Rightsize Your House If You Want To Save Like Crazy

Tiny houses and small living spaces seem to be quite trendy these days, but the fact remains that the size of newly built family homes just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Last I checked, the average size of a newly-constructed single-family home is now somewhere around 2,500 square feet. That’s an incredible amount of space per person. This staggering statistic begs the question, is a house that big necessary?

Necessary can be a relative term and I’m certainly not waging war on big homes. I actually LOVE all things real estate, both big and small. I also love living in a right-sized house for my family and lifestyle. On the flip side, I also love building wealth and feeling prepared to handle emergencies or unexpected life events. If a large chunk of our money was being funneled to pay for a massive house, we wouldn’t be nearly as far along in our financial journey as we are today.

So, although I love, love, love houses and certain home styles (think: midcentury modern and cedar contemporary), I also love the peace of mind of being financially prepared for life. In my world, the former isn’t worth the latter. But, I didn’t always think this way. There was a time not so long ago that I would’ve done almost anything to get into a big, impressive home.

So, sit back and enjoy as we recount the tale of how we nearly purchasing a large home we couldn’t comfortably afford. We cover everything from the initial walk-through to making an offer to mold in the attic and many sleepless nights.

So, before you sign on the dotted line, listen to your instincts, buy only what you need, and determine how that dream home is going to work for your current and future lifestyle.