

Now that is encouraging! Southern Missouri (my tentative future ER location) has miserable summers too, so that's good to know.

As for laundry hookups...I wish there was room in here, but I don't see where it would be possible unless I convert the closets in one of the two bedrooms. We'd pretty much have to add on to do that.

I have the same problem when trying to figure out how to expand my shower. There just isn't any room for it. Oh well. Right now, it's academic since I plan to sell and move in around 2009-2010.

 

[haha]

I'm not really sure what the rock is, but I know it was quarried locally.

Actually this part of central Texas has an abundance of granite. A lot of granite is quarried in this area even to this day.

This looks to me like "Texas Red Sandstone". Lots of homes built from this, from your area all the way NE to DFW.

Lots of oil and gas extracted from this same rock!

Ha

 

[martyb]

1900 sf with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. Not included because it's not heated/cooled is the 425 sf attached garage, built new and purchased in 1996 . My lot size is just 65 X 135 ft. Brick construction, just barely inside the city limits of Bossier City, LA.

 

[calmloki]

2289 square feet according to Zillow. Started as a 14x24 cabin that was added onto over the last 120 years. We bought my 93 YO neighbor's house from his son in '94 - Old Art had lived here since '28, and after he died his son was going to turn it into a 5 bedroom 1 bath rental without doing anything to it - and it needed everything from foundation to roof. We spent 6 years doing everything - changing floorplans, moving staircase, reflooring with old wide oak flooring we salvaged from an old folks home, all new wiring including a new drop, new plumbing from the meter to the sewer main. Pulled a brick chimney out and had a fireplace installed in a new location. Got busted a couple years into the project when i had an attached bedroom with about 4 feet of air under it (foundation and joist replacement) and a track hoe in the back yard digging a new sewer line. After paying for a bunch of paper from the city and county we became all legal and inspected. Lots of fun - we used a bunch of old salvaged material - over a dozen opening transom window doors, old wide wood window trim, and 8" baseboard moulding from a 1912 hotel, lots of '30s school house light globes on new old stock fixtures i bought from the state auction... Turned the house into a 3/3 with attic. Tore down the barn and flipped the 12" boards and did board and batten on the 24x36 3 car detached garage we built - fully insulated, finished, and with gas ceiling hung heater. Upstairs of the garage is just over 500' of plumbed and finished pottery studio - built it so that it can be a self sufficient apartment with it's own kitchen and bath should some future owner have that desire - downstairs one of the car spots can be walled off so that it, a second man door, and the inside stairs would be all private - even has it's own washer/dryer hookups.

 

[Ronstar]

3400 sf, 3 bedroom that I built mostly myself in 1994. Too big for the 2 of us, but I like the house and lot. I'm upgrading a few things before we fully retire.

 

[Caoineag]

Yeek! I pray that some of you have maid service. There is currently 2 of us with a pug living in an 800 sq ft apartment and I think its spacious and already a hassle to clean. I am wondering how I am ever going to keep a house clean when we finally buy since the range is 1000-2000 sq ft. Course I am well aware that when it comes to housing, we have a tendency to live well below our means. We rather spend the money on travel and play time.

 

[ER_Hopeful]

1100 sq ft, 2/1 house in SoCal. so far so good as the kids are still small. may need to add another room eventually.

 

[Kronk]

2000 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. When we clean, it feels like entirely too much. We have a living room that is almost never used. The dining room is a music room. Master bedroom is obviously used. One bedroom is an office, another is a guest room that is primarily used to air out my martial arts gear, and the fourth bedroom will be a library for our nearly 2000 books once we finally finish it.

Relative to this house, our ideal early retirement house wouldn't need to be any bigger than this. Ideally it would be slightly smaller yet have a layout that reflects how we actually live.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

2000 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. When we clean, it feels like entirely too much. We have a living room that is almost never used. The dining room is a music room. Master bedroom is obviously used. One bedroom is an office, another is a guest room that is primarily used to air out my martial arts gear, and the fourth bedroom will be a library for our nearly 2000 books once we finally finish it.

Relative to this house, our ideal early retirement house wouldn't need to be any bigger than this. Ideally it would be slightly smaller yet have a layout that reflects how we actually live.

DW and I feel we would be ok with something under 2000. If it is properly laid out to meet our needs.

 

[TargaDave]

Want2Retire: medal deserved for just surviving that whole mess.

3400 sf, 3 bedroom that I built mostly myself in 1994. Too big for the 2 of us, but I like the house and lot. I'm upgrading a few things before we fully retire.

Hey, that's me too; same year, almost the same size, same gluttin for punishment, however 2 kids to fill it with. Back then I had no issue workin 30+ ft up on the eaves or clinging to a 10/12 pitch, this last fall was a different story

 

[Wonomo]

Our retirement home is 2200 sq. ft.
The house we are trying to sell so we can retire and move is 1700 sq ft.

 

[Marquette]

Back then I had no issue workin 30+ ft up on the eaves or clinging to a 10/12 pitch, this last fall was a different story

Fall as in pretty leaves on the ground or fall as in Dave on the ground?

 

[d]

the house is small, just under 2000 sf, but was sufficient to raise 5 children (most of the time only 3 at home (plus 7 cats , 2 Newfoundlands and 2 "slightly" addled adults)). now it's just me and 2 cats ... have "closed off" more than half the house, living comfortably in about 600 sf.

 

[Khan]

the house is small, just under 2000 sf, but was sufficient to raise 5 children (most of the time only 3 at home (plus 7 cats , 2 Newfoundlands and 2 "slightly" addled adults)). now it's just me and 2 cats ... have "closed off" more than half the house, living comfortably in about 600 sf.

The people I bought the house (902 sf) from raised 5 children here (I don't know what gender or age differential).

 

[Rivrider]

The house is about 1100 SF. 3br/2ba. Added a sun room last year. So about 1250 SF plus the garage.

Pretty modest by todays standards, but suits my needs.