14 Comments

1. 

   François Caron on March 11, 2010 at 7:31 am

   Does anyone here remember a time when a family of five could live very comfortably in 1600 square feet?

2. 

   Geotpf on March 11, 2010 at 8:01 am

   I live in a house that’s about 1800 sq ft. Now, I live alone (prices out here in Riverside are low enough that I was able to buy a house bigger than I initially intended to-I only paid $150k back in May), but it could easily handle a family of five. It’s a four bedroom, two full bath house with a large family room and seperate living room. Now, the kitchen could be bigger, it doesn’t have a seperate dining room, and the laundry is in the garage, but even adding those, you would only be up to 2500 sq ft or so at the most. I don’t understand the need for more than that. Now, if you can afford it, why not (again, out here in the sticks one can now get a lot of house for your money), but one could certainly be comfortable with something smaller than your typical 4000 sq ft McMansion.

3. 

   Robo on March 11, 2010 at 8:52 am

   “I don’t understand the need for more than that.”

   For most families, I totally agree. However for me, I’ve got two kids in very small rooms. If I do move, it would be nice to have either bigger rooms or a dedicated play room. We also have numerous relatives coming from out of town several times a year that would really appreciate something more than a blow up bed on the floor or a kids bed to sleep in. Guest room would be great.

   Entertaining is difficult in a small house that also has a smallish back yard.

   But the kicker is I run a business from home, requiring one full room for an office. My wife also works in a non-related business full-time from home, requiring a separate working space that remains quiet as she’s frequently on conference calls.

   Add it all up and you get a need for 5 or 6 bedrooms! And those usually come in 3500 to 4000 square foot packages.

   When I grew up there was no working from home, out of town guests were few and far between and our rooms were much larger and able to accommodate toys, desks, etc. better.

   I’m not saying everyone needs this – in fact, I get puzzled why people want these huge houses if they are gone all day at work.

4. 

   Dave on March 11, 2010 at 9:19 am

   We’re in 750 sqaure feet and plan to stay here for as long as possible (three adults living here now, we plan on having a couple kids)

   Of course, our market is not comparable in any way to the game you folks are playing – I’ve got about $40,000 left on our $70,000 mortgage after four years.

   Location, location, location, eh?

5. 

   Anonymous on March 11, 2010 at 11:11 am

   Creepy bobble-heads

6. 

   North County reader on March 11, 2010 at 11:40 am

   how refreshing to see quiet neighborhoods with decent size lots and common sense size homes. NICE!

7. 

   Asian in CV on March 11, 2010 at 12:33 pm

   Does anyone here remember a time when a family of five could live very comfortably in 1600 square feet?

   We can still live comfortably with 1600 sqft. But times have changed — we can live much more comfortably with a much larger house.

   It’s like having a 140GB disk drive instead of an 18 Gigger 😉

8. 

   Geotpf on March 11, 2010 at 1:38 pm

   Robo-I didn’t mention how large the family room is. It’s 30′ x 15’9″ with a bumpout to the backyard sliding door. That’s a large room-large enough for, say, a TV watching area with two couches, a seperate area with a desk with a computer, and a dining room table. Plus, there’s a living room, so you could entertain adult guests there while the kids play in the family room.

   Now, if you need a dedicated office or guest room, that’s different-although you might be able to combine those two. A family of four (instead of five) allows the fourth bedroom to be used as a guest room or office.

   The house I grew up in (also in Riverside) was about the same size as the one I live in now, but it was a five bedroom with a smaller family room. Two kids in a five bedroom house allowed there to be a den/computer room (Commodore 64 then) and a guest room, with seperate living and family rooms (eat in in kitchen, no formal dining), in less than 1800 sq ft.

   I still don’t see the need for a house twice that size. Now, if you can afford it, more power to you. But 1800 sq ft isn’t cramped for a family of four or five, if the layout is right.

   I’m also assuming one story houses here. Two stories require more square footage, to take in account for the stairs and a first floor powder room.

9. 

   GameAgent on March 11, 2010 at 1:56 pm

   “Two stories require more square footage, to take in account for the stairs and a first floor powder room.”

   When my house was appraised several years ago, the square footage used by the inside staircase was not considered livable space. I’m not sure if this exclusion is normal or I just had an eccentric appraisor.

10. 

    Art Eclectic on March 11, 2010 at 2:12 pm

    Robo – you may want to reconsider making the relatives TOO comfortable. They might decide to stay and enjoy your hospitality for longer and longer periods of time 🙂

11. 

    JordanT on March 11, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    I grew up in a family of 6, and ended up moving to a 3500 sq ft. house and I can definitely see the appeal.

    We had a room for the ping pong table and a separate play room with the computer, foosball table and a small TV. All of the bedrooms were large enough to play in individually. A huge living room to accommodate our family comfortably, and when our relatives showed up (4-5 people in the family) it was still comfortable. We were able to entertain large groups of people, frequently my house was the place where all my friends hung out.

    I guess my point is that 2500 sq ft is a pretty comfortable size, for even a family of 4-5 but 3500-4000 is a good size as well. Especially since it seems like many of these houses are situated on smaller lots, so the extra inside space likely comes in handy.

12. 

    worm on March 11, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    Creepy doll-head..

    I went to the same high shool as the chicken. Didn’t know him. Same high school as Ted Williams.My moms sister knew him.

    Let here if for Hoover. Now one of the worse high schools in San Diego.

13. 

    David Overfield on March 11, 2010 at 11:17 pm

    Bunk beds – rack’em and stack’em.

    Even our family pets fit in the room with my brother and I. The cat on the top bunk, the dog on the bottom.

    Does every kid need their own room with attached bath these days?

14. 

    Geotpf on March 12, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    GameAgent-I’m pretty sure the square footage for the staircase(s) is counted in the legal description at least, so if a house says it has 1800 sq ft but is two stories, the staircase takes up as much as 150 sq ft, with a livable space of 1650 sq ft. A smart appraiser would take into account this and discount accordingly, but the listing or tax rolls will still say 1800 sq ft.