What is considered a "big" home?

[Meriweather]

most of the newer homes in our area......and state are big. You can get smaller ones, but that is a bigger challenge.
DD just bought a new house......1700 sf for just her.
Ours is 3500 sf for 2 of us and we filled it......coming from 2700 + 1000 unfinished basement
DS's house is 4500 for the 3 of them.

 

[CPanther95]

1000 sf per person.

 

[bdcp]

Ours is 5600 sq feet (including basement) with all but about 600 sq ft in the basement unfinished and a 3 car garage. This is our dream home and we've been here for 12 years. I'll admit it, our house is large but by no means the largest in our area. We plan to downsize in a couple of years, but even then we're looking at 3500 sq feet (new townhouse w/2 car garage). The home we owned prior to this for 8 years and our kids were 9 and 11 when we moved in was 2900 sq ft (700 sq ft finished in basement) and two car garage. I wanted a bigger kitchen and DH wanted a larger yard and this is what we got.

 

[PerfessorZ]

One thing I've found is that no matter how big a house you have, you always seem to accumulate enough crap to fill it.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I think of huge is when it starts going over 5000 sq ft. I love big homes. I don't have to have a lot to put in it to make it homey for me.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think it is a simple matter of absolute size. Our 2000 sq ft Victorian feels comfortable but not big to me, for our family of 5, although it is almost twice the size of the house I grew up in. But my inlaws 2000 sq ft home feels huge, I think because it is a more modern/open layout and because it is just the two of them.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Interesting that some include the basement and others don't. In our area, if the basement is finished it is included in the square footage. Garage is not included (not a finished living space). Our 1900 sqft includes the basement which has larger windows so you could get in and out in an emergency.

Now if you have separated rooms in the basement that do not have an appropriately sized ingress/egress window you cannot truly call it a bedroom. When we were looking at houses you can imagine how many people tried to convince us that the basement side room was a bedroom even though the little half window near the top of the wall was not good for getting out in a fire. No thanks.

 

[yoopermom]

Re including finished basement in square footage, we were VERY lucky to have our current house go on the market on a Friday, we looked at it on Saturday, put an offer in on Monday, and had it accepted on Tuesday. Why were we lucky? Because the realtor for the seller didn't count the square footage (and two bedrooms with egress windows) in the finished basement in the total square footage. Our realtor and banker both caught on to it right away, and said we got twice the house for half the money .

And although it's only 1800 sq ft on each floor, I think it feels bigger because the basement mirrors the upstairs. The original owners, a retired couple, wanted their kids and grandkids to come for extended visits, so made the basement into a "great" room, two huge bedrooms, and a beautiful bathroom (plus storage/utilities). It has separate heat, so we basically "shut it down" when no one's visiting, but then can make it welcoming quite quickly.

For up here, it's a VERY large house, for where my parents live (SE WI) it would be considered average at best.

Terri

 

[tigercat]

We have 1400 sq. feet including basement which is unfinished. Right now there are 4 adults and one cat living here. I would love to have something a little bigger but it isn't going to happen. As it is the layout is pretty good and I don't have open concept. That design was well after my house was made. My daughters house is a little larger but it seems a lot smaller. I don't have extra room for people to stay over but we do make do.
tigercat

 

[NewRVLady]

We have a visiting scientist from Greece here at work. very nice young lady and we were in the cafe just talking about snow. anyway conversation drifted and she mentioned how much space the houses here (East coast Delaware, PA area) have.

The house she's renting is about 2300 sq ft which I thought was pretty average, not big.

What do you consider a "big" home? lol, I got to tour a bilevel condo in NYC last year, that sucka was 4800 sq ft. now that's big.

you need to watch House Hunters International.....overseas homes are small and kitchens are NOTHING like ours

2200 is mine....I consider over 3000 Big

 

[keishashadow]

I never count the basement (even when it's finished) in the size of the house (and neither do our realtors around here when selling). So I have a 2400 square foot home. I also have a finished basement so I guess I really have 3600 sq ft. living space.

correct, anything 'below' ground even if improved doesn't usually count when trying to match comparables as to obtaining a loan, especially if room doesn't have easy access out jik of fire.

i'm a realtor. It depends on the area, older homes are typically smaller but many much more well built as to craftmanship and materials. anything over 2,700 is considered above average. IMO size isn't the be-all, some very nice older homes that have been updated nicer than new construction, especially if located in prime area...location, location.

