Downsizing...can you really???

Zee09

Zee09

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I always lived in large houses and as a young adult I also ran a mail order business from my house as well.

Soon I plan to move and have just one vehicle and cut business way back. A few machines and not much else.

How do you know if you can live in a small 2000 sq ft. house?
And you are moving from a area where you have basements bigger than that to a no basement state like Florida.
I am not a collector or hoarder but just like space....
 
Zee09 said:
I always lived in large houses and as a young adult I also ran a mail order business from my house as well.

Soon I plan to move and have just one vehicle and cut business way back. A few machines and not much else.

How do you know if you can live in a small 2000 sq ft. house?
And you are moving from a area where you have basements bigger than that to a no basement state like Florida.
I am not a collector or hoarder but just like space....
Click to expand...
It's all perspective. How much stuff (personal items) can you dispose of? Also-in many parts of the country where real estate is expensive-a 2,000 square foot house is considered a good size. I had a house in So. Cal that was 2,500 square feet-that's a big house by Southern California standards. Basements are nice for extra space-but if you are moving from Maryland to Florida -I would take that move and not think twice.
 
Just make sure you have enough room for what you want to move.

And build a big garage/barn/outbuilding.
 
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I'm married with a 6yr old girl. I got transferred for work and went from 2600sq.ft. to 1800sq.ft. Part of the problem was moving in May when it was complete insanity, and house inventory was a huge issue (we opted for a smaller house to get into a great school system). We made a lot of trips to donation places, but not one thing we gave away is something we miss. But what we have discovered is that it's not necessarily the size of the house we miss, but some of the amenities of a larger house... such as an en suite bathroom, attached two car garage, and less storage where an older home (what we moved into) commonly falls short. It can be painful, but in the end, we are already happier with less stuff.
 
We have a 1100 sqft house now. To be honest , it fits us good enough. We have two rooms we don't actually use as it is. Storage would be nice, though. We dont have a basement and no access to the attic to use that as storage.

Currently home shopping and it's hard to find smaller, newer homes. Seems everything built after the 60s is 1700+ sqft
 
Perspective. This 1600 sq.ft. is the largest we've ever owned. 2 of us and 2 dogs it's honestly too large and the 2.5 car 25x26 garage is too small. No basement and I'm determined to keep the vehicles in the garage so continuous editing is necessary.

OP it seems like you're single. IMO if 2000 sq.ft. is too small you must have lots of stuff. The answer is yes downsizing is possible we've done it a couple of times and would like to downsize one more time.
 
My wife and I both grew up with multiple siblings in 800 - 900 sguare foot houses. Our first house was 1150 square feet. One of the ladies of my old community could hardly believe it; she said, "This is your house!"

We've moved several times since then and now live in an 2350 square foot house with a crawl space. This is luxury living as far as I'm concerned. I can't imagine needing/wanting anything bigger than this and we would be fine with something smaller as long as it's well laid out.

So yes you could move into a "smaller place".
 
CKN said:
It's all perspective. How much stuff (personal items) can you dispose of? Also-in many parts of the country where real estate is expensive-a 2,000 square foot house is considered a good size. I had a house in So. Cal that was 2,500 square feet-that's a big house by Southern California standards. Basements are nice for extra space-but if you are moving from Maryland to Florida -I would take that move and not think twice.
Click to expand...
Yeah, basements in Florida...I think they are called underground pools...

Speaking of which...on a side question...I was once told that you never drain your in ground pool in Florida...because if you did, it would pop out of the ground. Is this true...anyone have an in ground pool in FL?
 
swampdodo said:
Yeah, basements in Florida...I think they are called underground pools...

Speaking of which...on a side question...I was once told that you never drain your in ground pool in Florida...because if you did, it would pop out of the ground. Is this true...anyone have an in ground pool in FL?
Click to expand...
Except for repairs why would one drain a pool where it doesn't get that cold? Otherwise -I don't have an answer to your question.
 
CKN said:
Except for repairs why would one drain a pool where it doesn't get that cold? Otherwise -I don't have an answer to your question.
Click to expand...
Not sure...but when I first heard that, I'm thinking...how do they keep it in the ground when they first build it?

Anyway, getting off topic here...just a thought that popped up in my head...
 
CKN said:
Except for repairs why would one drain a pool where it doesn't get that cold? Otherwise -I don't have an answer to your question.
Click to expand...
Yep. Had my pool since 1996 and this was the first year I pumped it half down to deal with an aggressive algae issue.
It is fine now - and hope to go years only topping up for dehydration …
 
As for the OP's original post...why not try to arrange your current living space to approx. 2000 sq. ft...to kind of model it and see what's it is like?
 
On the contrary, I don't understand why people feel like they need massive 3000sq/ft mansions. With just me I could easily get away with a 700sq/ft condo/apartment. Having storage space is nice but it would often be more cost effective to get a small storage unit for the stuff I don't need fast access to. (Tires, etc). Bigger house means more to clean and maintain, cool and heat, etc.
 
K.Aoi said:
On the contrary, I don't understand why people feel like they need massive 3000sq/ft mansions. With just me I could easily get away with a 700sq/ft condo/apartment. Having storage space is nice but it would often be more cost effective to get a small storage unit for the stuff I don't need fast access to. (Tires, etc). Bigger house means more to clean and maintain, cool and heat, etc.
Click to expand...
That's the thing...perspective. You are in New York. Even 700 square feet will set you back $$$$$.
 
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