Big ass houses

[vraiblonde]

I remember when I dreamed of a big ass house, and then what a PITA it was when I finally got a BA house. Now I live in a park model home, everything I need and nothing I don't. I feel safe here because there are no floors (or even rooms) that anyone could be and I wouldn't know it. After the break-in I had like 15 years ago I'm still PTSDing about parts of my home being unsupervised.

Do you have a BA house? And do you still love it or do you long to downsize?

 

[ontheriver]

I remember when I dreamed of a big ass house, and then what a PITA it was when I finally got a BA house. Now I live in a park model home, everything I need and nothing I don't. I feel safe here because there are no floors (or even rooms) that anyone could be and I wouldn't know it. After the break-in I had like 15 years ago I'm still PTSDing about parts of my home being unsupervised.

Do you have a BA house? And do you still love it or do you long to downsize?

I have a small house. I had a BA house (my late husband and I built it because this small house wouldn't fit the kids). I gave it to my daughter.
I happily moved home. No regrets.

 

[SamSpade]

My house is BA - biggest house I’ve ever lived in - I think. My parents had a few houses I lived in where there were two floors and a finished basement.

But the property is huge. No question. After twenty years there’s still parts of it I’ve never seen, at least not up close.

I hope - my next home is my last, when I finally retire. But it will be a hard sell for it to be small.

My BIL has a magnificent one story home in a beautiful neighborhood. It’s around 2200 sq ft, has skylights almost everywhere. It is WELL designed. For example, it has a powder room which is also the laundry room, near the family room and kitchen. The yard is small but has a huge deck and lots of privacy. The front yard is small but outstandingly manicured. Three beds - but two are small guest rooms, huge master. Bay window above the kitchen sink. A small formal dining room and small formal living room.

I asked him if he could adopt me so I could inherit it.

I love that house. My big concern about retirement in a new place is - I don’t know the areas. Ask me where I would live in MARYLAND and I can tell you, I don’t care what it says on PAPER - some of these burbs are shtholes - there’s a reason there are bargains.

BUT - no I don’t want another BA. But probably a minimum of 2000 sq ft.

 

[StadEMS3]

I have a BA 6,500sqft one story house to myself. My mom does snow bird most of the year from Cape Cod to a downstairs full 3 bedroom apartment. I've been in the house for 17yrs and do plan to downsize and leave MD in 3-4yrs for TX. It's a LOT of house, but I considered it an investment as I got it for a steal price. Original owner got himself into trouble with the law and unloaded it before going into foreclosure. It has an attached oversized 3 car garage so I can work on my cars and it's not in some crowded subdivision so I can play Rock Band as loud as I want, lol.

 

[vraiblonde]

My big concern about retirement in a new place is - I don’t know the areas. Ask me where I would live in MARYLAND and I can tell you, I don’t care what it says on PAPER - some of these burbs are shtholes - there’s a reason there are bargains.

You have to actually visit anywhere you think you might want to live. Usually when people decide to relocate they have a destination in mind because they've spent time there and loved it or they have relatives there or they've been offered a job.

 

[LJ1999]

We moved into a BA house about 8 years ago. After losing both of my parents and my husbands father, we knew we would become the house that family gathered. I wanted to make sure that my sister always had her own room, a room for my niece and a separate guest room.
I love having a larger house. I have actual storage for everything and it is actually a lot easier to keep clean, since things are put away. We plan to move in about 10 years, and the goal is to downsize, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

 

[vraiblonde]

so I can play Rock Band as loud as I want

You do have a BA house. When you sell it you'll be set for retirement.

 

[Bobwhite]

I have 1214 square feet in an apartment building condominium. I couldn't be happier.

 

[BadGirl]

I have a BA house, and for anyone desiring a BA house, remember this: the more room/space you have, the more time and energy it takes to keep it clean.

I have a guest room, a basement family room, and two offices that rarely ever gets used. One office had turned in to the equivalent of a "junk drawer", and it took me two days to get it cleaned up and functional again. Even though the rooms are used infrequently, they still get dusty and requires tidying up. It's more work than I want to put in to it.

I can't wait to downsize to my RV. I can easily manage that.

 

[SamSpade]

You have to actually visit anywhere you think you might want to live. Usually when people decide to relocate they have a destination in mind because they've spent time there and loved it or they have relatives there or they've been offered a job.

We do plan to do that, although the next step wife wants to do is have the family vacation near where we want to go.

But the thing is - there's areas right here in Maryland that if I just drove through it and hung out a while - I wouldn't realize the place is a crim ridden crap junction. My parents live in a place in Rockvill where they were just two doors down from a meth house. My sister lived a very nice little place near Wheaton Plaza - which is a festering pile of crap - NOW. My best friend used to live in Upper Marlboro - in a neighborhood where at first blush you'd think oh how nice, how quaint - until you find the drug houses all boarded up, the kids stealing your stuff, the neighbor dog KILLING your dog - and so on. What you need - are opinions from residents. I live in Hollywood - in a very nice area. There's parts of this town I would never want to live.

So even a visit won't be enough.

