All of us dream of owning a house, a place to return to and unwind from the day’s work. Now, when you think of a house, generally a spacious, mammoth structure comes to mind. Equipped with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a guest room, entertainment room and a garage by the side. What we fail to see is the huge mortgage, the high energy bills, laborious cleaning and last of all, a major environmental impact that comes with it. Recently a lot of families have realized these shortcomings and are opting for smaller houses. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to own a big house, there are certain benefits that smaller houses bring that the big structures simply cannot compete with. To make our case, we are listing top 10 reasons, why you should opt for small houses.
- Less Expensive: It goes without saying, the smaller the place, the bigger the savings. Small houses come with lower expenses in all aspects of home maintenance. Lower power bills, lower insurance, lower taxes, lower heating and cooling bills and lastly, if you are renting a house, low residential security deposit. This blog post further elaborates the savings that come with a smaller house.
- Home Security System: You put your sweat and blood and sometimes tears into your new home, it is but natural you would want to secure it with the best residential security there is. Now the benefit of smaller houses is that you don’t have to splurge on security, as the area to cover your bases is small hence the total cost of installing a home security system reduces automatically. There are key things you should remember while going for a home security system, this article sheds further light on this topic.
- Lower Carbon Footprint: We all know our planet is in dire need of conservation of its precious resources. Also, pollution is on a rise and so is global warming. In such circumstances, a smaller house reduces your carbon footprint significantly. Small houses consume less energy. When it comes to architectural expenses, lesser raw resources go into building it; hence it great for your ecological footprint!
- Less Cleaning and Maintenance Required: Smaller houses require less cleaning effort and in turn less maintenance. Since space is smaller you have smaller area-base to cover. Seasonal maintenance practices such as roof cleaning, gutter cleaning, checking insulation, weatherproofing all consume lesser time. If you employ gutter cleaning services or professional interior and exterior cleaners, the cost is lowered as they charge you based on time and the area they have to cover. Since the space is smaller, so is the bill. This article explores ways to clean and maintain smaller spaces.
- Up and coming neighbourhoods: Most densely populated cities have ‘hot’ neighbourhoods with smaller row houses, so as to accommodate its growing number of residents. Smaller houses eliminate certain costs such as – laundry room, pantry and gym room as these amenities are easily available in the form of public laundry rooms, corner markets and gyms just a few blocks away if centrally located. This can be a major plus in saving money as well as space.
- Remodelling, Repairs and Decorating Costs: As smaller houses have limited space, so does the opportunity for decorating, remodelling and repair costs. The more rooms you have the larger the expensive in doing them up. Smaller houses have lesser room hence require lesser furniture, paint, home décor items, etc. This way you end up saving a lot more money than you would be doing up a big house. This article explores best ways to decorate and make the most of smaller spaces.There is one more by Country Living on how to maximise space in smaller living quarters.
- Minimalism: Smaller house gives you the chance to declutter. Small spaces force you to take in only the essentials hence giving up the excess. In a consumerism driven society, this can be a boon when it comes to mental health. Also, leading a minimalistic lifestyle by default comes with lower living costs as your utility and consumption of energy and resources goes down.
- Encourages Family Bonding: Since the family is forced to use smaller space, the social interaction between members increases. Close quarters present an opportunity for more quality time.
- Lesser Debt and Risk: If you go online and search for ‘New House Calculator’, a dozen of links will show up. These help you calculate the percent of mortgage one should pay on a house. It is calculated based on your annual income, savings, current debt and current mortgage. Most sites will advise you to spend 28% of your net income on monthly mortgage instalments. But purchasing a smaller house can bring that percent down to as low as 15%, this significantly frees up your assets, which can be used for the education of your kids, travel and other important everyday expenses. Bankrate and Zillow help you calculate how much house can you afford.
- Lower Property Tax: Smaller houses come with lower property tax. For instance, in New Zealand, one would end up paying around $508 as property tax on a large house per quarter, whereas a smaller house will bring down the amount to around $380 per quarter. This gives you leeway to invest that sum in repairs or other household expenses.
As you can see, small houses come with a host of benefits, apart from personal gain, they have a significant impact on the environment. They give you more leeway to invest in other avenues such as travel, education etc. It also allows for more freedom and better familial bonding. A house is more than just a brick and mortar structure, it is where you spend most of your time, resources and energy. A smaller house lowers usage of all three. Going for a smaller house depends on a lot of factors– income, the willingness of the family members, creativity and perseverance. Once all these factors are aligned opting for a smaller house is definitely worth it. It can be a liberating experience not only financially, but also mentally.
