Recently, my parents bought a smaller house. While on vacation in South Dakota (yeah, I vacation in South Dakota), I got to see it for the first time. During our stay, I was surprised at how often my mother commented that “they just love their smaller house.” I wasn’t so much surprised that she felt that way (I am a minimalist after all), but I was surprised at the frequency. It was a comment that she repeated over and over again during our one-week stay.
Toward the end of the week, I sat down with my mom and asked her to list all of the reasons why she is experiencing more happiness in her smaller house. And this post is the result.
12 Reasons Why You’ll Be Happier in a Smaller House by Joshua and Patty Becker (I get top billing because it is my blog).
People buy larger homes for a number of reasons:
- They “outgrow” their smaller one.
- They receive a promotion and raise at work.
- They are convinced by a realtor that they can afford it.
- They hope to impress others.
- They think a large home is the home of their dreams.
Another reason people keep buying bigger and bigger homes is because no one tells them not to. The mantra of the culture again comes calling, “buy as much and as big as possible.” They believe the lie and choose to buy a large home only because that’s “what you are supposed to do” when you start making money… you buy nice, big stuff.
Nobody ever tells them not to. Nobody gives them permission to pursue smaller, rather than larger. Nobody gives them the reasons they may actually be happier in a smaller house.
So, in an attempt to break the silence, consider these 12 reasons why you’ll actually be happier in a smaller house:
- Easier to maintain. Anyone who has owned a house knows the amount of time, energy, and effort to maintain it. All things being equal, a smaller home requires less of your time, energy, and effort to accomplish that task.
- Less time spent cleaning. And that should be reason enough…
- Less expensive. Smaller homes are less expensive to purchase and less expensive to keep (insurance, taxes, heating, cooling, electricity, etc.).
- Less debt and less risk. Dozens of on-line calculators will help you determine “how much house you can afford.” These formulas are based on net income, savings, current debt, and monthly mortgage payments. They are also based on the premise that we should spend “28% of our net income on our monthly mortgage payments.” But if we can be more financially stable and happier by only spending 15%… then why would we ever choose to spend 28?
- Mentally Freeing. As is the case with all of our possessions, the more we own, the more they own us. And the more stuff we own, the more mental energy is held hostage by them. The same is absolutely true with our largest, most valuable asset. Buy small and free your mind.
- Less environmental impact. A smaller home requires less resources to build and less resources to maintain. And that benefits all of us.
- More time. Many of the benefits above (less cleaning, less maintaining, mental freedom) result in the freeing up of our schedule to pursue the things in life that really matter – whatever you want that to be.
- Encourages family bonding. A smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. And while this may be the reason that some people purchase bigger homes, I think just the opposite should be true.
- Forces you to remove baggage. Moving into a smaller home forces you to intentionally pare down your belongings.
- Less temptation to accumulate. If you don’t have any room in your house for that new treadmill, you’ll be less tempted to buy it in the first place (no offense to those of you who own a treadmill… and actually use it).
- Less decorating. While some people love the idea of choosing wall color, carpet color, furniture, window treatments, decorations, and light fixtures for dozens of rooms, I don’t.
- Wider market to sell. By its very definition, a smaller, more affordable house is affordable to a larger percentage of the population than a more expensive, less affordable one.
Your home is a very personal decision that weighs in a large number of factors that can’t possibly be summed up in one 700 word post. This post was not written to address each of them. Only you know all the variables that come into play when making your decision.
I just think you’ll be happier if you buy smaller—rather than the other way around.
If your realtor is pressuring you to buy a larger home than you want or can afford, find a new realtor! Not only is that unethical, it is not doing their job: to work on your behalf! This is an unfortunate stereotype; most of us would not be in business long if we ignored the best interests of our clients.
agreed.
This is becoming a reality for me, as the realtor is coming today for our big house on 10 acres. Looking for small and quaint with no maintenance in a southern state. I am done with cold.
Beautiful home for sale here in our gorgeous retirement community DelWebb in Summerville SC across the street from me.n
We are weighing through things now. We currently live in a small home. I would like to stay because our mortgage will be paid off by the time our son is 18, so just in time for the firstborn to start college. I would like a larger house because as the boys get bigger I would like my bedroom to have some space away from the boys for…reasons. Secondly, I would love more space for entertaining. Though one of my favorite things to do is give, and a larger home would ave larger expenses for utilities. There are some home repairs that may need to be made though so it’s make them we’re going to live here, or start looking. We said at least ten years here when we bought. We’re at 7. We’ll see.
I also can’t fit a king sized bed in my room. I’d like one of those.
