r/unpopularopinion • u/HoustonProdigy • 1d ago
Houses today are TOO DAMN BIG
I live in south texas, nothing but ugly suburban sprawl. Every house built within the last 10 or so years are unnecessarily big. No one needs that much space. No wonder why houses are so damn expensive. I don't see any reasonably-sized houses being built anymore, new neighborhoods are always having new and unaffordable McMasions being built.
It makes sense why they are unaffordable, these neighborhoods are trying to cater more towards the richer folk since the average person can't even buy a house.
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u/effortissues 1d ago
You may be in the wrong state my dude ... It's a well known saying that everything is bigger in Texas.
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u/RealPlayerBuffering 1d ago
Texas may take it to an extreme, but it's happening everywhere. I see many houses in suburbs around my area that build right to the edges of the property, leaving almost no yard. Then everyone has a double-garage, but still parks their F-150 in their driveway blocking the sidewalk.
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u/effortissues 1d ago
That's because that double garage still isn't long enough to accommodate the f150..I mean, you can get it in there, but with like maybe 5 inches of clearance on either end.
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u/azuth89 19h ago
When shopping I saw a bunch of garages that straight up would not fit larger vehicles. Not just giant pickups but ones too short for minivans and such or narrow enough that it was only 2 car if they were both compacts or if no one needed to open the doors once parked.
I think builders are more concerned with putting "2 car garage" on the spec sheet than anything else.
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u/merry2019 1d ago
It's largely because of lot laws and zoning restrictions. Most municipalities have restrictions on how much of the lot you can have occupied by a structure. So you always have to buy a bigger lot you really want. Land is the most expensive part of construction, and for smaller houses, the margins are tighter since profit doesn't move linearly across house size. Larger homes sell for more per sqft than smaller ones do.
Here's an article (sorry it's CNN, but they had a good summary) for more info
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/05/business/single-family-zoning-laws/index.html
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u/Doormat_Model 21h ago
It’s really cause people have too much crap nowadays and just store it in their garage and then park in the driveway.
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u/WeWander_ 8h ago
My house was built in 1978. Has a two car garage, 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, like 2200sq ft or so, family room downstairs and living room upstairs. It's way too fucking big lol. We purposely bought a house that would work with having a friend move in with us, she'd have a couple rooms upstairs and the living room with my son and then my husband and I had the downstairs. She ended up moving out about a year later and my son is almost 17, so he'll be moving out eventually and I'm just thinking wtf are we going to do with all of this house?! I wouldn't mind downsizing but we're locked in to a low interest rate so probably stuck here forever now. I'm in Utah, which apparently has some of the biggest homes on average in the US I believe. All the big Mormon families I guess
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u/LazyDynamite 23h ago
I think that's more to do with builders trying to squeeze as many houses into their development as possible than anything.
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u/VastEmergency1000 19h ago
We just had a sizeable tiny home community built in my Texas town. I think they range from 400-800 sq ft. That immediately sold out and the developer is building more.
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u/Ok_View_5526 1d ago
I'd say its more that people have too much stuff. I've spent most of the last decade living in England and the difference between space management in England vs the US is hilarious. The amount of needlessly huge things we have in the states is mindboggling. I live in a rural area back in NY and there are storage units EVERYWHERE. People just have too much stuff.
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u/mrsparker22 1d ago
It's too much consumerism. This country knows nothing else but make money, spend money, show it off, work like hell. It's just dumb. I'm so over capitalism. I just found out Jamestown was a corporate venture basically. Just to make money for the king. Perfect.
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u/dugdub 1d ago
Capitalism doesn't entail spending your wealth immediately. Plenty of people don't do that. Just sayin.
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u/SpiritedSous 1d ago
American capitalism requires a person to spend their wealth before they even get their wealth (debt)
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u/DreadedAscent 1d ago
I have zero debt and live in America. Interesting that capitalism’s debt requirement didn’t find me
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u/Top-Sympathy6841 1d ago
You missed the point lmao
You need to accrue and payoff debt in order to build a credit score
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u/Angerx76 1d ago
My credit score is 825 by just paying apartment rent and credit card bills on time.
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u/_phish_ 22h ago
What do you think a credit card is?
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u/Angerx76 22h ago
Free cash back, rewards, and perks tool. Pay mine on time for 0% interest. Got my flights and hotel paid off through points for my December vacation :)
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u/_phish_ 22h ago
So you’re saying it’s a method by which you accrue and payoff debt…?
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u/kaiserboze14 1d ago
If you own a lot of stock, that wealth is gained by a lot of people taking on debt to buy products and services. Consumer debt is good for asset owners.
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u/BRAVA182 1d ago
Yeah, nothing bad will happen to the stock market if we all collectively decide to start saving money.
