Do you ever look at your house with new eyes?

**Kellili** · 08-13-2010, 05:54 PM

I was watching one of those shows on HGTV, and I see all these people buying 1200 sf houses (or less!) for like 350000 and they have TEENY little closets and no garage. Lots of times the people are thrilled that they can get "such a big house" with "such big closets" for such a low price. LOL I can't imagine paying that much!

Our house is almost 1200 sf, 3bd, 2ba, 2 car garage. Decent size closets (walk in in the master) and it was 111,700 including closing costs! Makes me look around at my house with new eyes. Our bathrooms are small, but at least we have 2! I do wish we had 1 more room, we only have kitchen, living room and 3 bdrms. We need a playroom/office, but we'll live

I like my house, but since having the baby I complain we've out grown it. Seeing those shows makes me realize we just need to get better organized and get rid of stuff.

Anyone else see that stuff and get a fresh perspective? I'm off to make a GIANT goodwill pile!

**Contrary Housewife** · 08-13-2010, 06:01 PM

A few years ago some friends of ours complimented us on having such a nice house in such a good neighborhood. I thought they were exaggerating until I remembered they lived in a smaller house off the end of an airport runway, in a neighborhood with hookers on the corners.

The view all depends on where you're standing.

**Nana2two** · 08-13-2010, 06:21 PM

Some of these new homes and even the ones that around 20 years old are small.But they want lots of money for them.. My town is small 1500 people or so.. We have a 3bdrm-2bath dining room,living room,library,loft, Full basement huge buttery (it's a pantry). I think its roughly 2200 square feet. Sometimes i find it to over whelming cleaning the all the wood work and think i would love a smaller house. This house is a victorian and be bought it for $32,000 new siding went on so we owe $42,000 but man i have seen some homes half this size in the nearest bigger city for $100,000

**Dancing Lotus** · 08-13-2010, 07:22 PM

Well it's important to remember that the cost of the house is relative to location. It really it is true that you pay for the location not so much the house. When I see people in places like NY pay 500,000 for a studio apartment with no kitchen it makes me fell ill.

**Kellili** · 08-13-2010, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by AnnK

Well it's important to remember that the cost of the house is relative to location. It really it is true that you pay for the location not so much the house. When I see people in places like NY pay 500,000 for a studio apartment with no kitchen it makes me fell ill.

I know it makes me sick too! I know it's all location...that's what I mean, I can't imagine paying that much money for what I have. My house in parts of the country would be a half million or more, easy. IT'S INSANE to me! I'm glad I live in TN. Those shows just make me appreciate it all the more, you know?

**lisaflex** · 08-13-2010, 08:15 PM

we live in a 4 bdrm, 2-1/2 bth, 2 car garage (WAY tooo small), inground pool, 1/2 acre...3800 sq ft w/ a finished third floor and bsmnt...we know we got a great deal on it 9 yrs ago....

the house started out at well over 450K...by the time we got to it, it had been on the market for about 2-1/2 yrs as it was not worth anywhere near that! we got it for under 300K and couldnt be happier even in a down market!

we love our home.

**Nana2two** · 08-13-2010, 08:34 PM

If you take this house and move it to Chicago it would cost $250,000.

**joyofsix** · 08-13-2010, 09:33 PM

So much depends on your region of the country. I live in a little, rural town (think Mayberry). We have an old farmhouse on 1 acre with 5 bedrooms and a basement. I'm sure in CA or NJ it would be beyond attainable but here it would probably only go for about $95,000 now (we bought it for much less 10 years ago).

**pollypurebred39** · 08-14-2010, 01:54 AM

The price of real estate has dropped dramatically out this way, but the lowest you could go would be around $150,000, regardless of how small. Homes here (in surrounding area) still still sell for 3/4 mill easy, but those are big homes. At least to me they are. Of course there are those homes out here that are several mill too, but those are considered estates.

I live just on the edge of a one stop light town, before the bottom dropped out of real estate our property and land would have been upwards of $300,000, almost double what we paid. Now, maybe, and that's a big maybe $200,000. It's around 750' of living space on just over an acre and a half of land. If we lived in town, it would not have the land and would be about $150,000.

Our property, would be worth at least a million in todays market if moved just a half hour from here in one direction, and 1/2 a mil in the other direction.There's nothing special about our property, it's an old small rancher that needs A LOT of work. 1 bath, 3 very small bedrooms and a small attic loft.

When we bought this home, houses IN town were around $70,000-$80,000. It does matter where the real estate is. We never have been able to afford a home closer to where DH's jobs are (at least in a decent neighborhood), he needs to commute a long way. Some commutes, depending on the job can be 2 1/2 hours, one way! When it's hard driving snow it's a real nail biter for me, he once was on the road for almost 6 hours.

**ladykemma2** · 08-14-2010, 07:48 AM

when i watch house hunters, i am amazed at the houses of the midwest, with no closets and brown trim in the rooms. isn't trim supposed to be white? and so expensive.

and the people touring the houses of the midwest are always amazed- "look at how big these closets are...."

i think the southerners have the biggest closets on that show.

**Darlene** · 08-14-2010, 08:37 AM

Less is often more and getting rid of stuff you don't need/use is a really freeing feeling. I think/hope people are going more towards smaller homes and with the so called "green" movement people are realizing they don't need so much. We have a small home (3br, 1 ba) and I want our next place to be even smaller so am purging things now & next on my list is finding homes for my many books.

Oh, I know to each their own but as I watch those house hunting shows I get sorta upset seeing how some people just want excess. Huge closets, bathrooms and bedrooms...I guess I don't find peace in having those big spaces, they just need to be filled with stuff. Me, I want less stuff and more cozy-ness surrounded by only what I truly love & need. Maybe I'm the nutty one.

**ladykemma2** · 08-14-2010, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Darlene

Less is often more and getting rid of stuff you don't need/use is a really freeing feeling. I think/hope people are going more towards smaller homes and with the so called "green" movement people are realizing they don't need so much. We have a small home (3br, 1 ba) and I want our next place to be even smaller so am purging things now & next on my list is finding homes for my many books.

Oh, I know to each their own but as I watch those house hunting shows I get sorta upset seeing how some people just want excess. Huge closets, bathrooms and bedrooms...I guess I don't find peace in having those big spaces, they just need to be filled with stuff. Me, I want less stuff and more cozy-ness surrounded by only what I truly love & need. Maybe I'm the nutty one.

you're not nuts.

when i watch house hunters, i yell at the TV, who is going to clean that huge house? and pay the air conditioning bills? yikes.

**Russ** · 08-14-2010, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by ladykemma2

you're not nuts.

when i watch house hunters, i yell at the TV, who is going to clean that huge house? and pay the air conditioning bills? yikes.

ha ha. My wife and I say exactly the same thing.

**jas** · 08-14-2010, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by ladykemma2

you're not nuts.

when i watch house hunters, i yell at the TV, who is going to clean that huge house? and pay the air conditioning bills? yikes.

I say the same things! And when they are walking through a house with a gazillion square feet and go I don't think we could fit all our stuff in here.