Four Reasons To Downsize
Parade Magazine, May 21st, 2006
The average size of a house in the U.S. increased from 1,905 square feet in 1987
to 2,450 in 2005. Still, some home buyers—young families as well as
empty-nesters and retirees—are deciding that bigger isn’t always better. Here’s
why four families started thinking smaller:
Less Financial Stress
“We realized that our house was consuming us,” says Gene Sloan of
Moorestown, N.J. “My wife, Nicole, was coming home late from work and never
seeing the kids. And for what? A guest room we never used and a massive
backyard?” The Sloans sold their five-bedroom, three-story Victorian for
$765,000—twice what they paid for it. Without the expense of their “monster
mortgage,” Nicole can afford to work fewer hours. The couple and their three
young daughters now live in a three-bedroom, one-story 1950s house just four
blocks from their old place. “Nicole and I are 37, and we have no mortgage,”
Gene says with relief. “We have a house at no cost for the rest of our
lives.”
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