Should I buy a house that's way bigger than I need/want?

A month ago our landlord sold the house so we had to move out. Since we've been trying to buy we didn't want to sign another lease so we just moved in with my grandparents-in-law. It's not a bad deal, we've been saving some money and I get to ride my bike to work everyday but the sooner we buy a house the better. The problem is I'm super picky and we can't seem to find the house we want. Every offer we make gets beat buy an investor or the realtor messes something up. There just isn't anything out there that really fits our needs/wants.

Enter the behemoth. We've looked at this house twice now. First time we looked at it it was $290k and we said it was way to big and needed too much work. Again at $250k where the price point was starting to make sense but still had no idea with what to do with all the space. A couple weeks later and it's still at $250k and nothing else is on the market.

The good: We like the neighborhood 2 car garage

The bad 800 sq feet too big, Yard is almost too big Needs about 45k of updates

I really just don't know what to do with the extra space. Hell it practically has 3 living rooms and a dining room. Not only is it more to clean, but it's more in insurance, taxes and furniture.

What do you think? Go for it and don't be homeless or wait XX months for the right one to pop up?

For the record, the right one we really really wanted to buy sold for $237k one street over. It was a foreclosure with no kitchen, holes in the walls and drywall dangling from the ceiling. That being said it also had a nice driveway, pool, cool landscaping and was around 1500 sq feet which is perfect.

Is the size the only negative?

We did the same thing. price per SF was WAY cheaper when we got it, but it checked most all the boxes we had and we got it.

Its not that bad only that you may get inclinations to fill it with stuff.

If there is more wrong than just the size issue then pass, but if its size and its right, then go for it.

Most important thing is location. Could the location be any better? If it could, I'd pass. If not, I'd be considering it.

Is it possible to lock off half the house and provide a bathroom and bathroom minimum with an exterior exit? If so, sign it up for AirBNB or VRBO and recoup some of your losses.

Mtm nailed it.

Location matters.

Operating costs will be a lot higher.

I'd be all over it if I could rent part and have an income.

BTW, your property taxes and your energy costs will be directly related to your square footage.

Location is great. There are 2 locations we are currently looking. One is older homes, closer to the water and downtown. The other is a little bit newer and likely comes with a garage. This house is in the 2nd neighborhood.

As far as the extra space it's not really doable for AirBnB. It's still a 3/2 (we want either a 3/2 or a 2/2) just with a massive living room. Maybe I'll illustrate what the house looks like. I was hoping we could maybe get an extra bedroom or an office out of it but it's a strange layout.

SVreX wrote: BTW, your property taxes and your energy costs will be directly related to your square footage.

Yep, as well as maintenance. We would much rather have a smaller house that's easier to clean and maintain.

That touches on another related issue. The house is livable as is but VERY dated. Which means when we renovate its going to take that much more $$$ and time to fix up.

If we open up the kitchen like I would like the living room area would be big enough for a soccer match.

The other good/bad thing is it has like a 200 year old Oak tree on the property. Looks awesome and provides a lot of shade but I worry about maintenance and if a storm comes through that thing is going to cause some damage.

Enyar wrote:

SVreX wrote: BTW, your property taxes and your energy costs will be directly related to your square footage.

Yep, as well as maintenance. We would much rather have a smaller house that's easier to clean and maintain. That touches on another related issue. The house is livable as is but VERY dated. Which means when we renovate its going to take that much more $$$ and time to fix up. If we open up the kitchen like I would like the living room area would be big enough for a soccer match.

Livable but dated is fine--it means that you can update slowly.

I think that you should put a car in there and call it art.

That would kill it for me.

I used to have a beautiful house I built- our dream house. But it was 5000 SF, and had over sized rooms.

Eventually, the taxes and operating costs killed it for me.

Don't miss it at all.

Really sounds like this is not the house for you. You're only pointing out the negatives. Which is fine, I understand it--you don't want to live there. So don't.

Only thing I'll add, are you guys planning on children at all? If so, more space wouldn't be a problem.

If you keep talking yourself out of it, then its not the right house.

We really like/liked our house when we saw it, it was just big. That was all we could come up with so we got it. Sounds like it just doesnt fit you, and it would suck to own something you really do not want for many many years.

Yikes, is there actually such a thing as 800sq ft too big?

I have right around 2700-2800sq ft and live by myself. Solution, I don't use the extra space. Heck, I can count on 2 hands how many times I have even gone upstairs and I've lived here for 5 years. It just gets dusted/swept every 6mo(hardwood>*)

Then again, I live in the land of not being taxed the berkeley out of.....YMMV.

Buy it and just close off the parts you don't need? Looks like you are in Florida though, so keeping things from getting moldy could be fun. Just because you have the space doesn't mean you have to fill it with crap (unless it is a garage, then the rules are different).

That's what I'm thinking too. It just sucks because there is nothing else on the market and homes in this area rarely pop up for sale. Just needs to be 800 sq feet smaller.

Can you carve out one of those large living room areas for a shop? Think outside the box.

Why is the $237 house better than this one? Other than someone else bought it. Make your list of pros and cons. Sounds like same location.

Children are in the 3 year plan. I just don't know if it would be in this house or if we would move (and keep whatever we buy now as a rental).

This house is 2300 sq feet. There is a room behind the kitchen (addition?) that's probably 22x18. If that room was missing and it had a pool the house would be perfect. That or if the rooms had a little bit of the sq ft from the living room areas that would be better too.

House too big! LOL. WTF?

Based on the info given, I would buy it!

In case you care:

I'd be all over that. The only things that to me desperately need updating are the bathrooms and the drapes.

That is paint and skimwork away from being 100% livable. 800 SQF and done well will bring you a ton more money when you want to sell it over the smaller one that you were thinking of before.

I bought something almost 2K bigger then my last place because it was just a monster of a deal. Our utilities and water are maybe 10% more then before, our taxes are 100% more then before but that was expected. We just close off the rooms that we don't use. It was by far the cheapest by SQF in the entire neighborhood and we got it a solid 100K under listed price after that. Things have moved up almost 80$ a SQF in the last 6 months here so definitely good buy.

Its not like your utilities are going to be 200% more then you were paying before unless your rates are dictated by the SQF.

2300 sq ft in the scheme of things is not really a big house. However, in Florida you've got to think about what it would cost to cool. Looks like an older house that is probably not well insulated and has A/C equipment that isn't that efficient. Check the power bills.

That said, I don't understand why you are so anxious about 800 sq. ft. of living space when you are contemplating something as economically ill-advised as a pool. They are expensive to buy and maintain, generally don't return their value when you sell, and if you don't have kids, probably won't be used enough to justify the cost. If a pool is your priority, then buy a house with one, don't buy and build.

That's definitely not a bad house. And your big ass lot is only 0.32 acre. Ha, a flick a booger in your direction. I see room for a separate garage/shop.

I think OP is wayyyy to worried about size (budum tsh).

People shop on location, but they also certainly shop on sqft as well.

Additionally, if there are no other houses that meet your requirements in the area, but this one does, it is a no brainer.

I'm assuming it doesn't have a basement because 'merica. In canuckistan, finished basement, main floor, and upper level will typically total 3k+ sqft of living space in any house built since 1990. So 2400sqft in a bungalow does not seem unreasonable to me.

I've lived in big and small. The nice thing about big is that you'll never feel crowded. I've lived in condos the past 7 years and its starting to wear on me.

mtn wrote: I'd be all over that. The only things that to me desperately need updating are the bathrooms and the drapes.

New hardware, appliances, and countertops would make the kitchen great! That house is an easy fixer to show quality.. Buy it.