 

[Planogirl]

To me many on this thread live in big houses. Ours is about 1750 square feet for the three of us and to me it's just a bit too small. I think that I'd like about 2200 square feet if I could do it over again. We don't have basements here.

In Holland, the houses are usually much smaller and people are happy with that. They might have a small often separate kitchen and just one bathroom and small bedrooms. They also seem to accumulate far less clutter from my experience.

 

[RedAngie]

I'll admit this is a bit on the large size, but it suits my needs.

1920's era penthouse triplex on Fifth Avenue in New York. Based on what appears to be a 100 x 120 lot, I'm guessing 25,000 sq.ft. of living space.

10th floor.


11th Floor


12th Floor




This was not a co-op nor a condo, but rather a rental apartment at $75,000 per year in the 1920s. Under the law at the time, being a rental, it was legally a "tenement house."

 

[Christine]

Found this on the internet and possible explains why people shouldn't "officially" count their basement square footage:

Fannie Mae’s Sellers Guide (pages 581-582): “Only finished above-grade areas can be used in calculating and reporting of above-grade room count and square footage for the gross living area. Fannie Mae considers a level to be below grade if any portion of it is below grade, regardless of the quality of its finish or the window area of any room. Therefore, a walk-out basement with finished rooms would not be included in the above-grade room count. Rooms that are not included in the above-grade room count may add substantially to the value of a property, particularly when the quality of the finish is high. For that reason, the appraiser should report the basement or other partially below-grade areas separately and make appropriate adjustments for them on the Basement & Finished Rooms Below-Grade line in the Sales Comparison Approach adjustment grid. For consistency in the sales comparison analysis, the appraiser should compare above-grade areas to above-grade areas and below-grade areas to below-grade areas. The appraiser may need to deviate from this approach if the style of the subject property or any of the comparables does not lend itself to such comparisons. For example, a property built into the side of a hill where the lower level is significantly out of ground, the interior finish is equal throughout the house, and the flow and function of the layout is accepted by the local market, may require the gross living area to include both levels. However, in such instances, the appraiser must be consistent throughout the appraisal in his or her analysis and explain the reason for the deviation, clearly describing the comparisons that were made.”

 

[lesliekatya]

One of my favorite books The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka (http://notsobighouse.com) had beautifully made houses that had interesting details and creative storage., without excess space that went unused, that still had quiet places to get away. I would love to have a home like that, but don't have the money to hire an architect to design it, and I live with a bunch of pack rats. Maybe when I'm an empty nester I can talk my husband into it.

 

[superme80]

My current house is 1400 sq ft and I feel so cramped. The layout is not the greatest. We bought it when there was just 4 of us. Adding an extra child really added more clutter. We are trying to declutter. I am hoping to eventually move to a bigger place in the next 5 years. To me, anything over 3500 sq is a big house. My parents have a 1100 sq ft house. It feels like our homes are the same size. Their layout if better, and they have way more storage.

 

[mefordis]

It is relative. We have around 5,000 square feet but most houses in our neighborhood are bigger.

Wow, that is not a big house to me that is a HUGE house!

 

[mom2rtk]

We have about 2400 square feet, but that feels tight when all 5 of us are home, especially since it only has 3 bedrooms. My in-laws had about 4K square feet for the 2 of them and it seemed mammoth.

I think just like some don't like to admit they make a "high" salary, some don't like to admit to living in a "big" house.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We have a visiting scientist from Greece here at work. very nice young lady and we were in the cafe just talking about snow. anyway conversation drifted and she mentioned how much space the houses here (East coast Delaware, PA area) have.

The house she's renting is about 2300 sq ft which I thought was pretty average, not big.

What do you consider a "big" home? lol, I got to tour a bilevel condo in NYC last year, that sucka was 4800 sq ft. now that's big.

I would consider that big, especially by European standards.

Anything over 3000sf is huge.

Layout and number of people in said space also may influence what one seems "big".

 

[Disneylover99]

Are these numbers counting all finished space? Around here 2300 above ground would be considered good size, but not really large, but we all have basements also. My house is 1970 feet above ground, two stories, but then we have another 1100 or so in the basement, which is finished, so that puts us around 3000 total. If we had 3000 above ground plus the basement, that would be considered big for sure.

Most people don't count the square footage of the basement where I live. When homes get listed for sale, the total square footage on the main and top floor are listed and either a fully/partially or unfinished basement is noted.