My ex and I lived in “small” 1200 sq ft house. We would occasionally look at bigger houses that had master suites and I pointed out that our house for the 2 of us was a large master suite! You situation would be the same once your sons move out . . .
I read some replies on facebook. It surprised me a little that to some 1500-1700 sq ft was a small house. I grew up in a 1100 sq ft home, hubby grew up in an 900 sq ft home (4 kids shared one room for years) and we bought a 1040 sq ft home. There were times hubby wanted to move and I resisted. So glad I did because we only have one stubborn kid (lol) left at home and soon it will only be the 2 of house. I hate cleaning. I’m getting rid of stuff. I’m happy. The only thing hubby still wishes for is an en suite.
We just moved into a 1094 square foot home this year with our two toddlers. Loving so much about it.
If I had to do over I would have preferred to raise my girl in our current 966 sq ft rather than the 4500 sq ft behemoth we left. Babies and toddlers should be kept nearby…because they’re precious..and, well… ;-)
The realtors aren’t the only ones who are advocating the bigger houses. Our bank did too. They told us we should use some of the money from the sale of our first home to buy new furniture (I pointed out our furniture was only five years old at that point). Then they tried to say we should go on vacation. Debt doesn’t help me relax. And they were beyond annoyed when we paid our mortgage off 25 years early. I don’t trust any of them anymore.
We’re just getting into our first mortgage. If you don’t mind my asking. Did you have a 30 year fixed and paid off house in 5 years? How did you do it? Pay double mortgage payment, the extra half towards principal? I’m trying to learn all I can in order to pay of our house in 5 to 7 years as well!
https://financialmentor.com/calculator/mortgage-payoff-calculator use this to help you calculate.
We paid off our mortgage in 8 years. Took advantage of exelevated payment schedule (ie., we made weekly payments), plus maxed out what we could put in at the end of the year without penalty. Every spare penny went back into the house for those 8 years, but I was mortgage-free by age 35. We still live in our small house because we refuse to go into debt again, even if we could use a bigger house (we have three kids and a toy poodle in a 1200 sqft house).
You shouldn’t trust them. Google, “southern ontario housing crisis”. We paid $242K for this 132 year old farm-hand house. It’s one of the three oldest houses where I live and people keep watch for one of them to go up. We’re all on the same street. The housing crisis in Toronto alone is so bad that a 1,200 sq ft tear-down is going for $1.4 MILLION! Yes, you read it right… $1.4 MILLION! Got to realtor.ca and type in “Toronto” then “Waterloo” and you will see the stupidity. Those with a small house like ours, while only worth $360K, are commanding $500K+ when the bidding wars start.
and the banks are giving million dollar mortages to Millenials who make a combined salary of $150K… and then there’s Toronto’s daycare bill to pay – $1,400 a month for infants and $1,100 for pre-schoolers PER MONTH!
I am from SD-just moved back from AZ! I’ve been following you for awhile. You have been an inspiration. I’m ready to buy a small house (2100sq feet) in AZ was too big.
I love that you vacation to SD…I do, too! I live in ND! :)
Great posting. Thanks for sharing this valuable & unique information.
Existen muy buenas razones para vivir en una casa pequeña y disfrutar de todos sus beneficios.
880 square feet, 2 bed, 1 bath 1950 cottage with 4 kids, hubby, the dog, and me! I sometimes wish for 1 more bedroom and at least a half bath. (One bathroom with several of us having chronic gastro-intestinal issues isn’t easy). But, while it is challenging right now with 4 growing children, it will make a great little house when we are empty nesters.
I think there is something to be said about the benefits of family bonding in bigger vs smaller houses. I do think smaller homes encourage more bonding time. However, I also think that family time is better when everyone has enough room for personal time. So, I think it is great to buy a smaller home, just make sure you have enough room to have a little private space as well.
I think it is a common misconception that “smaller” is cheaper. While a 2000sf home may be cheaper than a 4000sf home, the issue still arises when even the 2000sf home still cost a half a million or more depending on where you live. I live in the burbs of Dallas, TX and we are considered still “affordable” by most larger city home prices. I make a 6 figure income and my combined income with my spouse is very nice. We have no children and will not have any. I don’t need a 4000sf home for 2 people, but all smaller homes are still ridiculously overpriced with the cheapest we have looked at being 432K. I am tired of renting apartments. Do we just bite the bullet and pay more for a house because that’s our only option.
Frustrated in Dallas!
Build?
What about some of the close in suburbs in Dallas? Affordable 2000sf homes in many areas. Valley Ranch and others.