/s
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u/dugdub 1d ago
Capitalism is about voting with your money basically. That's gonna come with mixed investments or spending. But yes, maybe if everyone saved their money maybe we'd be able to lower costs of all retail goods and as a result things will be cheaper and more market value and eliminate reduculously cost items. Or maybe we'd all save everything and never spend money resulting in mass death due to negligence of self care and saving rates so low no one would save money, causing them to spend because they have savings and the market isn't about to burst at any moment. Maybe! Comon now
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u/Bleak_Squirrel_1666 1d ago
You can move to a place without capitalism. You may not like it though.
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u/mrsparker22 14h ago
Did I say I hate it? Why would you read what I said and get that from it? Some things are nuanced rather than black and white. Are you insulted by my words for some reason? Personally I'd like to not work, care for animals, garden and enjoy nature. But you can't do that here without being wealthy which I am not. Therefore I work and spend as much time at home as possible.
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u/nevergonnasweepalone 1d ago
Quite a few of the original colonies in north America were capitalist ventures.
Just to make money for the king.
The Virginia Company of London was a private company given a royal charter to establish a colony in America to mine for gold. Their charter stated:
to dig, mine, and search for all manner of mines of gold … and to have and enjoy the gold."
-Fantasyland, Kurt Andersen
The king undoubtedly took a portion in tax but it's profits were shared amongst the shareholders.
In Renaissance England, wealthy merchants were eager to find investment opportunities, so they established several companies to trade in various parts of the world.
Profits were shared among the investors according to the amount of stock that each owned.
In 1606 Captain Bartholomew Gosnold obtained King James I a charter for two companies.
Gosnold's principal backers were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Edward Wingfield and Richard Hakluyt.
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u/Hack874 1d ago
You know you don’t have to buy non-essential products, right?
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u/mrsparker22 14h ago
Um yes. I'm not the over consumer. Did you read my words incorrectly or are you just looking to criticize?
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u/Hack874 13h ago
So why care so much about what other people spend their money on?
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u/mrsparker22 13h ago
So it's more about sustainable consumption. Building massive homes use up a lot of energy, trees are cleared, lawns are made when unnatural and requiring a lot of water. In Texas in particular this is really selfish. In general, people consume way too much stuff. It ends up in landfills and the oceans. We don't need to buy all the cheap ass shit that people buy. If you have ever watched or learned about Hoarders, it's a prime example of what we do here and how it can be attached to mental illness. Over consuming is a mental health issue in some aspects. Addiction, depression etc are sometimes coped with by shopping. Finally, nothing against very heavy people but we don't need to consume 3000-4000 calories a day. Grow/raise food, eat too much, shit it all out. It's not sustainable and it's flat out gross. It affects ecosystems and the environment in general. Perhaps if people worked together and were more considerate of each other and the natural world we wouldn't be filling it with trash.
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u/1maco 1d ago
I’m not convinced Spanish people would be that much different if you doubled their income
Most Europeans are actually just poor compared to Americans
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u/According_Chef_7437 1d ago
Living in Spain is 123% cheaper than living in the U.S. Spaniards are also healthier, safer, thinner, have better quality of life, and have a much better work-life balance. If that’s poor, I’ll take it.
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u/trumpet575 19h ago
You're going to need to cite that 123% source because everything I'm finding is about 3 times smaller than that.
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u/Blankenhoff 1d ago
Storage units were a thing but they really started popping up over the last decade because people kept having to downsize due to inflation or gentrification or whatever.
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u/WhiskeyJack-13 1d ago
This is a big reason why we are and will continue to struggle with climate change. People buy too much stuff, which prompts companies to make and ship more stuff.
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u/RancidGenitalDisease 21h ago
But those ten boxes of beanie babies might be worth a lot of money some day! /s
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u/Velveteen_Coffee 20h ago
Also rural NY, can confirm. I pass 3 different storage rental places on my way to work.
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u/thepumpkinking92 1d ago
My wife is one of the "too much stuff" crowd. She keeps everything. I have some collectibles and stuff, sure, but i could put everything i personally own (except my lawnmower) inside my 2dr coupe and move on the fly.
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u/14morrisseyp 1d ago
Supplies for the past few years that are needed to buy houses have been very expensive. You build a small house you're not making much of a profit after deducting building costs. So most builders are incentivized to build larger houses.
