My husband and I are thinking about having a house built. Not the most frugal thing, possibly, but it's something we've been planning for almost as long as we've been together. We're probably going with a custom plan I designed, because there are a few features we want or need that are hard to find, and also because it's hard to get anything smaller than 3 bedroom 2 bath, which I find extravagantly huge for a childfree couple coming out of an apartment.
We were showing one potential builder the plans today to get started on a quote. It's about 1300 square feet on the main floor (plus a 1.5 car garage and three season sunroom/greenhouse that wouldn't count towards the official square footage because it won't be heated). There will also be a basement that we're probably going to convert into a rental unit. He kept asking if we were sure about the dimensions, since we wouldn't have room for an office. He basically said that in his experience most people need more space to start with so that they have room for all the stuff they'll be acquiring over the years.
When I said that this was kind of the point- if we didn't have any extra rooms, we wouldn't be tempted to spend money to furnish them and fill them up, he looked like he'd never heard that idea before in his life. Granted, I'm sure a part of it is because a bigger house is more $$ for him, but he honestly looked completely confused by my plan to limit future spending this way.
August 17, 2020 at 09:28PM