As crazy as it sounds, I’d go back to renting in a heartbeat! WAY less maintenance, zero property tax, etc. I think it all balances out to be about the same in the end. I rented for over a decade in NYC and now own in the Midwest.
Buying or renting each have advantages, but just to point out that with renting you’re probably paying the property taxes as part of your rent.
Doesn’t sound crazy at all. I just went back to renting after 8 years owning. When we had a hail and thunderstorm last week I could enjoy it because I wasn’t fussing over sump pump failure or roof damage. Not my problem anymore.
Very helpful post! I’ll be a first-time home buyer in the near future, I’m looking to move to Birmingham due to the great housing market, so this was a very useful article to read.
It never occurred to me that downsizing could be mentally freeing. That’s pretty interesting. Currently, my husband and I are searching for a home. We’ve always thought to get a big house. However, the idea of real estate that’s smaller than we planned for is becoming a bit more appealing.
Una casa pequeña puede ser una buena idea siempre y cuando las condiciones sean satisfactorias para una familia pequeña y se pueda estar de acomodo mas ajustable
Love our 1500 sq ft bungalow that we bought for under 70K. Our mortgage is 500 a month and we are accelerating payments to pay it off early. It is even a split bedroom plan so our master bedroom, which fits our king bed nicely, is on the other side of the house from my son’s room who also has a nice space for just him. Closet space is limited as the house was built in 1945 but since our son is 19, when he leaves it’ll just be my husband and I so no need for a ton of closet space. To me it’s just enough. Not too big, not too small. Will never go bigger than this again.
My husband and I are thinking of selling our 1800sqft home of 10 years. We have remodeled extensively being its 55 years old. We now have a 3 yr old and the 3 be 3 bath home is too large for me to take care of now. We have a large mortgage on it being that we purchased when home prices were higher. We are now at the point we can well and break even on it but won’t get money we put into it or what we paid for it. But less maintenance and expense. We will live with in laws then save to buy a smaller less pricey home in near future. We will be able to spend more time with baby and cut back on work. Does this sound reasonable? I grew up in a 1100 soft home with 5 people and 1 bathroom and we were happy as a clam.
Sounds like most people are far off from small living. No, 1500 sq. ft. is not small. My husband and I lived in a 750 sq. ft. condo with a baby. We moved to a larger, less expensive apartment after the market crash/lost jobs. We now live in an 850 sq. ft. 2 bd/1 ba apartment with a 2 yr old boy and 5 yr old girl. The family that lives above us has six people living in the same floorplan (which includes two teenage children and two elderly in-laws. The living room became the master bedroom (with French doors) and the dining room became the living room.) My family tells me we’ll NEED two full bathrooms when we move again, and at least three bedrooms… No thank you. It’s difficult being middle class in Chicago. I think a convertible, small apartment is in our future. Other people’s opinions be damned. All I need are some sliding walls, clever storage, and a nice outdoor space.
We considering moving to a house only half as large as our current house which we’ve been in 12 years. Needless to say, we’ve accumulated a lot of stuff in those years. The new house would be 1400 s.f., 2 bed, 3/4 bath with minimal storage space and no garage, vs. Our current 2800 s.f., 5 bed, 1 and 3/4 bath with 1800 s.f. of basement storage and a 2 and a half stall garage. Our family consists of 2 adults, 3 children and 4 large dogs. While the thought of a trying to figure out what stays and what goes in order to for into a house that much smaller gives me some anxiety, I think the 80 acres that comes with the smaller house might make it worth it. I’ve been reading this blog for a while now and am slowly trying to incorporate more minimalism into my life. I’m going we can make the leap.
We are in your similar situation. How did the move go?
We moved into our 1,100 SF house two weeks ago, bringing only the bed, a chair, rugs, and paintings from our previous house, shopping locally for the rest. I’ll probably replace light fixtures, but after spending $750, the house is furnished. I’m lighter and I smile a lot more.
I tried to weed out my cookbook collection (“honest, honey”) but only managed to part with one. It’s a process and I’m imperfect but happy.
We have been talking about buying a smaller home now that my husband has retired. However we live in a Denver suburb where home prices have gone thru the roof in recent years. Last week we checked prices in a neighborhood where the 65 yr. old homes are 2 bed, 1 bath, tiny yard and were horrified to see that prices are the same as we paid for our 1900 sq. foot, 1 year old home 12 years ago!
Relocating to a less expensive area is not an option at this time. So downsizing is a wonderful idea and we would do it in a minute if we weren’t held hostage by market prices.