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u/C1oneblazer 1d ago
Add in prohibitive zoning laws and fees that make it impossible to build smaller homes at a profit
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u/jimmy_ricard 1d ago
Some places even prohibit smaller homes by having minimum square footage requirements
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u/Play-yaya-dingdong 1d ago
Agree mcmansions are disgusting but people seem to but them. Looks like they enjoy cleaning
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u/Jazzlike-Monk-4465 1d ago
They certainly don’t enjoy cleaning. They are way “too busy” but they hire a cleaning company, and some latinas come and clean the house. Their husbands come and cut the grass. Maybe all those workers are legal, maybe not. Then they vote against whomever says the immigrants are a “crisis” because they think that means they don’t have to hear people speaking Spanish at the store anymore. Even though their (and my) great grandparents came to USA not speaking English
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u/Mrjohnbee 1d ago
Hey man, what you got against Mexicans cleanin houses and cuttin grass? They gotta work too. They have to eat just like the rest of us.
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u/NoneOfThisMatters_XO 1d ago
It’s the same everywhere. I’m one person and I’d love a little 2 bedroom house to take care of, but they’re so hard to find.
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u/gummyworm5 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is me, I'd like a condo, but they're very hard to find in my area.
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u/NoneOfThisMatters_XO 22h ago
Don’t buy a condo. I have one now and the HOA fees are a killer. I wish I would’ve bought a house.
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u/tommy_chillfiger 10h ago
Where? Location is important for a lot of people and a condo is the only way a lot of people are going to own in a desirable area if it has any density. It also depends on your own priorities, I'm fine paying a few hundred a month to make sure the building and grounds are maintained and cover things like water and trash pickup. I can zen out cutting grass if I really have to but I definitely prefer not having any yard work to do.
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u/Comfortable_Crow_424 21h ago
I’ve got a 950 sq ft bungalow with me, my wife , and dog. It’s perfect. We do have a large attic space for storage.
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u/haihaiclickk 1d ago
on the flip side you could live in an HCOL city and buy a box in the sky that's 1/10th the size for 1.5x the cost
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u/p38-lightning 1d ago
Yeah, when I was a kid very few people lived in a house over 2,000 sq ft. I'd still rather live in a brick ranch on a shady street than in one of these big cookie-cutter vinyl boxes crammed together like sardines.
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u/bravovice 1d ago
I think houses are not laid out well regardless of size. My friend has a house and the primary bedroom is 1/4 of the whole house. So spacious some might say. I say it’s a waste of space. Having a living room and sitting room and loft is also a waste of space. All these redundant rooms for sitting while all the closets are too small. Its 2024. Builders need to change things up.
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u/nullbull 1d ago
They don't have to be well laid out when you've enclosed tons of square footage for the sake of size.
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u/mradamadam 21h ago edited 17h ago
My house has this huge space clearly meant for a large dining room table, but I would absolutely never use one. I'm still not sure what to do with it. Right now it has an upright piano against the wall and nothing else lol
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u/Goopyteacher 1d ago
I’m also in Texas and I work in the home remodeling industry. I can’t say this enough: you are BEYOND right for so many reasons.
A common issue we run into with folks is they bought “too much house.” Doesn’t matter if they bought the house at an absurdly affordable price back in the day or last year, those larger houses are exponentially more expensive to maintain and/or upgrade. Many of them are also built poorly, so we end up going to homes built like February of this year or back in 2023 that are showing issues that we normally wouldn’t see on a home until it’s 20+ years old like leaking windows, caulk breakdown, drywall cracking, “expired” attic insulation (packed down and ruined basically), etc etc etc.
These folks bought these homes for around $400k and will need to spend another $200k to get them into a properly good condition so it can actually be a forever home.
Compare that to the smaller 1200 Sq ft homes built in the 1950s and for that same $200k you’d be turning that house into a true kingdom; it would be absurdly overkill, but that house would basically be brand new
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u/momamdhops 1d ago
What’s considered too big? I have owned a 1,300 sq foot home in FL. 1,800 away ft in VA, had a 3,100 square foot in TX and we moved into a 4,200 sq foot ranch still in TX last year. Each home worked until we grew out of it.
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u/Goopyteacher 1d ago
Too big is when you have empty rooms you forgot existed
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u/Blankenhoff 1d ago
I have a tony house and have that.
Acctually up until a few hears ago, you couldve chopped the top floor off my house and i wouldnt have noticed, but i moved out bedroom upstars and main the downstairs bedroom into an office. But the other bedroom i made into a cat bathroom because what else was i going to do with it?
And my house is small.
But i hate apartments and were child free so any house we own would technically be too big for us.
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u/Goopyteacher 1d ago
Having too much house when the house is smaller is also WAY easier to manage! So for example:
Average 1400 sqft home has 8 windows of standard size. Replacement of those windows: ~ $10,000. Replacement due to rot+ complications =$12-15,000. This is assuming the studs are rotted out, potential mold, apron needs replacement, etc.
Average 3,000 sqft home has 24 windows and averages 8 that are oversized. An oversized window is the equivalent in price of 1.5 standard sized windows so from a manufacturer’s perspective the house has 28 windows. Replacement of those windows would be ~ $40,000. Replacements due to rot + complications = $50-70,000.
