What SIZE Home Do YOU Need?
Outgrowing a home is the #1 cited reason for moving, but there are other factors to consider at every life-stage.
Home size is a major consideration for most homebuyers — and rightfully so. One of the biggest reasons people go house hunting is because they need more space.
While you probably won’t stay in your new home forever, chances are you’ll be there for at least a few years. That’s why experts recommend pretending that your current home purchase will be the last one you make when you evaluate home size: don’t just think about your current space needs; think about the type of space you’ll need in the near future.
Kids
Realtors cite a growing family as one major reason why people look for a large home. If you have children or are planning to in the future, don’t neglect to plan for them when you think about home size. Your children will not only need places to sleep, but also places to play including playrooms and back yards. Even if you don’t need a child’s bedroom at the moment, having just one extra room can come in handy. It can serve as an office or guest room until baby — or babies — arrive. :)
Empty nesters, on the other hand, may want to consider purchasing a small home. If your children no longer live with you, you could consider adding a futon to your office rather than maintaining an extra bedroom for occasional visits from your kids. Downsizing by just one room could save you a lot of CASH (all the more for those awesome trips you can take!).
Guests
How often do you entertain at your home? If you have a dinner party every week, you’ll need more space to accommodate your guests. But if you rarely have anyone other than your immediate family in your home, you can probably be comfortable with less space for entertaining.
And when it comes to having houseguests like grandma stay with you for a week or so each summer, weigh the cost of buying a home with an extra guest room versus shelling out for a hotel room or sleeper sofa. If money is tight, it’s a better idea to go with a smaller home size (smaller monthly payment each month) than to worry about accommodating occasional houseguests.
Special needs
Evaluate the right plan, let your home builder make changes to the floor plan to suit your lifestyle and size needs.
If you have any special hobbies or needs, consider them too when you’re thinking about home size. The following special needs require either dedicated spaces or specially designed rooms:
- Home offices
- Special accommodations for family members with disabilities
- Art and dance studios
- Space for oversized furniture such as a piano (…or pool table)
Price
If money was no object, some of us might buy a castle on the hill and be done with it. But for most people, price is a major consideration during the home buying process. So if square footage is truly priority number two behind home price, you may need to make some sacrifices when choosing your new home. Settle for the largest home size you can get now for the price, and consider adding bells and whistles to your home later. If you do things the opposite way and buy a small home that has a lot of great features but not enough space, you may regret it later. It’s a long (and expensive) process to add an addition on to a home. But adding upgrades like granite counter tops or hard wood floors are much more easily done little by little over time.
One other item to consider is how the home is designed. Try not to get too focused on square footage alone. Home floor plans can be ‘laid out’ very differently, the right home can feel larger and ultra- flexible based on the floor plan design and flow, while others can be more confining and still not suit your needs – even though the square footage is similar or even larger. Try to take into account the space offered, its flexibility and the home’s ability to meet most of your needs, rather than focusing on a square foot number.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle is another important consideration when it comes to home size. If you aren’t home very much, you might want to consider buying a small home now and upgrading to a larger one in the future if your lifestyle changes.
Remember that pets are a big part of your lifestyle, too. If your life revolves around your pets, you should consider their home size needs as well. Large dogs, for example, need big yards, but if owning a big yard isn’t an option in your city (or on your budget) you might need to think about buying a larger home with more square footage for Fido to play indoors.
Think long-term … and EXERCISE! (what do we mean??)
One way to calculate the home size you need is to look at the floor plan of your current place. Make a photocopy of the diagram, and mark down which spaces are dedicated to which family members and activities. If you’ve got just enough space for all your needs, you probably won’t need to buy a much larger home. But if you find yourself wishing you could draw extra rooms onto the floor plan to accommodate a growing family, then you need a bigger size home. Doing this exercise can help you get an idea of the actual amount of square footage you need and help you plan for the future.
Resource: Blog post by NewHomeGuide.com, with a few recommendations by CornerStone Homes’ senior writer, Candy Harvison.
