The lure of the small house
When my family and I moved to a new state and a new neighborhood three years ago, we sought a home that was smaller than the one we were leaving behind. I’d grown tired after eight years of caring for a lawn that was too big for us. We were both tired of cleaning rooms that we hardly ever used.
Our current house is pretty cozy — 2,100 square feet — but has enough space for our family of four, plus one dog.
For a while there, whenever I told anyone that we moved to a smaller home, people would shake their heads and wonder why. “You’re downsizing already? You’re barely 40!”
A friend of mine and his wife did the same thing just this month. They sold their three-bedroom suburban home and moved into a condo in the middle of downtown Chicago. They don’t have kids, but they are still making a major lifestyle shift. They are now in the process of figuring out what to do with all the extra furniture, artwork and, well, stuff, they needed to fill in the empty spaces of their former home.
It now appears that my wife and I, and my friends, are all part of a larger trend. Seems that a whole lot of people are now seeking smaller homes.
According to a story written by Hava el Nassar in USA Today, smaller homes are becoming increasingly appealing to both buyers and renters. el Nassar points to the Legacy Village housing development in Plano, Texas, as an example. Apartments totaling 264 square feet of living space are big draws in that development.
What are the reasons for this shift from McMansions to tiny homes? Part of the reason is money, of course. Smaller homes cost less. Expect this to get even more important as the U.S. economy continues to suffer.
Secondly, more buyers are interested in green living these days. Few things are as green as is living in a house with a small footprint. Small homes require less raw materials, can be built in a shorter period of time and consume less energy.
Finally, according to the USA Today story, buyers who look for small homes like dense housing developments. They like having lots of neighbors close by. This gives them more people to interact with. It also helps them build a community.
So to those folks now searching for a small home, I ask: “What took you so long to get on board?”
And I have one other question: Who’s going to buy all those leftover McMansions in the suburban subdivisions?