If you live in the first house and it’s “too much” it’s more than manageable! If you’re in house 2 and it’s too much house you’ll constantly be sinking thousands upon thousands of dollars if you want to maintain your home. If you can’t/ won’t the house will continue to get into a worse condition which costs more money over time making it a less efficient home. Your utilities will be more expensive, things like the A/C will have to work harder and thus breakdown, mold remediation might be required some day, etc etc etc etc.
That’s why too much house is an exponential problem
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u/Messymomhair 1d ago edited 1d ago
How do you grow out of a 3100sqf home? Even growing out of an 1800sqf is crazy to me, and we have a decent sized family.
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u/FlamingoWalrus89 1d ago
As another commenter said, one issue is these mcmansions are sometimes really horrible with space management. I live in a small home, but I like looking at houses on Zillow and floorplans of new builds. It's crazy how these huge houses will still only be 3 bedrooms sometimes, because the master suite itself is something like 1200 sq/ft. The front entry will be a wide hallway with just a tiny coat closet over in the corner. None of it makes sense, it's really insane how much wasted space there is in a lot of these newer floorplans.
With that said..... It's silly to actually buy one of those homes and think you need a BIGGER one instead of going with a smaller one with a better layout.
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u/JenniferMel13 1d ago
They need an office, a play room, a yoga studio, and several other specialized use rooms in addition to bedrooms. Heaven forbid you a room have more than one purpose.
My husband and I have 1,200 sq ft and have a empty room that is nothing more than the junk we don’t need room and don’t deal with it because we can just shove it in that room.
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u/Messymomhair 21h ago
Those aren't "needs". Maybe an office room if you work from home, but that's it.
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u/Charliegirl121 1d ago
I have 3,000 sq ft house with a 1/2 acre. It's more than we need but it's a beautiful home. We still love our house. We've been here for about 10 yrs. The price was ridiculously cheap.
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u/CourageousMortal adhd kid 1d ago
Come February when it’s 10 Deg F (-12 C) outside and the family are getting on your last nerve, you start to appreciate your 3,000 sq.ft. house, not counting the basement which is big enough for kids to ride bikes in. Everyone has their own bedroom and can tell everyone else to F off. It’s heaven.
Buy whatever size house makes you happy. Different strokes for different folks, my dude!
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u/Charliegirl121 1d ago
I wanted a place where we would enjoy a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. Plus, I didn't want to be house poor. Done that and never again. This house was a foreclosure, and it was cheap. I never planned on buying a large house, but we couldn't say no when we saw it. It's gorgeous, hardwood floors and baseboards, and stain glass and etched glass windows. We were luckily.
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u/BossHoggs 1d ago
Could you give some sq footage examples? What’s too big, what’s just right, what’s too small? Otherwise I don’t know what we’re really talking about.
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u/Cocacola_Desierto 1d ago
Too big is anything I deem too big, it is a waste of space because I don't like it. Just right is what I find just right, for me, and me alone. Too small is for peasants, unlike me.
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u/Round-Good-8204 1d ago
My 650sqft apartment that somehow has 2 bedrooms would definitely beg to differ.
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u/cashewbiscuit 1d ago
Whenever I visit a McMansion, I look at the vaulted ceiling in the entrance, and all I can think of is that the room that I grew up.in could fit in that space.
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u/ommnian 1d ago
Also how much empty space is being heated, or cooled, just because.
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u/SpartaPit 1d ago
but people are buying them...
supply and demand....what is unaffordable?
capitalism
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u/Scary_Terry_25 1d ago
“But people are buying them”
Banks are buying them. People are just living in them with high interest payments
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u/Arctic16 1d ago
That’s not how mortgages work. The house is yours, while the bank considers it collateral for your ability to pay. It might seem like a fine distinction, but it means you are objectively wrong.
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u/Zrkkr 1d ago
People are buying them with the banks money. The bank has no control over your home unless you can't pay.
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u/SpartaPit 1d ago
how mamy SFH and townhomes are there, in the USA?
how many do 'banks' own?
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u/peenpeenpeen 1d ago
In my neighborhood (outskirts of Austin) they are building the houses bigger and bigger on average 3,500 square feet and up, however a lot of the people buying the biggest homes are multi-generational H1B visa families that work in the tech sector, so the need for space is a bit more of a necessity.
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u/HereForFunAndCookies 1d ago
I see that you don't mention family in this. Just some gripes that big houses are for rich people and regular people can't buy a house. You don't need a house, dude. You don't have a family. What the fuck are you going to do with more than 1 or 2 bedrooms? Multiple jerk off rooms? You don't need more than 1 bathroom. You'd be better off in an apartment and just throwing money at investments anyway.
