Janie Grace Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I guess I am trying to figure out what this will feel like in terms of how much space you need. Do you think of your home as if you're all still living there, because of breaks (i.e., everyone should have their own space when they come home)? Or in case kids need to move home after graduation? Or do you think "okay, we are a smaller family now; we need a home for ___ (new number of members living in household)"? In the next five years, two of our five kids will leave for college. We will probably buy a house in about 4-5 years. I am just curious about how others have approached this. My childhood room stayed "my room" until I got married, but I don't think I would have cared if my family had rearranged things or downsized. I didn't identify with HOME that much after my freshman year of college. But I was a pretty independent kid and not close to my family. I don't ever want my kids to feel unwelcome. I envision lots of holidays with everyone home (and maybe a college friend or two!). But it's just dawning on me that for the first time (soon) our family will start shrinking... at least for most of the year. So -- how has this (or not) factor into your home buying decisions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 My parents moved while I was in college, I didn't expect to have my own room at home once I left for school. Makeshift sleeping arrangements in a sibling's room were fine :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 We've been house hunting for awhile now. We're planning on downsizing, but we'll get at least a three bedroom home so that each of the boys will still have a room of his own. I've told them that until I have to go into assisted living/a nursing home I'll always have a room for them, and that's a promise I fully intend to keep. But . . . a three bedroom home will be downsizing for us (we have four bedrooms now, with another room that could be a fifth). And it's not that big of a deal if the boys' bedrooms are smaller than their current rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I haven't, but when we built this house, we heavily considered what our lives would be like once the kids moved out (they were all teens when we built). They each have their own bedroom, but our overall square footage isn't huge. We chose a two story that we could close off the upstairs and live entirely downstairs if we wanted. We would, however, still have room for guests and such. We could possibly have an empty nest by fall of 2017, so not too far off for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I think it completely depends on your circumstances, and anything can work. We'll be selling our home soon and moving and downsizing, probably moving into a townhouse somewhere in a bigger metropolitan area. It's not what we had always dreamed of, but given that home maintenance is difficult for us right now, this will be the best bet. BUT, we will always make sure to have a guest room and hopefully a den that can be turned into a bedroom in an emergency. Our children will always be welcome to live with us, and we will always make sure they know that! In fact, once we move into the metro, I do expect one or two of our children will be living with us to save money while they attend college there or begin their career there. Our home now has 4 bedrooms and our children are actually all off to college or beyond already. They sometimes come home for a semester or summer, which is great, but they were never guaranteed their old original room. In fact, they switched around often over the years when they were growing up, so no one was ever too partial to one room. :) I lived at home during my first two years of college, and when I went away to school my family moved across the country. They always had extra bedrooms though and it never bothered me that I wasn't going home to my old room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 We are in the process of doing this now. College kids will be bunking with siblings during breaks. We are downsizing by about half and moving closer to dh's work. We are not yet in complete agreement about location and are still waiting for our house to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I guess I am trying to figure out what this will feel like in terms of how much space you need. Do you think of your home as if you're all still living there, because of breaks (i.e., everyone should have their own space when they come home)? Or in case kids need to move home after graduation? Or do you think "okay, we are a smaller family now; we need a home for ___ (new number of members living in household)"? In the next five years, two of our five kids will leave for college. We will probably buy a house in about 4-5 years. I am just curious about how others have approached this. My childhood room stayed "my room" until I got married, but I don't think I would have cared if my family had rearranged things or downsized. I didn't identify with HOME that much after my freshman year of college. But I was a pretty independent kid and not close to my family. I don't ever want my kids to feel unwelcome. I envision lots of holidays with everyone home (and maybe a college friend or two!). But it's just dawning on me that for the first time (soon) our family will start shrinking... at least for most of the year. So -- how has this (or not) factor into your home buying decisions? Obviously we're a bad example... We have plenty of kids at home and our college kiddo is living at home. *However* this house has been one big remodeling job after another since we bought it a year ago last Spring. And we are remodeling with the idea of visiting families. My mom and dad and his mom and dad both have homes with finished basements (bedrooms and a bathroom) and they came in handy when we moved home. For my mom and dad both of my siblings have stayed there for periods of time (after a fire totalling my brother's house and when my sister sold her house until they closed on their new house.) For DH's sibs, his brother and family stayed there while their house finished being built. We assume some of our children will move further than driving distance and will need somewhere to stay when they visit so we are finishing our basement with that in mind. The truth is that this house will be more than we can manage when we get old and feeble. However, until then we want enough room to be able to have adults stay with us. So, no, no downsizing. We find ourselves often going bigger rather than smaller. While we know kids are now exiting, the truth is they will come back to visit with kids and spouses. Something to think on........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) We did something similar to the above. Current home has a portion which can be easily closed off. When our college kids come home, they often bring along friends, and it is nice to have that extra bedroom and bathroom space. I have started keeping the bed linens in 2 gallon size Ziploc bags so all I have to do to get ready is vacuum, dust, and put on the clean bedding. Honestly though, it is more about how many beds I can get into each bedroom. I believe I will eventually put two sets of bunkbeds in one of those bedrooms for when a crowd comes over (already thinking future grandkids!). So all you may need extra is one room that is a large like maybe an above garage bonus room, and you could put three twin beds or two sets of bunk beds or what ever might work to give you extra sleeping space. Our home currently has more square footage than we really need, and we have managed to spread out and fill it. It would be nice to downsize and not have to maintain as much. If that long-being-talked-about transfer ever comes through, I will have to give some serious thought to what type of arrangement I want with only one left at home. I do enjoy having special separate rooms for small groups to sit and chat when we have a large gathering at the house. I'd really like to have more outdoor living space, big screened porches and that sort of thing. The kids themselves are happy just to have a place to sleep, they do not need to have the space for all their special stuff as they have mostly moved that on to their more full-time living quarters. These are how mine feel anyway, but be careful if you have a sensitive child or one that needs a home base still, if you know what I mean. Edited December 2, 2015 by Seasider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Keep in mind a large percentage of college grads can't find a job that pays enough to support them. That is our reality, and I am glad I bought the larger home 11 years ago. We would be too crowded in the smaller house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 My inlaws moved while my husband was in college. As in they packed it and moved it. He came home to a slightly more personalized guest room as a sophomore. And he was at a school, in dorms, so he was returning home every break as they close the dorms. Of course these are the same people who instead of giving the 6 year older sibling a bedroom in their house (the one before the above mentioned move), he stayed in the guest room. As in the official guest room. Set up for adult guest. Way to make a kid feel like he's part of dad's family when you offer him the guest room ever other weekend. And it was a true guest room. No personalization on his part, incase other people would come visit. No one came to visit by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Keep in mind a large percentage of college grads can't find a job that pays enough to support them. That is our reality, and I am glad I bought the larger home 11 years ago. We would be too crowded in the smaller house. Also, you don't know what is going to happen school wise. After two and half years at a state school at the other end of the state, I moved home and commuted to a more local state school where I could work my summer job year round, make way more than my job at the school, plus save the the $5000 on room and board (especially since I was paying for food, but eating at work.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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