Want A Big House? Tour This Small Home, Change Your Mind

December 30, 2009 by Silicon Valley Blogger

The joys of living in a small home.

For many people I know, a big house to call their own sure sounds like the ultimate dream. Think of all that wonderful space and room and potential to do whatever you want in that space. But there are obvious downsides to having a huge house: number one on the list is the maintenance cost. Granted, you may be able to afford your house and even the ongoing property taxes you need to pay each year — but what a lot of homeowners forget are those pesky maintenance and repair costs that they would be committed to paying, month in and month out. This is what caught a lot of people unawares during the latest real estate downtrend and which may have contributed to many a foreclosure; many homeowners grossly underestimated the expenses involved in maintaining a home.

Sometime ago, I wrote an article asking the question: would you be willing to live in a small house? In this post, I wrote down the benefits of owning a more modest abode. With such a house:

  • Your health could improve, possibly because you’d be forced to do more things outside of the house. A small house encourages you to live a less sedentary lifestyle.
  • You can live more simply since you’ll have less room for stuff.
  • You’ll cut your housing costs significantly!
  • You’ll worry less and expend less effort maintaining your home.

Just imagine how much you’d save on your home’s upkeep and insurance requirements once you downsize! You can ask yourself: do you really need all that stuff? If the answer is no — and you promise that you won’t hyperventilate if you let go of your video game collection — then maybe you should check out this alternative way of living. For some, living small is living well. You may want to see for yourself just how well it works for this one guy! I found this video of one happy resident who’s managed to squeeze himself comfortably into 96 square feet of space:

From the video:

“Excess is not necessarily a luxury, it’s really a burden — it’s a liability. People are living in 4,000 and 6,000 square foot debtors’ prisons, and they spend 30 years, sometimes more, paying for more stuff and space than they really need.”

96 square feet may be a little extreme, but it shows us that with a little resourcefulness, even living this way is possible! I also give this story an additional vote because the guy in the video mentioned Imelda Marcos’ shoes. :)

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