I always wondered if you were ‘that’ Joshua Becker! :-) Your grandfather married my husband and me many years ago, and I just love your mom’s sense of humor. :-) You are the reason my husband and I are beginning our journey into minimalization. Thank-you!
Thankful for my heritage. I am a blessed man.
I think it’s also about knowing what you need for your lifestyle. We originally bought a 2 bedroom 3 bath house with about half an acre of backyard property. The house was choppy and disjointed and with steps up and down it was difficult with our daughter learning to crawl and walk there. We also thought we’d spend all our time outside but she was too small to be out there and it was so time consuming to maintain. We sold, made some money, and bought a slightly larger house that fit our lifestyle more. We now have 3 bedrooms (and a new child too!), 2 bathrooms and an open floor plan all on one level. The house is a mid century ranch with a modest backyard. Easy to maintain (as much as you can with kids) and the backyard is not as time consuming. We are done having kids now, one boy and one girl, and everyone has their own room. The kids share a bathroom and it serves as our guest bath too. We contemplated buying my grandparents home but decided that had too many problems we did not want to face. Now that we decided to stay and this is hopefully our forever home, we feel so free to do whatever we want. We will be doing a solar roof and storage unit soon. We are fixing the sprinkler system. We already have a beautiful veggie garden that we built and grew the food from seed. We are starting to put furniture in the backyard that we have gotten from my grandparents as they both passed away. Finding the right house for your lifestyle is just as important as keeping it small. Same principle. Plus, if it fits your lifestyle then you will be able to pay off your mortgage in a reasonable time instead of starting over every time you move.
Great post! I also vacation in South Dakota {to visit my folks, it’s amazing to read of someone else that does ;)}! We have recently moved to a beautiful town with a plethora of outdoor recreation to enjoy…Moab, UT. We’ve decided to go with a smaller home, the smallest we’ve ever lived in. It is incredibly refreshing to not be a slave to our home, in so many ways, and to have the freedom to spend our energy and resources enjoying the outdoor wonderland we live in! I also find that all the reasons you list also give me permission to truly enjoy my home :)
From Becker:
People buy larger homes for a number of reasons:
They “outgrow” their smaller one.
Very good reason to do so.
They receive a promotion and raise at work.
How does Becker know this? He is ascribing without evidence. He is also using this as a shaming technique so he can feel superior.
They are convinced by a realtor that they can afford it.
Only weak people submit to this. Our agent didn’t do this.
They hope to impress others.
Ugh! Same as the promotion reason.
They think a large home is the home of their dreams.
If it fits, this is a good reason.
Another reason people keep buying bigger and bigger homes is because no one tells them not to.
What? How does he know? Really, NO ONE?
12 Responses to Becker that he didn’t think of:
1. Easier to maintain. Anyone who has owned a house knows the amount of time, energy, and effort to maintain it. All things being equal, a smaller home requires less of your time, energy, and effort to accomplish that task.
A small house with few amenities means you have to leave the home to enjoy them. Drive to swimming, or to the park to play, nothing is close, so you waste time getting to where you want to be, and spend money on gas and wear on your car. Time is money buddy! You are trading away time, which is finite and which you never get back.
2. Less time spent cleaning. And that should be reason enough…
Ever heard of this? “There’s a place for everything, and everything in its place” A small home is cluttered. There isn’t a place for anything unless you move it around. People who visit feel uncomfortable. Open space is easier to clean than cluttered space.
3. Less expensive. Smaller homes are less expensive to purchase and less expensive to keep (insurance, taxes, heating, cooling, electricity, etc.).
Ok, but if you have a large family you have all the drawbacks listed above.
4. Less debt and less risk. Dozens of on-line calculators will help you determine “how much house you can afford.” These formulas are based on net income, savings, current debt, and monthly mortgage payments. They are also based on the premise that we should spend “28% of our net income on our monthly mortgage payments.” But if we can be more financially stable and happier by only spending 15%… then why would we ever choose to spend 28?
Homes are tax havens! You leave money in a bank and you pay taxes on it. No security there either as bank accounts are easily seized, property has a lot of built in protections. Also, as an asset, homes hold their value when purchased at the real market price.
5. Mentally Freeing. As is the case with all of our possessions, the more we own, the more they own us. And the more stuff we own, the more mental energy is held hostage by them. The same is absolutely true with our largest, most valuable asset. Buy small and free your mind.
What? Who says, and why? This is an aphorism, or at best mere opinion, and one I completely disagree with.
6. Less environmental impact. A smaller home requires less resources to build and less resources to maintain. And that benefits all of us.
God made the earth for man, not man for the earth.
