Our first home in Australia was akin to a shoe-box. It was the second-storey of a duplex unit that was barely more than 600 square feet of living space. We affectionately called it our ‘tree-top oasis’.
Now we lived here more out of necessity than choice. Having just arrived from India, we didn’t possess the sound references or prior rental history needed to secure a larger home. After three long weeks of rental opens and interviews, we didn’t care that the living space was small. If anything, it was comparable to our living space back in India!
Over the years, our houses grew bigger. My son had his own room, and one that he didn’t have to share if his grandmother visited. We also had a backyard area for the first time in our lives. A home theatre room or private sitting room became commonplace in our homes.
We finally began to enjoy some personal space.
Alas, there are some negatives with increased living space. We didn’t notice them initially, however they became harder to ignore with each new home. I’ve outlined some of these negatives below:
Your cleaning time exponentially increases
If you are like me, this is probably the first negative on your list.
Cleaning is one of the most mind-numbingly boring tasks conceivable (to put it lightly!). In my household, it seems like we’re always on clean-up duty. You never know when that distant relative (the one you forgot even existed) pops by for an impromptu visit.
As your house size increases, so does the cleaning effort. This is even before we get to the lawn/garden maintenance. Now it is wonderful if yourself or someone in your family has a green thumb. However, gardening is not a keen interest for anyone in my family.
It was a constant battle with my adolescent son to have him mow the lawn every other week. The incentive option of offering him some pocket change only worked for a short while. This was until he realised there were jobs that didn’t require him to bear the scorching Australian sun every other Sunday.
In our current house, we conceded that outdoor maintenance was not for us. This is why we’ve paved or laid astro-turf for most of our outdoor living space. While the gardening enthusiasts out there will no doubt be offended, we certainly are happier with the time we’ve won back.
You build in too many ‘wants’ compared to ‘needs’
While I am far from being what you call a cinephile, for some reason I always wanted a home theater. That dream became a reality when we moved into our second home.
We purchased a large flat-screen that was over-priced, along with a decent surround sound system. For the first few months of having these toys, we certainly made an effort to enjoy them. However, over time, the home theater visits became less frequent and certainly secondary to the comfort and convenience of my bedroom TV.
Now this may sound gluttonous, but it does illustrate an important point. We oftentimes build in too much of our ‘wants’ into our properties. Luxurious options such as home theaters offer a limited utility compared to other rooms. Furthermore, such rooms may no longer be used if your tastes and preferences change over time. Then, all you are left with is a wasted space filled with expensive junk.
You buy too much unnecessary furniture
More space brings with it more emptiness (literally and figuratively). Unless you enjoy the extreme minimalist lifestyle, you would typically fill that space with furniture and other items. However, the purpose of furniture is to be used. At the end of the day, you’re not living in a museum!
As we moved into each new property, we had more space to fill. While we brought over furniture from our previous homes, we still found ourselves purchasing new couches and chairs.
The crazy thing is we would have been better off leaving those spaces barren. With my son now living in the States, we barely use any of our second-storey furniture. I have half a mind to charge guests an admission fee for what I would call ‘furniture viewing rights’!
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Having been in the building industry for so many years, I can appreciate that you increase your home resale value by increasing your home size. However, I wonder whether the resale value argument is worth the lost expense and wasted utility in having those added spaces.
I wonder this more as both my wife and I see permanent retirement on the horizon. If we were to theoretically sell our home, I know the home size would demand a premium. However, I’m less thrilled with trying to off-load the majority of the material items we’ve amassed over the years.
If I were to do it all again, I would definitely be more conscious of optimising my household footprint…
The content outlined above was written, edited and published by the Lost Realtor. The author has over 20 years or real estate sales and investing experience in the Australian property market. He has held senior positions in Australian building companies, including being the General Manager of the residential sales division of Collier Homes. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building and Construction Law.