What ever happened to small houses?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

put some bactine or something on that chuck!

Hey Charlie! Did you know that there is only one natural
lake in the entire state of Texas? It's true! Do you know the name and location? An old Texas joke is about the Texan who did not believe you could have
a lake without a dam

John Galt

[BusyMom]

Just recently appraised a house, 5500sf on the upper 2.5 floors with another 1600sf finished in the bsmt - including movie theater! Price $1.5...I'll have to go back in a couple weeks to verify the ELEVATOR is complete...$65K in case you are wondering. The hot property in our market is the 800-1000sf home...lots of profit in those and lots more interested buyers. Guess they figured out that mcmansions require mcbudgets.

Had to laugh on the canary story - reminds me of my mom who used to clean the parakeet cage with her vacuum hose...until the day the keet tried to fly past the hose...thought he was a goner but these 2 little claws had clamped on the side of the hose....he looked like Ricochet Rabbit whenever the vacuum was wheeled out of the closet. Priceless memory.

[charlie]

John,

I don't know the name of the lake but I would venture
a guess that it is in the eastern part ..... maybe
Lake Cypress?

Cheers,

Charlie

[Telly]

Caddo. And the indians it was named for are long dead. You have the area right!

On a cold day in winter, if you get out of the north wind, and in front of a southern exposure, it will be real nice. The sun is so much higher in elevation than in the northern latitudes...

[BigMoneyJim]

Hey Charlie! Did you know that there is only one natural
lake in the entire state of Texas? It's true! Do you know the name and location? An old Texas joke is about the Texan who did not believe you could have
a lake without a dam

John Galt

Is it Lake Texoma? I can't recall for sure. You're on Texoma, right?

I've always heard there's only 1 Texas natural lake, but I find it hard to believe.

Yes, we are on Lake Texoma, but no, that was built in 1944 by the corps.

The first time I heard the "one natural lake" story, I thought "that's nuts!". Turns out to be true. It's Caddo Lake in east Texas. Now you can amaze your friends.

John Galt

We live in 840 square feet built in 1943 and are in the process of moving to a rural area. We are building a 1234ft house. We added a guest room and half bath. We did an open floor plan which helps it to feel spacious. This will feel like a castle to us. Plus we have two long porches on the north and south side of the house(it is on 3 acres with great views....got the land for a very low price with well and transformer) Our dtr will have a little bit larger room and a closet. Plus we'll be able to put guests in a room as opposed to the living room.
The house we live in now has served us well. It is on a large lot in a great neighborhood. At one time 5 people lived in the house.
Our new neighbors live in 740 square feet and they have 4 children. They are wanting to expand just a bit. So there are the small houses out there. Just have to look and be willing to live in them. Or have one built. I have see lots of smaller house plans.
Halley

[Billy]

Hi Halley,
Your place sounds great. What part of the country are you in?

Billy.
Website www.geocities.com/ba264

Before we bought our Texas condo we intended to build
on a small piece of land in the country.
Bought a really pretty seven acre parcel with 2 ponds
and nice trees. There was a minimum building restriction
of 1275 SF, new construction only (no used mobiles).
Didn't sound like much at the time. However as we were
used to living in 1000 SF, that extra 275 SF made a big
difference (in the cost) once we started planning a house. Kind of got blindsided by that. Anyway, that
was just one reason we opted not to build on the property. Sure was pretty though.

John Galt

[Beachbumz]

Owning a large house (more than you reasonably need to be comfortable) has to be the single best anti-FIRE strategy out there. Except maybe for the people building, selling and financing them !

Just my 2 cents, since I'm trying to get this dryer sheet thing kicked up a bit

We live in western WA state(Tacoma/Seattle area) right now and will move to the Methow Valley in eastern WA. My hubby but our present house in the mid 1980's for a pittance(45,000) and nobody wanted it because it was a dump. But, will a little bit of vision, foresight and cleanup it has appreciated very nicely. We are building our house in the Methow for $135,000(land was $25,000 for 3 acres, water and power and incredible mountain views) We never thought we could build our house for that amount, but we are and I have to say it is looking pretty darn cute! People who walk through it love the feel of the floor plan. Thanks for asking! Halley

[Traveler]

We (my SO and I) live in a ranch-style house in Sacramento. Less than 1700 square feet but plenty big enough for us. The plan is to downsize even more when I ER in 2005 but it means continuing to divest ourselves of stuff. Nature (and consumers) abhor a vacuum. Every time an inch of space opens up it's filled with something.

I've noticed that some furniture manufacturers marketing to McMansioners have made their furniture bigger. Some of this stuff--headboards, dressers, coffee tables, dining room sets, sofas--is absolutely massive with a price tag to match.

[charlie]

It used to be good advise to buy the most house you
could afford. That was certainly true in '67 when
Lyn and I build our home for about $23k. It has
since appreciated to about $250k (after major
remodeling and expansion about 5 yrs ago). Like
unclemick says "location is everything". In the
area north of mcgdog it is still probably good advise.

Cheers,

Charlie

[charlie]

This GD computer does not like the word D-A-L-L-A-S.

Charlie

[haha]

This GD computer does not like the word D-A-L-L-A-S.

Charlie

I kind of like the mc (g) dog

Mikey

[Nords]

I've never lived there; I've only driven through Texas once and I hope I never have to repeat the experience.

What's the joke between "mcgdog" and "Dallas"?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Charlie must have a browser helper or explorer spell checker thats substituting "mcgdod" for "dallas" when he posts. Seems to be the only word, which would make for an odd virus-type situation.

Its a little interesting though; I did a search for 'mcgdod' and found a number of random internet posts with that word in the middle of them in an odd place that didnt appear to be replacing 'dallas'.

[unclemick]

Nords

I - 10, one time LA to CA, me and another guy, took turns and drove thru - Texas lasted, like forever.

Yep - once in a lifetime is enough.
Now - short shots pulling the camper and stopping to enjoy - that was ok.

We live in western WA state(Tacoma/Seattle area) right now and will move to the Methow Valley in eastern WA.

If you're still around, could you let me know how you came across or decide on that area? Any good websites for real estate, builders etc..? I ER'ed in Florida and have been looking into moving to WA among other cooler places for awhile as it is too muggy and hot here. Thanks.