Browse Forums Building A New House Re: 2 people living in a big house 21Aug 12, 2009 1:46 am Hi, just so I can have some perspective on how big your houses are, does anyone know the conversion equation? Im in WA & have never heard of a house being refered to as 40sq or 50sq etc. Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! Re: 2 people living in a big house 22Aug 12, 2009 6:40 am misscrow Hi, just so I can have some perspective on how big your houses are, does anyone know the conversion equation? Im in WA & have never heard of a house being refered to as 40sq or 50sq etc. Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! i know! this square thing is an eastern states phenomenon - having grown up in WA and spent a heap of time looking at display homes (gee thanks, mum and dad) i thought i must have gone mad when I got over here and everyone started talking about a house having a certain, quite low, number of 'squares'. this link explains it pretty well - http://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/general-property/4323082 Board newbie moving into a new house in South Morang - shiny! (bought off the plan) Re: 2 people living in a big house 23Aug 12, 2009 8:46 am misscrow Hi, just so I can have some perspective on how big your houses are, does anyone know the conversion equation? Im in WA & have never heard of a house being refered to as 40sq or 50sq etc. Multiply by 9.29... ie 25sq home = about 234 m2 approx misscrow Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! Actually, from an environmental perspective I disagree. I am certainly not jealous of people who can afford big houses - just as I'm not jealous about people that can afford to drive Hum Vee's.... I could have afforded a larger house than what I purchased, but didn't consider it 'ecologically wise' to do so. Bigger homes cost more (in terms of environmental and financial costs) to heat, cool, require more upkeep etc etc... The flow on effects can have fairly detrimental consequences on the environment. Re: 2 people living in a big house 24Aug 12, 2009 9:05 am misscrow Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! Quote: Actually, from an environmental perspective I disagree. I am certainly not jealous of people who can afford big houses - just as I'm not jealous about people that can afford to drive Hum Vee's.... I could have afforded a larger house than what I purchased, but didn't consider it 'ecologically wise' to do so. Bigger homes cost more (in terms of environmental and financial costs) to heat, cool, require more upkeep etc etc... The flow on effects can have fairly detrimental consequences on the environment. Do you ride a push bike to work? Wash in a river? have a wind farm in your back yard? As someone in this thread mentioned, if everything was about having a house that was environmentally friendly then we'd all be living in mud huts built into the side of a mountain. Our house thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=18335 Re: 2 people living in a big house 25Aug 12, 2009 10:39 am Quote: Do you ride a push bike to work? Quote: just as I'm not jealous about people that can afford to drive Hum Vee's.... Me neither but those Ford F350's get me every time! Ahh for the lotto life Thanks for the link, puts ours at about 32sq so not that big really. Big enough for 2 people & 2 cats, would have loved bigger but alas still waiting on those magic numbers. Re: 2 people living in a big house 26Aug 12, 2009 10:51 am GSK Do you ride a push bike to work? Wash in a river? have a wind farm in your back yard? I catch public transport. The water from showers, toilets and clothes washing is recycled in my home I use renewable energy sources such as solar power where possible - and our energy provider invests in %100 renewable energy sources. But I needn't feel required to justify myself to you. I am merely pointing out that many people do not even consider the implications of owning such a big house. GSK As someone in this thread mentioned, if everything was about having a house that was environmentally friendly then we'd all be living in mud huts built into the side of a mountain. I supposed you could broadly define people's sense of environmental obligation in 3 categories: 1. People that don't give a crap -making excuses such as 'There's people out there worse than me'. 2. People that care about the environment (as shown by their actions) but make a compromise on certain things. 3. People who take it to the extreme - bathing in rivers, having wind farms in their backyard and living in mud huts (well probably not those things, but since you framed it in such a stereotypical light, I thought I'd do the same). Re: 2 people living in a big house 27Aug 12, 2009 10:55 am personally I am going to go to town on all the enviromental stuff solar power/ water heating... recycled water system and rain water tanks aswell as the house... Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: 2 people living in a big house 28Aug 12, 2009 12:31 pm Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! Am getting rather sick of the assumption on this forum that everyone who builds a smaller house is jealous of those who build a McMansion we could have easily afforded a much larger house if we wanted to but chose not to build rooms we would not use, cant see the point of unused areas. Some people dont have a choice to build big coz it costs more $$$, but if a house is large, it means that you could have built smaller but chose bigger So, you are saying people should build big just because they can??? Im with you jjuice - and yes, I do try to live simply and not spend wastefully in life in general as well Re: 2 people living in a big house 29Aug 12, 2009 12:45 pm Helyn Theres nothing wrong with having a McMansion if you can