How Much Square Footage Do You Need?

Published On: April 22, 2019|Categories: Blog, Buyers, Home Buyers, Moving, Real Estate, Retirement, Tips, Life Hacks & How-to|Tags: bungalow, home size, housing market, square footage, Victorian|

How much square footage do you need to live in? Of course, that is highly dependent on who you’re asking, their preferences, whether they work from home, how many children they have, how many animals they have, and what their monetary resources are.

For perspective, let’s look at homes over time. In the early 1970s, the average house size was about 1500 square feet and the average family size was 4. Most people considered that comfortable living, and some may have considered it lavish.

As time has gone home, the average size of homes has gotten larger, but the size of the average household has gotten smaller. This means that in general, people feel the need for more space. The average home today is 2500 square feet and the average family size is just 2.6 people. Many homes now have five or more bedrooms as well as three or bathrooms as well.

To put this in perspective, this means most Americans are comfortable with about 1000 square feet per person, while just fifty years ago, it was not unheard of for 8 people to live in a home that was only 1500 square feet.

What’s the reason for the increase? Is it because people want to live lavishly, own more things, consider their home a more important investment? It may be some or all of these things, but regardless, to be competitive in today’s housing market, you may want to consider the fact that most homes built today are over 2500 square feet and that 46% of homes have four or more bedrooms.

People may also be choosing to live in their forever homes – which means where they will grow old and retire, entertain grandchildren, and plan to bring in aging parents. Many adult children also live with their parents at some point in their lives, so larger homes may make sense for many.

However, the cost of not just the home, but the maintenance and the heating and cooling needs to be considered. While certain parts of a home can be closed off and not heated or air-conditioned when not in use, one still needs to consider plumbing, roofing, painting, and the time and cost that these things entail. In the end, nobody can tell you exactly what’s right for you. Your family of three may be just as happy in a 1200 square foot bungalow as a 3000 square foot Victorian, but you need to consider that the resale of the home may be more difficult.

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