How Much House Do You Need? Calculating Living Space For The Long Term

While it's fairly unrealistic to think that you will stay in one home for the rest of your life anymore, when you're buying a house, you still need to have that kind of mindset. Instead of thinking that you aren't going to be in your house for long, so why bother having enough space, you might want to consider what would happen if you DID stay in your home for a few decades. Space is a major consideration when it comes to choosing a home. Here are some things to keep in mind as you make your choice.

How Often are You Home? How Often are Others at Your Home?

Though most of us would admit to the fact that we want to have the biggest home possible, it isn't generally realistic for most people - and for obvious reasons. Think about your daily life for a moment. If you're working full time or you travel a lot for your work, you might want to consider whether or not you actually need a lot of space. If you're not going to be around a lot to enjoy it, you might want to spend your money on other things that you do have time for.

Likewise, if you think you need more space because you want to entertain, you should begin to add that into the space you want to have in your new home. If you have parties on a weekly basis, this is an important consideration in terms of your home purchase. In addition, if you plan to have overnight guests on a regular basis, you will need to have space for a guest room for their comfort.

What about Kids?

If you have kids now or you plan to in the future, you will want to think about factoring in space for their rooms and their nurseries. Even just one larger extra room can help you have enough space for up to two children for a time and will allow you to have some stability in terms of your living arrangements until you feel you need a new home. Until these rooms become the kids' rooms, they can provide you with extra storage space or another guest room or office.

You may also want some additional space for a playroom or for a toy room where you can keep the children's mess out of sight.

Any Special Needs?

The space in your house can also be used for special features in your home. For example, if you work from a home office, you might want to have a special space for you to set this arrangement up. Or if you have a hobby that takes up a lot of space, you might want to make sure that you have ample room for this to reside as well.

Those with children or family members with disabilities might want to consider homes with a larger square footage in order to accommodate wheelchairs and other accessories.

Or if you have larger pieces of furniture that need extra room - i.e. a piano - you will need to factor in the space for that piece of equipment. Think about things like a pool table, wet bar, patio, etc. Those kinds of pieces of furniture need you to have more space in and around your home.

If you have pets, you might want to factor in enough play room for them as well. Dogs especially need a lot of room to run around if they aren't going to be left outside for long periods of time. Cats are a bit easier in terms of the space they need.

Long Term Thoughts

While no one wants to think about it, if you do stay in your home for a long time, you might need to consider adding on additional space if your estimated space doesn't work out. To make sure you have enough room, you might also want to consider the space in the back and the front of the house as potential room for an addition.

When you're trying to envision what your life is going to be like in your new home, try to map out all of the activities that will take place both now and in the future. This will help you to see just how much space you might need as well as how much space you may not need.

Those that aren't home a lot or who don't have children or pets might want to buy something smaller until they need the upgrade in square footage.

To calculate the square footage that you need, try to see how much you have right now and then see if you need twice as much, three times as much, etc. This will at least give you an estimate as to how much space your life really takes up.