when is a house too big?

phoebe1989seb

ceecee1 wrote: »

I do find that 3 toilets for one person is a bit too many

Mmm, not sure I agree as it's always useful to have extra facilities when you have a houseful of guests and with three, even if alone you're never far away from the loo if caught short

There's two of us at home now and we have four loos - out of choice as there were only two when we purchased the house. We have one in the ensuite, one in each of the other two bathrooms (one of which is downstairs), plus one in the utility room - also d/s but at the opposite end of the house. There's also the potential for one in the garden as we have an old former privy building - but not planning on recreating that :rotfl:

StevenMarks

I'm single and live in a 1500sq foot four bed, two bath, two toilet house with a band F council tax.

I moved here from a 940sq foot 4 bed, two bath, one toilet house in band D.

15 years ago I started by renting, then buying, a two bed flat in Yorkshire.

It is more expensive but I love it here (rural village in Northumberland) and the extra space is fantastic.

QTPie

There is "too big", but I doubt that you are going to be there with a 3 bed...

Ideally I think it is best to buy "what is most likely to suit you longer term", but without causing you financial hardship now or in the foreseeable future. Would also suggest that you take note of "very good school catchment areas": this could save hassle if you ever go down that route, but (regardless) makes a "family sized" house much more saleable in future.

Generally buy as big as you can to avoid moving too many times in future. However, that assumes that you don't need to or want to move areas. We can have a very good guess about how our lives might go, but it can be difficult to predict 5/10/15 years down the line.

Hindsight is a fantastic thing and I would have done things a lot differently 14 years ago if I was wiser.

We were in a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom plus WC as a couple. Then moved to a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, plus WC after DS was born. Now about to move to a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom, plus WC house whilst DS is still small. Small children (and all of their stuff) take a lof of space...

However, size isn't everything: we have been put of purchasing bigger (and more land) than we currently are because of the cost of maintenance/upkeep.

QT

the_flying_pig

when's a house too big?

it's too big for your needs when you hardly ever use significant parts of it, bedrooms being the most obvious example.

but the too-bigness might only actually hurt you under certain circumstances, e.g:

(a) the overall cost of rent or mortgage is a problem;
(b) size-driven cleaning, energy costs, maintenance, & so on are a drag on your time and/or budget;
(c) something very specific to you, e.g. you bought a 4-bed house as newlyweds hoping to fill it with children but have found out that you can't have any, with the spare rooms being a constant reminder of this;
(d) etc.

extra space that's not strictly needed is most likely to benefit you if, e.g.

(i) you just like it that way;
(ii) you can easily afford it & want to own a valuable house so as to benefit from house price inflation;
(iii) you live a long way from certain key members of your friends &/or family, making it easier for them to stay the night than just pop over;
(iv) you don't need the space yet but think you might in the future for whatever reason.

really it all depends on your circumstances.

three beds would rarely be considered absurdly big IMO unless affordability is an issue.

Davesnave

The thing we all seem to be conveniently forgetting here is that there are other consequences of the modern desire for space.

Go back 50 years or so, and in my village there was probably an average of 5 or 6 people in the houses. Nowadays, most properties here are outside FTB territory, so many properties have just a couple of folks rattling around in them.

That's OK, till we look at what's happened to the school, the PO and the pubs. No school, no PO and only one pub left now (and it's pants.)

Proposals to allocate space for about 80 units just outside the existing development boundary are just becoming common knowledge, but you can bet your life that some won't be happy, especially as the field flagged-up adjoins the posh bit!:rotfl:

DreamweaverB

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I always think of it like goldfish growing to the size of the bowl - your belongings grow to fit the size of your house, so it's difficult for the house to be too big.

Totally agree with this! As a single guy with no kids I bought my dream 9 bedroom house a couple of years ago and shocked even myself when I started considering an extension or extra outbuilding to accomodate my "stuff"...

BigAunty

At the weekend, my friend showed me around the show house for an identical size property that she will move into with her partner. It is a 4 bedroom detached house with 4 bathrooms and a couple of reception rooms.

I expected to hate a new build property and wondered if it would be too big for them but it was fantastic.

My only experience of new build properties was some of my relatives places - cramped, creaky and noise travels easily with hardly any cupboards, narrow stairs and hallways, tiny kitchens and bathrooms that you can touch both walls with your hands, a cramped garage where it is a struggle to park a small Ford Focus, a piddly ensuite with an underpowered shower.

Theirs is a Cala homes place - really high end finishes, cosy, laid out in a great way with a really good feel to the flow of it and actually very spacious, loads of cupboards. They are having a wood burner fitted.

One of the things that got me really envious compared to my Victorian property is its heating/insulation. Went there on a freezing day to view it, the heating was off all day but because of the way it was built (and okay, all the lights were left on on day) but it was 23 degrees inside when my property would be around 15.

So I could see how a couple could easily live in this light, spacious, warm house even though it had 3 spare bedrooms and 3 spare bathrooms for them. It was a lot brighter and cosier than mine and though it obviously had no period features at all, it wasn't ugly for being so plain because of the nice decor and wooden doors/bannisters.

cattie

After becoming a newly single person I went from owning a 2 bed, then onto a 4 bed, then my next two houses were both 3 beds.

Since becoming quite ill a couple of years ago I made the decision to downsize into a large ground floor 2 double bedroom flat with a garage. I don't think I could manage with any less space & as I found I loathe gardening, a flat really is better suited to my needs now I'm getting older.

I'd say buy whatever you can afford as you'll always have the ability to downsize & recoup some equity if ever it becomes necessary. I don't believe you can ever really have too much space, whereas it's very easy to find that you don't have enough space when in a small home.

Plus having spare bedrooms allows you to take in lodgers if ever money becomes tight to help with the mortgage.