Would you like a big house ?

[denislawsbackheel]

I’d much rather own a medium sized family home and a couple of smaller properties, one abroad for holidays and one here for income.


So I do.

 

[The perfect fumble]

When I retired we upsized from a reasonable sized terrace in Norwich to a 2,500 square feet detached house converted old pub (built 1900) in Halifax. The garden is only a 1/4 of an acre so no problem there, great views etc, but my god! The problems we had, new roof, damp, dodgy brickwork, 1970's décor, carpets, took two years to get it all sorted and no end of expense, but despite really only using one bedroom, one room, the bathrooms and kitchen on a regular basis, we love the space of it all, plus the high ceiling, being an old pub, gives the place a real sense of character.

It was a bonkers buy but we love it, but the one thing that recommends it above all else is it's detached, really detached, you could play heavy metal top volume all night and only disturb the sheep and cows, not that I do of course, those days are long gone :-(

 

[Bill Walker]

You need one of these @nimrod

I was actually looking at upsizing soon. I've never lived in a house with a big garden so it's always appealed to me but reading this thread has made me have my doubts.

At first you enjoy the constant work, but as time goes by you begin to hate it.
It's never ending, and expensive.
I guess it's ok if your a rich footballer and can employ a gardener.

 

[Barcon]

We have a small bungalow and it's big enough. I just wish we had a garage and a bigger shed to put a snow blower in.

 

[Blue Mist]

We have a small bungalow and it's big enough. I just wish we had a garage and a bigger shed to put a snow blower in.

Most people just unroll the twenty and stick it in there pocket, you want a shed !

You are Scarface and I claim my 30 cents.

 

[hampshireblue]

Downsized and moved 3 years ago. Went from an old 4 bed detached where we had to get in the car to do anything to a 2 bed rooftop apartment with terrace. Room for BBQ and sofa etc but more importantly only 1 minute walk to shops/pubs etc. 2 secure parking spaces so ideal for us when we go away for extended breaks(3 months).

Wouldn't change it for anything now.

 

[dickie davies]

Downsized and moved 3 years ago. Went from an old 4 bed detached where we had to get in the car to do anything to a 2 bed rooftop apartment with terrace. Room for BBQ and sofa etc but more importantly only 1 minute walk to shops/pubs etc. 2 secure parking spaces so ideal for us when we go away for extended breaks(3 months).

Wouldn't change it for anything now.

That my friend, is what we eventually want

 

[wayne71]

Big houses, land, swimming pools etc are overrated. Probably spent 10x the time cleaning pools than actually swimming in one but its a very British thing to do though when first moving abroad. Downsizing also stops unwanted family members coming to visit.

 

[its a Barm]

I wouldn't call it big but we had a large 3 bed 3 bathroom detached house masive conservatory good sized gardens quiet area, we decided to sell and bought a 3 story town house only a few years old much smaller tiny back garden in a lovely quiet street, we are now mortgage free at 57 I thought I would really struggle to like this new home and miss my house that we where in for 20 years brought up 3 kids all gone now ( thank fuck ) but I don't miss it one bit so happy, Bill's have all halved and not having a mortgage is the best feeling ever, when you get the chance to downsize do it, our live now is so much easier and better, so to answer the question would I have a big house yes for a large family but once your on your own get rid I was a bit of a snob with the big house but it's not worth it live is more important.

 

[JOGAMIGMOG]

Or are you happier in a small house.
3 years ago I lived in a 4000 square foot house on 2 acres of land.
At first I loved it all that space, huge shed, lots of grass trees etcetera.
But then after a couple of years I began to get fed up with it, constantly mowing, weeding grass, trees falling over, gutters full of leaves, cleaning the house was huge, rooms that you only walked past and never used, it all seemed so silly and the cost of it was quite big I had a $5,000 ride on mower, I had all kinds of equipments and we had tons of furniture, ornaments, books and shit to fill the house.
My weekends were devoted to house and yard work.
So after living there for 5 years we sold up had a huge garage sale, and donated loads of stuff to the Salvation army, and downsized to an apartment where we live now.
The apartments isn't big and has 2 bedrooms and to tell you the truth I've never been happier, 90% of our possessions have gone and we just have the things that we actually need.
Sometimes I drive past big homes on acreage and think 'yeah that looks nice but in reality I wouldn't want to live there'.

I made a NY Resolution to throw away/give away 365 possessions this year. So on 31 Jan I will make a pile of 31 things I own and chuck 'em out. No doubt I will buy about 50 things this year so I will end up with a house/garage 315 items lighter at the year end.