7. More time. Many of the benefits above (less cleaning, less maintaining, mental freedom) result in the freeing up of our schedule to pursue the things in life that really matter – whatever you want that to be.
This is pretty much a repeat of 2 and 5. I totally disagree with it for the same reasons. You have to LEAVE your house to do almost everything.
8. Encourages family bonding. A smaller home results in more social interaction among the members of the family. And while this may be the reason that some people purchase bigger homes, I think just the opposite should be true.
Who is he kidding! A large home allows for COMFORTABLE family gatherings. It also allows for moments of silence, reflection and solitude. Something psychologists are finding is crucial for teens.
9. Forces you to remove baggage. Moving into a smaller home forces you to intentionally pare down your belongings.
Any time you feel FORCED to do something, there better be a good reward for it. Again, if you have a place for everything, that baggage could become useful. I can’t count the number of times I have had to buy tools, or other product because I gave or threw something away due to the absence of space. This is a crutch for poor decision making.
10. Less temptation to accumulate. If you don’t have any room in your house for that new treadmill, you’ll be less tempted to buy it in the first place (no offense to those of you who own a treadmill… and actually use it).
Yeah this is good, don’t even think about exercising. This reason is a cover for poor decision making, and another way of stating No. 10. Why not work on making better decisions? Becker is having a tough time getting to 12.
11. Less decorating. While some people love the idea of choosing wall color, carpet color, furniture, window treatments, decorations, and light fixtures for dozens of rooms, I don’t.
Good for you. Not everyone has to live like you. This article was supposed to explain why WE shouldn’t buy a bigger home, but it is turning into why Becker shouldn’t buy a bigger home.
12. Wider market to sell. By its very definition, a smaller, more affordable house is affordable to a larger percentage of the population than a more expensive, less affordable one.
So what? It also means a less appreciable asset. Those retirement dollars will not be forthcoming out of the smaller house.
Unfortunately, Becker doesn’t define smaller or bigger. Is he saying a 3300 sq. ft. house is large or does he mean 7300 sq. ft.? The same goes for small. It also should be noted that Becker could hardly be objective (as it has been shown he isn’t) since his entire focus is on a minimalistic existence.
I read your reply to the article and I can’t help but wonder why you’re here. You don’t sound like you want to be a minimalist so I’m wondering why you bothered to read this at all. Not every point he mentioned will apply to everyone. I rent a 812 sq ft apartment and I’d like to buy a small home one day. All the homes I lived in previously were around 1754 sq ft so small to me would be 1200-1400 sq ft. Anything over 1800 feels unnecessarily large but it’s all relative to what I’m used to. I feel a lot of pressure from family and some friends to buy the biggest house I can afford to buy simply because they think a big house is a better value. In my experience though there’s a point where it becomes too much for me to maintain (cost, cleaning etc). We all need to figure out what’s right for us and I think he was just giving us some food for thought.
Thank you for this post. It’s great.
I have been thinking a lot about our “ownership culture” and the one thing this post assumes, is ownership. I’d like to hit the “pause” button on that assumption for a second and, at the least, acknowledge the alternatives.
https://klenlife.com/2017/04/03/mindless-ownership/
Otherwise, I fully concur.
Your blog has made me take minimalism in a serious way, I agree with most of the points you stated,a s.all home means less debt and more freedom to travel,which is my first love
As someone who lives in a small house (family of 5 in 1100 sq. ft.), I can attest to all of these benefits. Living small has convinced our family we can go even smaller and, by next year, we hope to sell our small home & move into an RV on our family’s property. This will allow us to live mortgage free while in our 40’s. I get excited just thinking about it! Thank you for the encouragement!
This post needs to define what is considered “small” and what is considered “large”. I’m curious about the size of his parents new home.
Ooh, I loved to read this! Thank you! My family of 4 live in 700sq which is a typical apartment size for a family of three here in Finland. But we fit here perfectly and it is so sweet to live small. I can’t even imagine how much more american small (twice our squarefeet) would need maintaining. Reading posts like this helps me to stay put and enjoy the benefits of a smaller home.
My husband and I bought our first home together two years ago at the age of 30. We had been married for six years at that point with a three year old. We saved up enough money to buy the $520k house with cash and spent another $70k to renovate it. I love our house but my only regret is the size, at 3700 sq ft not including the basement it’s a lot of space for the three of us. It doesn’t matter what you can afford (we worked corporate jobs for five year to save up for it), what matters is what you need. As more time goes by, I realize we’ll be better off if we sell the place and invest the money elsewhere. Less house equals more after all!