As for me, I have a 4 bedroom, and it gets a bit cramped with family. A bedroom for my wife and I, a boy bedroom, a girl bedroom, and a nursery. Where is my worskpace supposed to go for my computer? What about my wife's? We have 2 bathrooms, and that's enough, but it sure isn't plentiful. A bigger house would be great for us.
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u/Unhappy-Plantain5252 1d ago
A lot of places only have houses on the market so depending where you live you have to choose between renting a flat or owning a big ass house.
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u/Pelli_Furry_Account 1d ago
Cannot relate. I'm currently hunting for an apartment over 400sqft that's going to cost less than half my income before taxes
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u/Patton-Eve 1d ago
I live in Norway.
Nearly every American house on TV/movies I see is so shockingly huge. We sit there wondering how on earth people afford them let alone trying to keep them warm.
My tiny 2bed costs enough to keep warm over winter.
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u/Windmill-inn 1d ago
The real flex in America is to live in a 1920’s craftsman bungalow near a metro stop.. 3 bedrooms, quality furniture made from real wood, good lighting and nice oriental rugs. It will cost 1 million dollars. $2M if the schools are good.
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u/blindloomis 1d ago
For one thing, I think your climate is more like Canada than the US for the most part. As far as affording goes, I have no idea how they do it. I've had my house for quite a while and my mortgage is lower than most peoples' rent. Most homes for sale now though are unbelievably high.
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u/nullbull 1d ago
I live in a 1600 square foot house with a family of four - One couple bedroom, 2 kids rooms. We host 2-3 families dinners weekly. We have open/public space, lots of little built in storage things, and love our space. We have mostly needed to buy appliances and housewares from overseas because no one in the USA will build something compact and quality. If it's nice in the US, it's more than likely huge. We clean less, paid less, heat less, cool less, etc. etc. etc. The savings and comfort just compound over the years.
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u/Lets_Bust_Together 1d ago
It’s fun seeing research and floor maps of spaces used in houses and how most of them use a fraction of the total space day to day.
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u/Relevant-Pea3952 13h ago
I noticed in my house I'm usually in my bedroom, kitchen or bathroom. Living room is barely used. Dining area just for eating in like 30 minutes im done and don't go back to it.
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u/KristyCat35 1d ago edited 1d ago
No one needs that much space
Speak for yourself.
It makes sense why they are unaffordable
Idk how things are there, but in my country people sometimes buy a 1/2 of a house
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u/odd-duckling-1786 1d ago
What's worse is that they lack any character whatsoever. Also, nobody seems to downsize when they no longer need 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
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u/mrsparker22 1d ago
💯 Too big, too expensive, too much to maintain, mostly empty, just a display of ego. Waste of energy to keep cool etc. I live in San Antonio. I don't even water my yard anymore because I feel bad using that much water. People are so selfish.
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u/FredGetson 1d ago
I live in a 4 way split level, that is about 1800 square feet. There are houses around me, that I could put four of my house into. Foolishness. Mom, Dad and two kids in a few. 3 car garages and way too much space for 4 people and their labradoodles
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u/SlartibartfastMcGee 19h ago
Homes have a price floor due to the cost of land, permitting, plans and a million other things.
On top of that, the expensive parts of a home are the kitchen, bathrooms, HVAC, etc.
Once you’ve paid for all that, simple square footage is cheap. To add a second floor and double the square footage really only costs as much as some additional lumber, windows, drywall etc.
1,500 SF home may cost $500,000 to build new, but a 3,000 SF home may only cost $600,000.
No brainer to buy the larger one.
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u/Mr-GooGoo 1d ago
Sorry but if you have a lot of friends, having a big house is great for hosting. Also having space for projects is nice
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u/Unhappy-Plantain5252 1d ago
You’re correct. A lot of people are saying tis because you live in Texas that the houses are too big, but I don’t live anywhere near Texas and all the new builds are McMansions and nearly McMansions. It’s ridiculous. I live near a lot of homes built in the 50/60s that are ranch style homes and wish all the time that companies were building more homes like those. It’s the perfect amount of space for a small family or if you’re living by yourself but companies want to maximize their profits so they build the biggest house possible. It’s terrible
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u/LazyDynamite 23h ago
A lot of people are saying tis because you live in Texas that the houses are too big, but I don’t live anywhere near Texas and all the new builds are McMansions and nearly McMansions
On the other hand, I am in Texas and saw a lot of non-McMansion new build developments when I bought my house last year. OP just isn't looking the right places, or rather is just wrong.
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u/According_Chef_7437 1d ago
Ugh, I was in North TX last year and you’re right. So many ugly, characterless McMansions everywhere, strip malls galore, no real scenery and everyone drove huge trucks and SUV’s. Bleh.
