Thoughts on this place in MLT?

[perfectfire]

[ira s]

dls,
What you say makes sense. If you might retire in seven years and leave the Seattle area, buying a home right now could still be a risk you might not want to take, especially if you can rent for a couple of hundred dollars a month less than a mortgage payment. Do what you're comfortable with, not what you think you should be doing because of what's expected, or because you're 48 and don't own a house and isn't that a sign of weakness, or because people will talk.
Some people love owning houses. I love having a big garden and having the freedom to make whatever changes I see fit to the house. But a lot of people are perfectly happy being renters. More power to them. New York City has hundreds of thousands of middle and upper middle class life long renters.

[WestSideBilly]

Criticizing a single guy for wanting an 1100 sq ft house is silly. Nobody makes houses for single people, they're made for families. There are relatively few 2 bedroom SFH properties that haven't been turned into rentals. My places since college (excluding dorms):

2 people, ~800 sq ft 2 BR 1 BA apartment: Plenty big, but my roommate was a huge slob. Living room was only big enough for 3 or 4 people, no where to put a dinner table.

1 person, ~950 sq ft 2 BR 2 BA apartment: 2nd bathroom was mostly wasted space. 2nd bedroom was office/storage.

1 person, ~1400 sq ft 3 BR 2 BA SFH, 2 car garage: House sat for a friend. Way way too big. 3rd bedroom was completely empty. Formal dining room also empty.

1 person, 980 sq ft 3 BR 2 BA SFH, 1.5 car garage: 3rd bedroom was storage (which the rest of the house lacked). Probably about the right size for me - proper sized bedroom and office. Used the "dining room" as an extension of living room.

3 people, 2800 sq ft 4 BR, 6 BA SFH, 3 car garage: McMansion hell. I opn't think the Sq footage included the basement, and it was more like 3600 sq ft. Also had a large screen porch and a larger patio. 4th bedroom was a guest room. Sitting room and living room very rarely used, except during parties. Two offices in basement got used a lot. I think this house needed about 6 people to be properly utilized. I could go weeks at a time without seeing my housemates.

3-4 people, 1500 sq ft 3 BR, 2 BA SFH, 2 car garage: '20s Seattle home, not particularly large. Good size.

3-4 people, 1600 sq ft, 3 BR, 2.5 BA SFH, 3 car garage: Newer Seattle home, almost perfect size, except I don't have an office (which is good in some ways, forced me to clean up my crap accumulated over the last decade). Supports parties of 50+ people, abundant storage.

I agree that it's a bit wasteful for a single person to live alone in a 3 bed room house. But if you're going to live alone in a SFH, 900-1100 sq ft is probably the size of home you'll end up in. 1500-1700 for 3-4 people seems to be about right. I had some friends with large families in 2500+ sq ft homes and even then it seemed like a big waste of space.

[perfectfire]

[The Tim]

[ira s]

As if family men can't be serial killers too.

" No, Junior, don't go in there. That's daddy's private office."

[WestSideBilly]

[perfectfire]

[wreckingbull]

You could tear it town and build a 150 square foot mud hut in its place. At least Angie won't think you are a self-indulgent American pig for living in (gasp) 1100 square feet. You'd have to beat the seal pups out back though.

[Lake Hills Renter]

No single person needs 150 sq ft. Prisoners live in 6x8 cells, that should be enough for anyone.

[ira s]

You could tear it town and build a 150 square foot mud hut in its place

Too bad the mud nut wouldn't be in Ballard.. Then they could advertise it as "green" even though it would be brown ,and sustainable, and available for a limited time only for 700,000 dollars. Act Now! A mud hut in Ballard might come around only once in a lifetime. Are you going to let this opportunity pass you by?

[tomtom]

Well, la-de-frickin-da.

Single guys should be living in a van ...

... down by the river.

[The Tim]

[WestSideBilly]

[EconE]

OK...I think I get it now.

Single in 1100 sf = BAD

Breeders popping out useless eaters in 1100 sf = GOOD

The fact that Breeders of Useless Eaters have their spawn's public school educations subsidized by the "oh-so-politically-incorrect" single homeowners property taxes = PRICELESS