I think the biggest challenge will be, making friends. My wife is usually really good at that - me, I've grown worse over time. I'm always a very friendly person, but not easy to make friends WITH. So - I don't know - we may move to where we still have friends around. I'm beginning to relinquish my red flag/no go's because - can't have everything.

 

[vraiblonde]

But the thing is - there's areas right here in Maryland that if I just drove through it and hung out a while - I wouldn't realize the place is a crim ridden crap junction. My parents live in a place in Rockvill where they were just two doors down from a meth house. My sister lived a very nice little place near Wheaton Plaza - which is a festering pile of crap - NOW. My best friend used to live in Upper Marlboro - in a neighborhood where at first blush you'd think oh how nice, how quaint - until you find the drug houses all boarded up, the kids stealing your stuff, the neighbor dog KILLING your dog - and so on. What you need - are opinions from residents. I live in Hollywood - in a very nice area. There's parts of this town I would never want to live.

I'm telling you, no blue cities and no blue states. A blue city in a blue state is just asking for it.

 

[Homer J]

I'd like to downsize the house and upsize the property. I don't want neighbors close by so, at least 5 acres. And, a garage or workshop large enough to have a two post lift.

 

[SamSpade]

I'm telling you, no blue cities and no blue states. A blue city in a blue state is just asking for it.

We've actually been looking at red states - they have the same problems. Just being red doesn't insulate from crime. Or horrible state management.

 

[DaSDGuy]

I completely misjudged the topic of this post - Big ass houses. I thought we were going to discuss Bernie Sanders.

 

[vraiblonde]

I completely misjudged the topic of this post - Big ass houses. I thought we were going to discuss Bernie Sanders.

No, this is about the house itself, not the giant ass who lives in it.

 

[phreddyp]

I live in the bottom floor of a 2600 square foot house might as well be a rambler, everything I need is on the 1st floor, guests have the 2nd floor to roam in. I love where I live about 500 yards to the water, walk to fishing, keeping it clean aint any problem cleaning lady cleans every three weeks! She was one of the best decisions I've ever made!

 

[TPD]

I don’t consider our house a big ass house - it’s a 2200sqft cape cod that we did the floor plan and had built to our specs. Nothing fancy and we still love it, but at some point I see us moving to a more conservative state to a smaller house.

 

[lucky_bee]

I have a BA house, and for anyone desiring a BA house, remember this: the more room/space you have, the more time and energy it takes to keep it clean.

This is exactly how I feel. If I have a BA house, it'll only happen if I can afford help to clean it. I'm in 2400 sq ft now and I think that's just about perfect for us, but I wish some of those sq ft were rearranged. I don't need a formal living room or a 4th bedroom anymore, give me more kitchen or pantry space. I don't even need an exclusive dining room, I'd rather just have an eat-in kitchen (and not just bar-stools at the counter like our current "eat in kitchen"...you can't eat there, you're in my way!) My husband had dreams of a basement rec room and I said absolutely not. I can just barely keep up cleaning 2 levels.

I'd like to downsize the house and upsize the property. I don't want neighbors close by so, at least 5 acres. And, a garage or workshop large enough to have a two post lift.

This is also how I feel. Next house would have major emphases on the outside: more acreage and privacy, outdoor living space -- room for a nice patio/deck to include many seating options and a small dining space and grills, and space for a similar workshop for my husband. All I want on the inside is a decent kitchen with a walk-in pantry and somewhere I can create a little reading nook. I have dreams of downsizing to something with land like this. But with this 2.5X% rate, I might hafta die in this house

 

[stgislander]

Of the house plans the wife and I are looking at, I was perfectly satisfied with around 1600 sq ft. She wants something closer to 2000 sq ft. The difference primarily a third bedroom.

 

[black dog]

We do plan to do that, although the next step wife wants to do is have the family vacation near where we want to go.

But the thing is - there's areas right here in Maryland that if I just drove through it and hung out a while - I wouldn't realize the place is a crim ridden crap junction. My parents live in a place in Rockvill where they were just two doors down from a meth house. My sister lived a very nice little place near Wheaton Plaza - which is a festering pile of crap - NOW. My best friend used to live in Upper Marlboro - in a neighborhood where at first blush you'd think oh how nice, how quaint - until you find the drug houses all boarded up, the kids stealing your stuff, the neighbor dog KILLING your dog - and so on. What you need - are opinions from residents. I live in Hollywood - in a very nice area. There's parts of this town I would never want to live.

So even a visit won't be enough.

I think the biggest challenge will be, making friends. My wife is usually really good at that - me, I've grown worse over time. I'm always a very friendly person, but not easy to make friends WITH. So - I don't know - we may move to where we still have friends around. I'm beginning to relinquish my red flag/no go's because - can't have everything.

As a kid that grew up in Bethesda, Rockville was a sh!thole in the 60's and 70's, I can't imagine it getting any better.
Near Wheaton Plaza?? Look into Kensington, areas like Parkwood dr
And with the years they I ran irrigation crews, the only places in PG co that I would consider, would be Glenarden, Berwyn Heights or parts of Aquasco.
Its a tough topic on where to move, I will say the smartest thing I did with moving was to leave Maryland.