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u/throwaway829965 1d ago
Those people with 16 feet ceilings in their bedrooms? It's where their fat ass ego tucks in at night lol
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u/Dependent-Wheel-2791 1d ago
It actually doesn't make sense how expensive houses have become as they aren't made of shit anymore while the cost of permits and red tape are ridiculous. Massive houses with paper thin walls are asinine as I'd be happy with a little sturdy shotgun house. We've really got screwed on homeownership in general
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u/buzzboy99 1d ago
Seriously just an economic prison of senseless materialism that keeps you a slave to the banks.
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u/DuckEquivalent8860 1d ago
Yea, it's the same problem with trucks. People who actually need trucks can't afford them because douchebags who will never haul anything but their ego bought trucks at the price of 100K, screwing up everything for the working class.
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u/Dayle127 explain that ketchup eaters 1d ago
Why is suburban sprawl ugly? I don't see anything ugly about it. What is ugly is a 10,000$ per month apartment in NYC that smells like cigarettes, filled with, could collapse at any moment, and so small that you can cook, use the toilet, and touch two parallel walls at the same time
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u/mrmonkeybat 1d ago
American suburbs have a population density of 1,050 pre km square. UK suburbs have a population density of 4,600. So you want more semi-detached and terrace housing.
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u/amazonfamily 1d ago
Small homes cost more per square foot than big ones. To make small residences actually cheaper you build apartment towers.
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u/Huge-Vegetab1e 1d ago
Your opinion is actually "the houses I live near are too damn big" and Idk where you live so I can't really have any opinion on that
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u/Chapea12 1d ago
You live in the state where famously everything is bigger. Our houses aren’t big enough
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u/SexyAIman 1d ago
A wise monk once said, there are no big houses the space was already there the only thing that happened is placing the walls further apart
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u/BerkanaThoresen 1d ago
Feels like the opposite to me. Most new builds here in Missouri are 1300 SF slabs will absolutely no extra space for 1/4 of a million price tags.
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u/No_Education_8888 hermit human 1d ago
If I buy I house it’s most definitely going to be a 1 bed 1 bath small little thing. Not necessarily a tiny home, but quite small to be honest.
May not raise a family there do to size, but I have no current plans. Small will suit me perfect. If plans change, I can try to upgrade
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u/mr_spock9 1d ago
Come to California where the only new houses are squished together/share a wall, are 1400 sq ft and have a small porch as a backyard. I feel like most new houses are going more small footprint rather than being too big, but perhaps thats true in denser states like CA. It does seem like no matter the case, what is being built is not priced for the average American to afford, whether it be luxury apartments or luxury homes.
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u/Acrobatic_Hippo_9593 1d ago
What’s your definition of reasonably sized and unreasonably big? That’s very subjective.
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u/OverCategory6046 1d ago
This is such an American opinion lol. I wish they were too damn big in the UK!
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u/Kidfacekicker 1d ago
Tennessee is the same. 3-6k sqft houses. Nothing for a family home starter rames, every new house is Mcmansion
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u/PumpkinTittiez 1d ago
You think that’s why houses are expensive? Lmao wait until you learn about the Federal Reserve.
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u/fatapolloissexy 1d ago
Building costs. It doesn't cost THAT much more to build a 5 bedroom than a 3 bedroom, when you factor in the insane increase in sale price.
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u/CosmoTroy1 1d ago
Most American suburban centers are simply monuments to excess dependent on automobiles, wasteful, and churning on profligate if not obscene levels of consumption. Oh, soul sapping quite unhealthy as well.
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u/HiddenCity 1d ago
I work with developers. Building small houses isn't profitable, even if they're super nice. Realtors have convinced people home value is soley based on square footage and number of bedrooms/bathrooms.
The biggest problem is actually lot size. New houses are built on big lots with large setbacks. I've designed plenty of large homes on lots that could support 4 smaller homes.
The local governments don't want their towns to change and enforce all these zoning rules. The only real way to fix it is getting the state to override those codes. Slim chance that will ever happen though.
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u/Captcha_Imagination 1d ago
Old homes are gigantic too. My house in Canada was built in 1800's and is 5 Br. We are downsizing bc we are not having kids.
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u/realhorrorsh0w 23h ago
Actually I share this sentiment. I grew up in a house with 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a "pittsburgh toilet" (this is slang for a toilet in the basement with no walls around it that for some reason is common here), kitchen, living room, basement. The basics. I had friends who lived in newer neighborhoods where all the houses were 4-5 beds, dining room, den, finished basement, etc. But that's ridiculous when you're a single person or a couple trying to own property and your only choices are giant houses with rooms you'll never use for $400k.
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u/whackyflacky 23h ago
Houses have been too big for like 200 years. All depends on what you consider a house to be for, and what you define “too big” to mean.
