Mom in High Heels Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Weird how so many of have house questions! I thought I'd throw my WWYD into the ring. It looks like we will be moving back to the States late next year. We have been looking at house in the area where we will live and have decided the best option and bang for our buck is to go with new construction. There are 2 floor plans that we like. We both like one more than the other, but both are suitable for our needs. House 1, which is the floor plan we both like the best, is ridiculously big IMO. It has 4 bedrooms (master with a sitting room), a huge loft space, a formal LR, formal DR, family room, morning room, kitchen, office (which would be perfect for hs), 3.5 bathrooms and a full finished basement. With the basement it is a little over 3800 sqft, plus there is an 800 sqft section of the basement that is not finished for storage and a 2 car garage. While I love the floor plan, as the layout is very well thought out, there are only 4 of us, and *I* feel it's too big and we would have big empty rooms and lots of wasted space. James Bond loves it and thinks it's the house for us. House 2 is also large. It has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, formal LR, family room, kitchen, morning room, and a full finished basement (which has 2 large sections, one of which would be perfect for hsing), an unfinished basement section that's about 600 sqft and a 2 car garage. With the basement it's just at 3000 sqft. While the layout is not as ideal as the first one, I like it and feel that it will meet our needs. James Bond thinks it's "okay." He doesn't hate it, he just likes House 1 better. House 1 is about $40K more than House 2. This isn't really that much of an issue (well, it is, but it's certainly within our range), but still, that's a lot of money. James Bond, who is a pinny pincher, is for spending the money on the bigger house. This shocks the beejeebers out of me to be honest. He grew up in a big house (there were 5 kids) and likes the feel of a large house. IMO, House 2 is plenty large. I know who's going to be doing the majority of the cleaning too! Am I being unreasonable in not wanting the larger house? Yes, it's beautiful, but what would I put in all those rooms? What would we use them for? I think we'd be rumbling around in a big, empty house that wouldn't feel homey. Does that make sense? I know, I know, poor me, having to choose between 2 large, beautiful houses, but I'm really torn. WWYD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Weird how so many of have house questions! I thought I'd throw my WWYD into the ring. It looks like we will be moving back to the States late next year. We have been looking at house in the area where we will live and have decided the best option and bang for our buck is to go with new construction. There are 2 floor plans that we like. We both like one more than the other, but both are suitable for our needs. House 1, which is the floor plan we both like the best, is ridiculously big IMO. It has 4 bedrooms (master with a sitting room), a huge loft space, a formal LR, formal DR, family room, morning room, kitchen, office (which would be perfect for hs), 3.5 bathrooms and a full finished basement. With the basement it is a little over 3800 sqft, plus there is an 800 sqft section of the basement that is not finished for storage and a 2 car garage. While I love the floor plan, as the layout is very well thought out, there are only 4 of us, and *I* feel it's too big and we would have big empty rooms and lots of wasted space. James Bond loves it and thinks it's the house for us. House 2 is also large. It has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, formal LR, family room, kitchen, morning room, and a full finished basement (which has 2 large sections, one of which would be perfect for hsing), an unfinished basement section that's about 600 sqft and a 2 car garage. With the basement it's just at 3000 sqft. While the layout is not as ideal as the first one, I like it and feel that it will meet our needs. James Bond thinks it's "okay." He doesn't hate it, he just likes House 1 better. House 1 is about $40K more than House 2. This isn't really that much of an issue (well, it is, but it's certainly within our range), but still, that's a lot of money. James Bond, who is a pinny pincher, is for spending the money on the bigger house. This shocks the beejeebers out of me to be honest. He grew up in a big house (there were 5 kids) and likes the feel of a large house. IMO, House 2 is plenty large. I know who's going to be doing the majority of the cleaning too! Am I being unreasonable in not wanting the larger house? Yes, it's beautiful, but what would I put in all those rooms? What would we use them for? I think we'd be rumbling around in a big, empty house that wouldn't feel homey. Does that make sense? I know, I know, poor me, having to choose between 2 large, beautiful houses, but I'm really torn. WWYD? I'd go with the bigger house. I'm in a pretty big house right now and I love having the extra room. I love it the most at Christmas and in the summer when my family comes to visit. Ours is the only house that has room for everyone so this is where they come :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would go for the house that has the floor plan that best suits the way you live. If that is house #1, DH likes it, and you can afford it, I would go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Yeah, this is definitely a first world problem. ;) I think 3000sf is plenty big BUT the flow and the floor plan is REEEEALy important to me so if you can swing the bigger house with the better floor plan, I'd probably go for it. Then again, we just paid cash for a fixer, so I am not really qualified to be having these high f'lutin' discussions. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I had double the siblings that your DH did and grew up in a home roughly the size of the difference between your two choices LOL. To this day, I live in close quarters by choice. I don't like having separate retreats for everyone, being spread out and thin. But I also am not an introvert or someone who requires that. Is he? I don't think you're ridiculous at all. I wouldn't want excessive space that I didn't need but would have to furnish and heat/cool and clean! But I've also settled for homes and that's just such a ... yuck thing, too, you know? I'd push for the smaller home and sweeten the deal by suggesting we put the $40K difference into something like a small cabin, boat, or something :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbotoast Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would probably go for the smaller one. That is a lot of extra space and extra cleaning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Keep looking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Would you be able to have a walkout basement in plan 2? Have you ever homeschooled in a basement before? I need better lighting and full outlet to the outdoors if I'm in a basement. Aside from that, I might consider how long you plan on being there, resell if that's an issue. Are other homes in the area near the same size? I'd also consider