How small of a home could you live in? - Page 4

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Azcowgirl We shared a BR for 28 years and now it is one of the great luxuries of my retirement life that I have my own bathroom.

AnikaBrodie · ‎03-10-2010

DH and I are considering downsizing from a 2100 SF bi-level home to a ranch home (all on one floor) 1700 (or maybe 1600) SF home. I have three essential requests: one is an eat-in kitchen, one is a walk-in closet and the third is a 2 car garage. Everything else is negotiable. We'd love to stay in our local community and know that ranch homes are hard to find. But one will come up when the time is right; I'm certain of that.

"Faith, Hope, Love; the greatest of these is Love." ~The Silver Fox~

ccassaday · ‎10-21-2010

I think if all you can afford you can make do with any size home. Our house is 2311 square feet on the main level. Its actually 400 sq ft bigger then our old house. But with it being open concept it takes no tine at all to clean. We also have so much storage there is a place for everything so stuff doesnt get our of place very often where you have to keep picking everything up.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

If it was just me and my dog, I'd be perfectly happy in a condo or townhome that had 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, kitchen and living room.

But with my husband, we need the space we have now. In fact, we actually could use more space. The problem is, the more space we have, the more stuff DH accumulates. We live in a two-story, 4 bedroom house that has a very large kitche, a living room and a family room. Then we have a full basement and an attached garage.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
@BirkiLady wrote:
@151949 wrote:
Our Pittsburgh home was a split entry, so the basement , which was unfinished, was not underground and was part of the available living space.Counting the basement it was about 1800 sq ft. We downsized to a 1500 sq ft villa when we moved to Florida and I think this is about as small as we could comfortably go. We used to stay in a 400 sq ft camper when we'd go to Pittsburgh for 5 months but we would be outside most of the time, and we didn't have all our worldly possessions to be stored in there.
@151949 Unfinished basements or garages are not counted as liveable square footage. You were living in a 900 sq. ft. house in PA (on the upper level of the split-foyer type). Ask any Realtor, banker or county assessor for verification!

ETA: You where probably wise to increase your living space for retirement when you moved to Florida.

I was told by Realtors in the past that if the level of the home had outside access (door to the outside on that level), the square footage is considered as part of the total for the home.

I might be wrong but I thought a split-entry home was the same as a split-level home. The bottom level isn't a basement, it's the family room. Then there is the main level which is generally a kitchen, living room and possibly dining room and then there is an upstairs with the bedrooms, etc. In that case, the bottom level is considered living space and figured into the square footage.

Friends of mine have a split-level home and they have a full basement as well.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Lipstickdiva wrote:
@Mominohio wrote:
@BirkiLady wrote:
@151949 wrote:
Our Pittsburgh home was a split entry, so the basement , which was unfinished, was not underground and was part of the available living space.Counting the basement it was about 1800 sq ft. We downsized to a 1500 sq ft villa when we moved to Florida and I think this is about as small as we could comfortably go. We used to stay in a 400 sq ft camper when we'd go to Pittsburgh for 5 months but we would be outside most of the time, and we didn't have all our worldly possessions to be stored in there.
@151949 Unfinished basements or garages are not counted as liveable square footage. You were living in a 900 sq. ft. house in PA (on the upper level of the split-foyer type). Ask any Realtor, banker or county assessor for verification!

ETA: You where probably wise to increase your living space for retirement when you moved to Florida.

I was told by Realtors in the past that if the level of the home had outside access (door to the outside on that level), the square footage is considered as part of the total for the home.
I might be wrong but I thought a split-entry home was the same as a split-level home. The bottom level isn't a basement, it's the family room. Then there is the main level which is generally a kitchen, living room and possibly dining room and then there is an upstairs with the bedrooms, etc. In that case, the bottom level is considered living space and figured into the square footage.

Friends of mine have a split-level home and they have a full basement as well.

@Lipstickdiva

You descirbed my home exactly. Around here it is called a split level.

Actually four different levels. The highest level is bedrooms and baths, the main level is kitchen living room and dining room, the level below that is half under ground and is a huge family room and a seperate laundry room. There are four windows on that level and a door to the back yard, so we were told that was considered as part of the square footage. We then have a traditional unfinished basement (concrete floor, block walls all painted) below ground under half of the house (quite large for only half). Also a two and a half car attached garage.

trenet · ‎03-26-2017

So much depends on the layout of the home, as much as the size.

FrostyBabe1 · ‎05-09-2016

Both my primary residence and my beach place are fairly small at around 1000 sq feet each, and I'm perfectly comfortable in each place. If I had more space, I'd probably just have more stuff.

~The more someone needs to brag about how wonderful, special, successful, wealthy or important they are, the greater the likelihood that it isn't true. ~

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

A split level home and a split entry home are not the same thing.

Split entry - you walk in the front door onto a landing, to one side are stairs to lower level, which may or may not be finished. On the other side are stairs up to the living area which has living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms set up just like a ranch. Because the basement is NOT UNDERGROUND it is considered taxable living space, and yes there is a door to the outside from that level.In the case of our home half the lower level was unfinished basement/laundry and the other half was garage. If we wanted that level finished it was an option when we ordered house to be built, but my DH said one reason he wanted a house was to get a basement,so we left ours unfinished. The basement area was heated and cooled, though we usually kept the registers closed to keep our bills lower. we had a full bath on the lower level, with a shower.

queendiva · ‎03-12-2010

Upsized once and now I am about to downsize for the second time.

Raised my two sons here- 2100 sq. ft. Bought this house 12 years ago with resale in mind. Now i'm off to my first (and hopefully last!) end unit town home: 2br, 2 1/2 ba, full basement and 2 car garage, 1550 sq. ft. above ground. I could have gone smaller, but for the price I did not have to.