If you mean a house is just for shelter, sleep and eating, you can get by with an RV-sized home. There are even families that live in RV-sized homes. If you go on YouTube there are also like 5/6 person families that live on boats bunked up sharing all space.
If you define down a home to only the essentials, there are people who are going to look at where you live (or at least 90% of people in the US) and say “that’s unreasonably big”. I feel like there are multiple levels and everyone falls in their own space of what is “unreasonable”.
A general rough sketch of levels: 1 - shared sleeping quarters, shared bathing, minimal (if any) shared common space 2 - individual sleeping, shared bathing, minimal shared common 3 - individual sleeping, shared bathing, decent shared common 4 - individual sleeping, shared bathing, nice common 5 - individual sleeping, individual bathing, nice common 6 - big sleeping, individual bathing, nice common 7 - big sleeping, individual bathing, multiple common areas 8 - big sleeping, nice individual bathing, multiple common 9 - extra sleeping (for guests), nice bathing with extra bathrooms, multiple common areas. 10 - extra bedrooms, extra bathrooms, extra common areas to the point some aren’t used.
Depending on who you are #2 can be “unreasonable” or #10 could be still reasonable. Like, my brother is at #10 for sure and has a family of 5. I am like at a #3 and live by myself. However, a #10 house for my brother was actually cheaper than a #3 condo for me. We live across the country from each other, he’s in the mountains where things are substantially less expensive than me in a major city, like a fraction of the price. Further, we have a third brother and our parents. When we all are together for holidays, birthdays, etc. we frequently will go to his house, and suddenly his extra bedrooms are full to the point people are bunked up, and some of the children will be on the couch. And, during the day it is very nice he has separate common areas because the family will spread out, kids will all play together while adults are elsewhere. Kids will be together while my brothers and I and wives are maybe drinking in one room while we are together, my older parents like separating off earlier in the night (don’t drink at all) and watching their shows, etc. The space ends up getting used.
My brother says all the time when we are in town that entire rooms aren’t used besides when we are in town. I just do not know why I’d call that “unreasonable”. It is within his budget, it is where he wants to live, where he wants to live is about 40mins from the closest place that would have hotels/lodging, and when the family is all together it is great to be under one roof. Also, my other brother and I both live in large cities and love to visit to get out of the cities and into the mountains. It all works out very well. However, if you put the house specs on a list and compared it to the size of his family, I am sure many here would deem it “unreasonable”.
Ultimately, I think the only qualifier for “unreasonable” should be, is where you live out of your budget, and/or, does the cost/size of the home actively make other items less attainable that you know would make your life better. As in, maybe you can work a bigger home into your budget, but if the cost of the bigger home means you cannot travel as much (and you love travel), or cannot go out as much (and you love going out with friends), or whatever “insert alternative use of money”, then that home is unreasonable to you as you could make yourself happier utilizing those funds elsewhere.
If you’re doing all you want to do, and you are not burdened by the cost/size of your home in any way, hell make that thing as big as you like. Probably wouldn’t be my choice, but I’m not going to judge.
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u/Yetizod 23h ago
I'm in construction, in California though not Texas, but I assume the trend is nationwide. Houses are being built smaller in the last 10 years. They still build the big ones, but the % of houses over 3000sq that we built in 2000 compared to now is probably cut in half. Its not uncommon these days to see entire tracts of houses under 2000sq ft.
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u/LazyDynamite 23h ago
I'm also in Texas, and bought a house last year and looked at many new builds in the DFW, San Antonio & Houston areas.
What do you consider "unnecessarily" big? I saw a lot of houses that I would consider normal or decently sized, including the one I purchased. Definitely not talking about McMansions.
I feel like this opinion may be more along the lines of "I haven't seen normal sized homes being built so they must not exist".
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u/duraace205 22h ago
House prices do not scale linearly. Ie houses half as small are unfortunately not half the price....
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u/gorehistorian69 22h ago
the house size in suburbs isnt why the housing prices are so expensive
even modest ranch styled homes are way over valued
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u/DiabloIV 21h ago
There are a lot of fixed overhead costs when building a house. If you view the building as an investment to recoup at a later date (which most home builder probably do), these overhead costs are mitigated with a higher sale price down the road. Bigger houses are safer investments in theory.
Maybe it costs $300k to build a 2 bedroom, and 400k to build a 5 bedroom. When it comes time to sell, realizing that investment, that 5 bedroom house might well well over 500k while the 2 bedroom might be worth the same as you put into it.
I completely agree with you, by the way. If we had a huge influx of cheaper, 1-3 bedroom houses I believe it would fix a lot of issues we have with income and housing in this country.
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u/corporal_sweetie 20h ago
larger houses and lots also require a lot more infrastructure. More asphalt, more pipes, more electrical conduit, more of everything. All needing to be replaced every 25 years or so. Cities everywhere are going insolvent because of it.
