Sigarms
Super Member
Had 3 realtors come over to give me impressions on our home and what in their professional opinion had to be done with the home.
The question I have is if you were going to either build or buy an older home that
1 - Was a single story home
2 - Minimum room enough for you and your wife, with the potential of having a single parent live with you
3 - Perhaps another bedroom so parent can live with you and have a guest stay as well
4 - Minimum 2 full baths, including a master bath and a bath for the 1 or 2 additional bedrooms
Currently our home is about 3,000 sq ft, 2 story home which includes a furnished basement (in my mind that's 3 a story house LOL). For four years, my father lived in our furnished basement. Had his own bed, full bath with a wet bar and refrigerator (which comes out to around 1,000 square ft for the basement and actually close to every level in the home).
The only other home I lived in for a long time was my parents home. Dad bought a small house in the late 70's after he got out of the service where I lived for a couple years in middle school and high school. Home was 1,500 sq ft, had a really rough looking unfinished basement, and a small attic which he finished up himself to place a couple of beds for guests (main floor had two small bedrooms and small full bath along with living room and kitchen). See below. I'm guessing the first floor was right at around 1k square ft and the other 500 sq ft was due to the smaller attic (with the pitch of the roof and height in the attic, you could only stand up in the middle).
Here is the question... what would be the minimum square footage house you would look for in either 2 or 3 bedroom home with 2 full baths single story home?
Assuming mother in law comes live with us, I love her like my own mom. Unlike my father who had his own space in the basement, my mother in law would be living on the same floor with us. She's (MIL) also a great cook who taught my wife to cook, and no qualms sharing the kitchen if that makes sense.
The reason why I'm asking is because one realtor who I do trust and like told me that he thought for our situation a 2,000 square ft home would work best to give us and my MIL "room" from each other, but in my mind something that size is way to big.
2K sq ft for 3 people is 666 sq ft per person (per suggestion from realtor)
3k sq ft for 5 people is 600 sq ft per person (current home)
3K sq ft for 2 people is 1,500 sq ft per person (current home and why wife and I have 5 year plan to downsize)
1.5K sq ft for 3 people is 500 sq ft per person (parents home)
The wild card variable I'm guessing is we want a single story home. Although my parents home was 1,500 sq ft, the majority of living in the home was on the first floor which is about 333 sq ft per person. The washer and dryer, along with the boiler for heat were in the unfinished basement as well as much of my parents "stuff" that I had to deal with when my dad came to live with us and I helped him sell his home). The small attic (in parents house) was fine for sleeping guests with two beds up there. Reality is if we didn't have that unfinished basement for my moms hobbies and washer and dryer, as well as dad's tools, as well as things my parents collected while my dad was in the service, that house would have been small for the 3 of us IMO.
Needless to say, until we actually go out looking at homes (which I'm dreading) we won't get a good feel for what will and will not work, but again, looking for feedback and opinions.
The other question is what are decent homes being built for per square footage? In my area, one guy told me figure $350 per square foot, which comes out to $525,000 for a 1,500 square foot home. Just seems kind of high to me.
The question I have is if you were going to either build or buy an older home that
1 - Was a single story home
2 - Minimum room enough for you and your wife, with the potential of having a single parent live with you
3 - Perhaps another bedroom so parent can live with you and have a guest stay as well
4 - Minimum 2 full baths, including a master bath and a bath for the 1 or 2 additional bedrooms
Currently our home is about 3,000 sq ft, 2 story home which includes a furnished basement (in my mind that's 3 a story house LOL). For four years, my father lived in our furnished basement. Had his own bed, full bath with a wet bar and refrigerator (which comes out to around 1,000 square ft for the basement and actually close to every level in the home).
The only other home I lived in for a long time was my parents home. Dad bought a small house in the late 70's after he got out of the service where I lived for a couple years in middle school and high school. Home was 1,500 sq ft, had a really rough looking unfinished basement, and a small attic which he finished up himself to place a couple of beds for guests (main floor had two small bedrooms and small full bath along with living room and kitchen). See below. I'm guessing the first floor was right at around 1k square ft and the other 500 sq ft was due to the smaller attic (with the pitch of the roof and height in the attic, you could only stand up in the middle).
Here is the question... what would be the minimum square footage house you would look for in either 2 or 3 bedroom home with 2 full baths single story home?
Assuming mother in law comes live with us, I love her like my own mom. Unlike my father who had his own space in the basement, my mother in law would be living on the same floor with us. She's (MIL) also a great cook who taught my wife to cook, and no qualms sharing the kitchen if that makes sense.
The reason why I'm asking is because one realtor who I do trust and like told me that he thought for our situation a 2,000 square ft home would work best to give us and my MIL "room" from each other, but in my mind something that size is way to big.
2K sq ft for 3 people is 666 sq ft per person (per suggestion from realtor)
3k sq ft for 5 people is 600 sq ft per person (current home)
3K sq ft for 2 people is 1,500 sq ft per person (current home and why wife and I have 5 year plan to downsize)
1.5K sq ft for 3 people is 500 sq ft per person (parents home)
The wild card variable I'm guessing is we want a single story home. Although my parents home was 1,500 sq ft, the majority of living in the home was on the first floor which is about 333 sq ft per person. The washer and dryer, along with the boiler for heat were in the unfinished basement as well as much of my parents "stuff" that I had to deal with when my dad came to live with us and I helped him sell his home). The small attic (in parents house) was fine for sleeping guests with two beds up there. Reality is if we didn't have that unfinished basement for my moms hobbies and washer and dryer, as well as dad's tools, as well as things my parents collected while my dad was in the service, that house would have been small for the 3 of us IMO.
Needless to say, until we actually go out looking at homes (which I'm dreading) we won't get a good feel for what will and will not work, but again, looking for feedback and opinions.
The other question is what are decent homes being built for per square footage? In my area, one guy told me figure $350 per square foot, which comes out to $525,000 for a 1,500 square foot home. Just seems kind of high to me.