afford it. Jealousy's a curse! Am getting rather sick of the assumption on this forum that everyone who builds a smaller house is jealous of those who build a McMansion we could have easily afforded a much larger house if we wanted to but chose not to build rooms we would not use, cant see the point of unused areas. Some people dont have a choice to build big coz it costs more $$$, but if a house is large, it means that you could have built smaller but chose bigger So, you are saying people should build big just because they can??? Im with you jjuice - and yes, I do try to live simply and not spend wastefully in life in general as well +1 to that Helyn!! I'm kind of over how people assume I am jealous of them because they build a massive house - I'm not!! I could have afforded to build a massive house but I chose not to as, for me, it's not what I want - each to their own! (btw it's not just people on here) This is pretty much what my last post said before it was deleted as someone reported it for being off topic - I wonder how long until this one is too (the other one was nicer too). As for cleaning my house, the spare bedrooms, bathroom, toilet and laundry will all have their doors closed to reduce the heating and cooling costs and I will probably end up dusting/vacuuming them every month or two - certainly not as often as the main area's of the house 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: 2 people living in a big house 30Aug 12, 2009 1:00 pm Our house is 30sq (I think about medium size!) and is plenty big enough for us (2 adults & 2 small children). We chose not to build bigger because we place more value on an outdoor / back yard area for our children, than more indoor room. If we had a bigger block I think we perhaps would have built a bit bigger, but I can't see us having built to more than 35 squares. Having said that if and when we build again we may choose to go bigger again! "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: 2 people living in a big house 31Aug 12, 2009 5:42 pm Hubby and I are building a 36sq house. We are currently living in a tiny 3 bedroom unit so cannot wait to not be living on top on one another. We plan to have kids in the next year or so which means the rooms will be filled up quickly. We have been renting for 6 years and in that time paid for our wedding and the deposit for our house so this was a long time coming for us. We have had to move from rentals 3 times in the last 3 years so part of the reason of choosing a large house was that we hope this will be the only house we will live in until the kids are grown up so we thought why not lets go big and go for the dreamhouse off the bat (mind you it is not so big once you put 3 kids in there). Just reading on what some people are saying above, I personally am sick of having to justify to friends as to why we have chosen to build a big house. At the end of the day it is no one's business what you have chosen to spend on a house and what size you have chosen to build. I have friends who can easily afford to build large houses and did so and I also have friends who can easily afford to build large houses but they have chosen smaller houses in favour of either sticking to a budget, or wanting a large backyard, or not wanting a larger mortgage as they like to travel 10 times a year etc. This is their choice and should be respected. I may not agree with some of their decisions but it is not my life so not my business. In keeping of me saying that, i don't judge these people's decisions so I wish they would not judge ours. It is none of their business if they think the house is too big for us or if they think we have paid too much. They are not the ones who have to live there and pay it off so butt out!! I don't believe any of my friends read these forums as they have all been in their houses for some time but sorry had to vent - saw an opening! Building Sandhurst 36 Porter Davis Currently Fixing Re: 2 people living in a big house 32Aug 12, 2009 7:35 pm chickad23 Hubby and I are building a 36sq house. We are currently living in a tiny 3 bedroom unit so cannot wait to not be living on top on one another. We plan to have kids in the next year or so which means the rooms will be filled up quickly. We have been renting for 6 years and in that time paid for our wedding and the deposit for our house so this was a long time coming for us. We have had to move from rentals 3 times in the last 3 years so part of the reason of choosing a large house was that we hope this will be the only house we will live in until the kids are grown up so we thought why not lets go big and go for the dreamhouse off the bat (mind you it is not so big once you put 3 kids in there). Just reading on what some people are saying above, I personally am sick of having to justify to friends as to why we have chosen to build a big house. At the end of the day it is no one's business what you have chosen to spend on a house and what size you have chosen to build. I have friends who can easily afford to build large houses and did so and I also have friends who can easily afford to build large houses but they have chosen smaller houses in favour of either sticking to a budget, or wanting a large backyard, or not wanting a larger mortgage as they like to travel 10 times a year etc. This is their choice and should be respected. I may not agree with some of their decisions but it is not my life so not my business. In keeping of me saying that, i don't judge these people's decisions so I wish they would not judge ours. It is none of their business if they think the house is too big for us or if they think we have paid too much. They are not the ones who have to live there and pay it off so butt out!! I don't believe any of my friends read these forums as they