quality of the build and reputation of the builder(s) for dealing with follow up issues. All things being equal I don't think house 1 is too big for a family of 4 if it fits your needs. Our previous home was 2k sf with the 3 of us. The layout was bad, but it also made us feel separated a lot because the rooms were so far apart. Dh like the presence of people even when he's watching TV. Our house now is 1100 sf, I can talk with dh from the classroom while he's in the living room. It feels more homey. I always thought I'd want a big house with lots of designated rooms. Our previous home was on a slab, no basement, but one bedroom ended up as the catch all. Here we have just enough for everything to have its place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Keep looking? :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 While I personally would probably go for house #2, I think James Bond has a point. If you're moving back to the States, will your family come for visits? Even if you have the best family ever, you will appreciate the extra space after about 2 days of an extended visit;). How long will you be stationed in that area? If you'll be there for a while, the larger house may be a better investment, especially if the floor plan suits your lifestyle. Enjoy your house hunting journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Yeah, this is definitely a first world problem. ;) I know, right? I feel bad for griping about it. Oh, woe is me. :glare: I'd go with the bigger house. I'm in a pretty big house right now and I love having the extra room. I love it the most at Christmas and in the summer when my family comes to visit. Ours is the only house that has room for everyone so this is where they come :) This is JB's argument, BUT I'm an only child and his family never, ever visits us. Other than my parents, there's no one to house. I had double the siblings that your DH did and grew up in a home roughly the size of the difference between your two choices LOL. To this day, I live in close quarters by choice. I don't like having separate retreats for everyone, being spread out and thin. But I also am not an introvert or someone who requires that. Is he? I don't think you're ridiculous at all. I wouldn't want excessive space that I didn't need but would have to furnish and heat/cool and clean! But I've also settled for homes and that's just such a ... yuck thing, too, you know? I'd push for the smaller home and sweeten the deal by suggesting we put the $40K difference into something like a small cabin, boat, or something :) To the bolded: yes, he is. He's a huge introvert, andI feel like I'd lose him in a huge house because he'd squirrel himself away in some room and I'd never find him. To the italicized: you're a freaking genius. I never thought of that! FWIW, we currently live in a 1400 sqft apt, which is one of the largest places we've had in his 16 years in the military, so I'm used to smaller spaces. I would absolutely love more room, but the thought of that much room makes me feel weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 FWIW, we currently live in a 1400 sqft apt, which is one of the largest places we've had in his 16 years in the military, so I'm used to smaller spaces. I would absolutely love more room, but the thought of that much room makes me feel weird. Oh, trust me you....you would get used to it. I went from 1100 sf to 2300 and LOVED it. For only 3 people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I find we live in only part of our house. Unless someone is in their own room we end up in the kitchen or living room. The rest of the house is, storage. I would go for the smaller one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 I find we live in only part of our house. Unless someone is in their own room we end up in the kitchen or living room. The rest of the house is, storage. I would go for the smaller one. Aha! I knew it. This is what I think will happen too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Keep looking? Definitely Option 3. Why settle if you are building? FWIW, I do live in a large house (the Rectory, so no choice, really) and it is not that homey. The ceilings are too high, the livingroom too big, and we cannot furnish it to the degree it needs to feel more lovely and cosy. OTOH, I like having space. It does feel empty, now that the boys are gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I agree with the others who suggested to keep looking. Our house is 2300 sq feet finished. When we only had 2 kids, NO ONE even walked into the lower half all day long. The kids had zero interest in being that far away from me and my stuff was upstairs (kitchen, laundry, computer, etc). My husband would come home and go to his office (downstairs at the end of the hall) and then close the door. He would never hear us when we called, we never saw him etc. I HATED it. I made him switch his office to the main room downstairs and put the toy room in the far back room. No one played back there but at least my husband could hear me when I needed him. It wasn't till our 4th and 5th kids came along that the kids even started migrating downstairs during the day. The toy room is still mostly unused but the main area downstairs provides a quiet work area for my older 2 to do their schoolwork. I truly can't imagine having another 1000+ sq feet of space to fill and then keep clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would go for the house that has the floor plan that best suits the way you live. :iagree: We just moved out of a house and just over half of it was unsused space because the layout did not fit our lifestyle and we were crammed into the kitchen/dining room because it was too much trouble to actually get to the other rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would probably go for the smaller one. That is a lot of extra space and extra cleaning! I'd keep looking. We downsized from a 3500 sq ft house to about a 2000+ sq ft with good storage and a large garage. The big house was SO much to clean and the location of it wasn't great either. We ended up just using portions of it anyway. One thing that I did really like about the old house and the new house is the main level has a circular floor plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 While the purchase price might work fine for you there are a lot of other costs to consider that will be higher with the bigger house. Have you compared taxes, insurance, utilities, etc? Also, are you buying in a subdivision? It is best for resale not to buy the most expensive house in an area. Finally, who is going to clean all that extra space? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I would go for the house that has the floor plan that best suits the way you live. If that is house #1, DH likes it, and you can afford it, I would go for it. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 You want to build? Take Floor Plan #1 to an architect, tell him like it but would like to cut a bit off the square footage and see what he suggests. The cost savings for fewer square feet would more than offset his fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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