what's up with ~1500 sq ft houses?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Yup. 1200sq ft apartment with a single window looking out over a parking lot, shared walls, and where as soon as you step out your front door you're in a common area; and 1200 sq ft house with views of open space all around and nobody within 100yards are two different things.

the neighbors upstairs are rather noisy when they walk. and the creaky floors make it worse.

 

[Texashiker]

from the heating your house thread, i noticed quite a few people listing sq footage of their houses in the 1300-1700 sq ft range.

Its all about price. Home builders charge X amount of money per square foot. The smaller the home, the more affordable it is.

that seems incredibly small for a house.

Na, I live in a 1,500 square foot house and its plenty of room. It only gets small during christmas, thanksgiving,,,, birthdays.

One of the differences between an apartment and a house is the yard. When you have a 1,500 square foot house, but 1/2 an acre for a backyard, it balances out.

 

[CPA]

3400 sq ft home.

 

[Genx87]

I grew up in an 8000 sq ft home on 5 acres. The cost of the land + building in 1992 was about 30K more than my 1900 sq home on 2/3rds acre I bought in 2005.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Uh, 1500 sq ft is about perfect for a 2-4 person family (hell even a single person living on their own). It doesn't include the basement or other benefits of a house. I grew up in a ~1700 sq ft house with myself parents, and 3 large dogs. There were 2 rooms that rarely even got used. It was 4 bedroom (the 2 smaller were converted into an office and sewing room) and much larger than that and IMHO it's too big. The only problem with that house was a small kitched, and if it was my place, I would have redone the kitchen and adjacent dining room into an open room with an island and small kitchen table to create more space. Other than that it was about right size house for 3 of us (and a 4th could have easily fit).

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

I grew up in an 8000 sq ft home on 5 acres. The cost of the land + building in 1992 was about 30K more than my 1900 sq home on 2/3rds acre I bought in 2005.

I dated a girl who lived in an ~8000 sq ft home on 80 acres. It was obscene the sheer amount of freaking space in that house. So much wasted space too. Now they did have a need for a large home due to 13 (IIRC) kids, but still.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Its all about price. Home builders charge X amount of money per square foot. The smaller the home, the more affordable it is.




Na, I live in a 1,500 square foot house and its plenty of room. It only gets small during christmas, thanksgiving,,,, birthdays.

One of the differences between an apartment and a house is the yard. When you have a 1,500 square foot house, but 1/2 an acre for a backyard, it balances out.

they don't build small houses around here anymore. i guess it's not profitable for builders.
it's mcmansions and nothing else which sucks because i want new construction ~2500-3000 sq ft.

 

[Kelemvor]

Depends where you live.
We have a 1450 sqft ranch. 3 bedrooms, kitchen, family room, dining room. Half of the basement is finished off.

Wife, 2 kids, and a dog.

It's plenty of room.

 

[bobdole369]

Houses in this neighborhood (Well I used to live down the street) go now for $60-$100k. At the peak of the housing boom they were sold for over $250k. Typical sqft is around 1000. You get a living room, small kitchen, open dining area, 2-3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Thats it. Florida room if your lucky and a back patio. Your backyard is about 20x30 and your front is your driveway.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=...d=1v3THbX8kf1sLX6fdxrmqQ&cbp=12,88.92,,0,2.37

 

[vi edit]

Florida is ripe with these. 1500sq foot 3 br houses. Built mostly in the 70's early 80's by devs looking to capitalize on the building boom. It wasn't until the 90's did they get the idea that folks might want larger homes and started to do stuff that was more than the bare minimum.

Arizona was much the same way. It was a *BIG* change house shopping down there vs. what I was used to in the midwest. A 1500 sq/ft ranch in the midwest is decent sized and comfortable because you usually have a similar sized basement to put stuff like christmas junk, weight equipment, camping stuff, ect into. But in places with no basement that usually winds up filling the garage and very few houses I saw ever had people parking in their garages because they effectively became storage sheds.

 

[a123456]

~1500 SF is standard size for a small to mid-size house for a small family. It's typically 3 bed, 2 bath, so the 2 kids can have their own bedrooms. They can play in the yards too.

Most people own these size houses because they want to own a house for the possible future capital gains and because this size house is cheap. There's the whole buy vs. rent debate but right now interest rates are really low so mortgage payments would be relatively close to rent payments and the interest is tax-deductible. If you want a bigger house, it either has to be out in the boonies to be cheap, which means the commute is far, or it's really expensive.