have all been in their houses for some time but sorry had to vent - saw an opening! Well said It is all about choices. I know girls who live on $20 a week (for food) so they could afford a $3,000 handbag. Not my cup of tea but this is their choice, their money and they can spend it however they choose to. Back to the topic, I never see/hear people saying "wow, your house is so small, how are you going to live in such a small place ". People should be able to spend they money how they wish without being judged, lectured and questioned. Re: 2 people living in a big house 34Aug 12, 2009 8:02 pm Helyn Some people dont have a choice to build big coz it costs more $$$, but if a house is large, it means that you could have built smaller but chose bigger So, you are saying people should build big just because they can??? Are you serious? It clearly means what I said, re-read it. It has nothing to do with the statement you just wrote. It means 100% that someone who has a large house 100% had a choice to build a small one but chose large, NOT what you said....that is NOT the case for those people who are building smaller homes coz fact is, only SOME people who build smaller homes had the choice to build a larger home. Its like a person buying the most ugly Dress you have ever seen, but costing them 1million dollars....they had the choice to do that....those who chose to buy the cheaper dress may not have had the choice. But it is 100% that the one who bought the million dollar ugle one did have the choice to buy a smaller one. Confused now hahaha. My post had nothing to do with small homes and jealousy. It has to do with people saying things like why are you building such a large house, its a monstrocity etc etc. I'm not even building a large home, mine is only 28squares as you may know. DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Re: 2 people living in a big house 35Aug 12, 2009 8:04 pm Linsane and Helyn, another thing we should consider is.....do you two ever say to people 'why are you building such a large house?'. I definately dont, and I dont think you do either? Maybe the ones who do actually say, why are you building so big, are jealous? Get me? Also a 'because I can' is another sufficient answer to a silly question like that for anyone building a large home. No need to explain anything to anyone regarding size of a home! DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Re: 2 people living in a big house 37Aug 12, 2009 8:10 pm Helyn Well. yes, I was serious - it was a serious question. Thanks for clarifying your point of view. Ok cool! I thought I was clear in what I was saying, but you can always miss interpret things throught the net ofcourse. DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Re: 2 people living in a big house 38Aug 12, 2009 9:13 pm mandystoj Also a 'because I can' is another sufficient answer to a silly question like that for anyone building a large home. No need to explain anything to anyone regarding size of a home! lol..... no, that is NOT a sufficient answer. Should I consume more natural resources which can have a detrimental impact on the environment – just because I can? Is it ok to just leave all the lights on in my place – because I can? And because I can afford to pay the bill? Having the capacity to do something does not infer that it’s the right thing to do. Of course choice is a personal thing – but many people fail to see that choices affect others around them too – regardless of the fact that it was only ONE person’s choice. Like it or not, we share symbiotic relationships with each other, and the environment. Like the parent who chooses to smoke whilst pregnant. It’s the parent’s choice, but it affects the child. Like the person who bought a Range Rover. It’s their choice, but it will affect the person who’s driving a Honda Jazz if the two cars have a collision. It’s waaaay to ‘highschool’ simplistic reasoning to say ‘I can choose whatever I like – it’s my choice’. Not only that, but it’s a selfish viewpoint to take. Re: 2 people living in a big house 39Aug 12, 2009 9:34 pm We built a 36sq home for 2 people 7 years ago and everyone said why? We said because we can. Now we are building a 42 sq home and the same people are asking why? We say because we are suppose to be downsizing and like to annoy people! What ever you choose to do its YOUR choice/money/plan for the future. Someone, somewhere is always going to have a say about what you do, its just that you mostly dont hear it! Re: 2 people living in a big house 40Aug 12, 2009 9:49 pm Wife and I are currently residing in our first-built; a humble 13 square 3 bedroom. We have plans to build a 43 sq house (which raises just about everyone's eyebrows). - We need space to indulge in luxuries such as a pool table and home theatre room. - Kids are roughly 2 years away. - My parents are approaching 70 and looking to downsize. - Wife's parents are approaching 60 and looking to downsize. - We love the design. - Lots of relatives and/or friends live out of town and often need a place to crash. - We can afford to live that way. WE are the ones living in the house, WE are the ones cleaning the house, WE are the ones paying the mortgage/bills on the house - therefore WE are are the only ones who have to approve of the house. Others can feel free to have an opinion ... but we have learnt to not really care too much about what anyone else thinks. Built a Tribeca 44 with the Big M Sales Accept 15/06/09, Contract Signed 24/09/09, Site Start 23/11/09, Slab 11/12/09, Frame 12/01/10, Roof 20/01/10, Lock-up 30/03/10, Fixing 30/04/10, Handover 27/08/10. I would be wary. Is you site demilished but nothing else done? Sounds like liquidity problems to me. Our builder did the same. Got hundreds of thousands of dollars of… 2 15407 3 5594 |