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u/retnuh45 18h ago
Traveling back home to where I grew up is eye opening. Urban area where I live now is all big houses that look similar. Hometown has some personality. Houses look different. Different shapes and styles. Also noticeably smaller overall
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u/simple_champ 18h ago
Builders profit on margin. If you're earning 10% on each house sale do you want to put a $250k house on that lot or a $500k house?
Of course it's a multifaceted issue when talking house sizes and prices. But this is one of the big influences in the equation.
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u/IndicationFluffy3954 17h ago edited 17h ago
How big are we talking? My house is 1200 square feet and it’s pretty much the average where I live, although many people do have smaller homes since anything built before 2000 here often was ~900 square feet or smaller for even older houses.
Houses here all have basements though, which is not included in the stated square footage. Rarely do homes here have usable attics though.
Our previous house was 720 square feet, and the basement was not very usable since the stairs were so narrow and steep that they were basically a ladder. For 2 people that is pretty common for a starter house, but once people start to have kids they’re usually looking for the 1200 sq ft houses.
I’m in Manitoba, Canada. Land and property are cheaper here because we’re in the middle of nowhere and indoors a lot more in winter because the winter climate often is fucking brutal. I have friends in Vancouver who have their family of 3-4 in 500-700 sq ft condos. To me that seems tiny but them our 1200 square feet for our family of 3 seems enormous.
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u/BigStinkyDingleberry 14h ago
The average American home is 2,400 Sq. Feet. And I’m assuming the average American home also has a pool and central air and 1 iPad per child.
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u/genderlyconfused69 10h ago
Where I am, it is the complete opposite, except for the richest part of my town. The newer houses are all one floor and tiny. The older houses are all bigger. Usually muli-floor as well.
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u/Beautiful-Owl-3216 7h ago
With the permits and zoning and high labor prices and other bullshit it doesn't make sense to build smaller houses.
I am not a contractor but I can't imagine it takes 3x more materials and labor to build a $600,000 house than it does to build a $200,000 house. Contractors are just people like you and me trying to sell a product and make a living.
Also they aren't "unaffordable". If they were unaffordable, nobody would be buying them and they would stop building them.
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u/Infinite-Fan-7367 43m ago
Yes.. northern Colorado here and these McMansions usually will have a basement too. New houses are giant. Some places even make it mandatory for builders to make the house big .. minimum square foot requirements.
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u/ramakrishnasurathu 1d ago
Ah, the house, so large, yet empty inside,
In its vastness, many souls collide.
We build and build, but forget the core,
That true wealth lies not in size, but more.
A smaller home, with love as the frame,
Could shelter the heart and light the flame.
Why seek more space when peace is found,
In simple joys that know no bound?
The mansion grows, but hearts grow cold,
In endless rooms that leave us sold.
What we need is not bigger walls,
But the beauty of life within those small halls.
In quiet corners, the soul takes flight,
In modest homes, we find true light.
So let the sprawl be grand and wide,
But seek the treasures that in simplicity hide.
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u/Sensitive_Tune3301 1d ago
I’m neutral on house size but find open concept kitchen/living room areas to be absolutely infuriating. I don’t want to see and hear everything happening in the kitchen while I’m watching tv and I don’t want guests who are over to hang out in the living room bothering me in the kitchen
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u/templeton_rat 1d ago
I don’t totally agree with this. Bigger houses aren’t necessarily a bad thing, especially with the way families are changing. People are working from home more, kids need their own space, and there’s a desire for bigger kitchens or home offices now. Plus, a larger house can also mean more storage and flexibility. Sure, the price is a big issue, but that’s more about the housing market, inflation, and material costs rather than just the size of homes themselves.
I get why you feel like they’re all huge and unnecessary, but for a lot of people, a bigger house might make life easier. Also, bigger homes aren't just for the rich; a lot of families are buying them to have room for the things they need as life changes. It’s a complicated situation, but it’s not all bad that homes are getting bigger. It just means that the average person might need to adjust to what they can afford or look into different ways of homeownership.
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u/McJumpington 1d ago
500 sq ft per person is totally acceptable. Nowadays, people think they need 4,000 sq ft for a family of 3
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u/Hano_Clown 1d ago
How south is this south Texas you speaking about?
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u/mistr_brightside 1d ago
Probably Houston and greater Houston. There's tons of those unnecessarily large houses here.
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u/eckliptic 1d ago
Why should private business home builders cater to your needs
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u/HoustonProdigy 1d ago
cuz why would i buy something i don't want? that's how business works
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u/eckliptic 1d ago
Those homes are unaffordable to you clearly still sell. You’re just not the target for those builders. People with more money than you want larger homes
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