Noise varies by apartment but usually, noise problems and general neighbor problems occur a lot more since you're sharing walls and you have people up and downstairs. There's also much less customization in an apartment since you can't do much with it, like add SF, rearrange rooms, etc.

they don't build small houses around here anymore. i guess it's not profitable for builders.
it's mcmansions and nothing else which sucks because i want new construction ~2500-3000 sq ft.

If you're a builder, generally bigger is better since the $/SF doesn't go down that much as you get to 2500 and your cost to build (in $/SF) is about the same and the land cost is fixed. Obviously, bigger would generally be more profitable.

 

[MikeMike]

My parents house i believe is 1500sq ft. which doesnt include the 1000sq ft rear deck, the now half finished basement, the front porch, the 2 car garage, the attics, the 600sq ft shed or the 5 acres of land...

i also want to say their payment is something like $500 a month on the mortgage.

 

[Golgatha]

My first house was a 3BR, 2Bath place that was around 1450 sq. ft. It also had a very deep 2 car garage and huge deck on the back of the house. I doubt you'd have these niceties in an apartment.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

i also want to say their payment is something like $500 a month on the mortgage.

So what do they actually pay?

 

[Genx87]

I dated a girl who lived in an ~8000 sq ft home on 80 acres. It was obscene the sheer amount of freaking space in that house. So much wasted space too. Now they did have a need for a large home due to 13 (IIRC) kids, but still.

Now only my dad lives in it. Trying to get him to give it to me We also had 12 foot ceilings which really opened the place up. I always joiked if my house was taken back by the bank. I can move in downstairs and have an apt that is 50% bigger than my home lol

 

[MikeMike]

So what do they actually pay?

seeing as they bought the house in 1990...

 

[Patranus]

~1500 SF is standard size for a small to mid-size house for a small family. It's typically 3 bed, 2 bath, so the 2 kids can have their own bedrooms. They can play in the yards too.

The last publication I read from the NAHB stated that the average size of new construction was 2,300 SF.

 

[Gibson486]

GO to cambridge, MA. They have houses, yes houses, that 900 SQ FT

 

[Texashiker]

they don't build small houses around here anymore. i guess it's not profitable for builders.
it's mcmansions and nothing else which sucks because i want new construction ~2500-3000 sq ft.

Most working class people can not afford a mcmansion.

The home builders target every penny they can, that is why the banks forclosed on 1 million homes in 2010. When 1 or the other in a marriage lost their job, they usually lost their house. I know working couples that 1 persons entire monthly salary goes towards just the house note. I could not imagine having to pay my whole monthly salary to a house note.

 

[Patranus]

Most working class people can not afford a mcmansion.

The home builders target every penny they can, that is why the banks forclosed on 1 million homes in 2010. When 1 or the other in a marriage lost their job, they usually lost their house. I know working couples that 1 persons entire monthly salary goes towards just the house note. I could not imagine having to pay my whole monthly salary to a house note.

Ah, so now its the home builders fault.
You people make me laugh.

You can get a 2,000 SF house for $135k. Someone making $36k could easily afford this house.

Try getting a house of that size for that cheap from a private contractor + lot cost.

 

[Train]

I went from a 1500 sq ft apt to a 1500 sq ft house and it was like moving somewhere 3 times as big.

Full finished basement = another 1500
Garage = another 500 sq ft of storage.
Small font yard and full back yard = large property to enjoy with my kids, grow veggies, etc.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Hmm we're in our first house (3brm dbl garage) and it's around that size (120sqm on 700sqm section) and it doesn't feel that small to me.

 

[bhanson]

Ah, so now its the home builders fault.
You people make me laugh.

You can get a 2,000 SF house for $135k. Someone making $36k could easily afford this house.

Try getting a house of that size for that cheap from a private contractor + lot cost.

LOL

This is the financial idiocy that caused the housing bubble.

 

[Insomniator]

I think my current 3 bed 1.5 bath house is 1500 sq ft. Seems fine for a family of 3.

Sure I could go to Georgia and buy a 10000 sq ft house for the same price but I'd rather die than live in the south. I'm too far south in Jersey as it is.

 

[alkemyst]

1700 sq ft is normal for a 3/2....the housing boom brought huge houses that probably will not be seen again for a while.

There are many condos/apartments close to 1200 or so feet because they usually do 2 suite type bedrooms assuming that's going to be the main living area for each of the dwellers.