An MD I know has a ~10,000sqft house in the NY/Chi/LA suburbs. He has half of it furnished to the bare bones. He has his wife and just a few kids, so he definitely does not utilize his whole home. He doesn't really even host things either.
Just curious, is this something you'd do if you could afford it? Or would you rather have a house that matches your actual space needs?
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If I had a large space I’d definitely have a cleaning crew.
Definitely not, it would just seem wasted to me. My ideal house is probably like 2,500 SF. Enough room to spread out but not so big you need full time staff to keep it clean. My goal would be a nice house in the burbs and a beach house that's like 2k SF. I've been designing my dream beach house, basically three wings (left wing is master suite, mechanical space, laundry, center is living/kitchen with nice deck and outdoor kitchen beach-side, right is 4 beds 2 baths) to maximize living space and togetherness. The goal would be to host friends and family all summer. I honestly have thought more about the beach house than a primary residence, I don't care too much about that as long as it has a nice kitchen and good insulation/cross-ventilation.
I think my ideal is 4,000 sqft, but that would not be in a high cost area. I would want a few kids plus some extra space I suppose. Plus from just how I grew up, I'd want everyone in my family to have a separate bathroom
I'm the exact opposite, having to share a bathroom with your family builds character!
What program/app/website are you using to design your dream beach house? Or are you just writing things down?
I use SketchUp, but I really should be using AutoCAD. SketchUp is great for quickly putting volumes together but is terrible for designing with dimensions.
No. I just want a 2 bedroom condo (with my hypothetical wife) for just $500k
Same. More than that and I feel alone or tedious to work/roam around. Minimalism and modernity really is the best. Baroque and mansions are only good if you have maids butlers (or slaves/peasant) back in the day to talk to - a book about interview of a French aristocrat I forgot the name
I reliably want a roof over my head, food on the table, have money to travel often, and a girl who loves me and wants to suck my dick. That's all I need to be content in this world.
Look at sq. ft. / person in the 1950s to the present. Average # of people per household goes down and square footage goes way up. It’s folly, and so is the non-xericultured lawn out in Las Vegas and Tucson. So much waste. That’s not how I want to live.
I want a decent amount of space but not so huge that I don't know what to do with it. Enough so I can have people over, friends and family from out of town can spend a weekend and have their privacy but not a giga mansion or anything over 7000 sq/ft. I do, however, want a large garage. Enough for 10+ cars and room enough to work on them. Plus maybe a loft in their as well to hang out and look at all my cars from above.
I think you're talkin about a hangar there buddy.
Yeah lol. Idk what he's talking about, but he's not gonna get a friends and family house for under 7k that can also accommodate a workshop for 10 cars.
At the local airfield where I grew up, many people would buy a hangar and build a “house” on the inside. It’s a pretty sick setup considering you can go out the front door of your house and it’s so private with the gate down, or if it’s nice you can open up the hangar door and it’s similar to a normal house. A good chunk of the people that lived there didn’t even own or fly planes.
My place is 3000 sqft and two of my rooms are still empty. I never really understood mega mansions outside of the fact you want to show off. Honestly don't see more need unless I plan on having a basket of kids.
If it weren't for the the fact that I'd have to raise them as infants, a basket of kids sounds nice.
Surprised by the answers here honestly- grew up upper-middle/upper class (rich but not disgustingly rich) in a house that was ~4.5k sqft and I’d have a hard time living somewhere smaller than that with kids.
If you want to have 2+ kids with their own rooms/bathrooms, some common areas, an office (both my parents work so need 2x offices), a guest room, etc, it’s hard to have a smaller house. During COVID, I stayed with a friend for a week who had other siblings and parents all doing WFH in a ~3k sqft house and it was kind of a pain- everyone hears each other screaming on calls, showers always occupied, impossible to ever get alone time. If you have the means, why not give yourself (and your future teenage kids) some space?
I agree the 10k sqft range is insane, but my goal is something in the 5k range
I think that logic only applies if people are working from home. My family consists of doctors. Nobody is working from home. The house is sitting empty throughout the day. However, I can see it being an issue with husband/wife/kids all at home. Covid changed things up a bit. However, if you have a traditional family of 4, where both parents work outside and kids go to school. I have a hard time believing you need 5k sqft and more than 5 bedrooms.
Truth is, you get used to the size you have. Have lived in 5k sqft houses with friends who even had a shitton of people over and it still felt huge/empty to me, as someone who grew up in a 1.6k sqft house.
Anonymous MonkeyAn MD I know has a ~10,000sqft house in the NY/Chi/LA suburbs. He has half of it furnished to the bare bones. He has his wife and just a few kids, so he definitely does not utilize his whole home. He doesn't really even host things either. Just curious, is this something you'd do if you could afford it? Or would you rather have a house that matches your actual space needs?
You work in finance and you are asking this question? Strange, yes, I would buy several large houses, all do do with my net worth growth.
No, it just creates more work. TBH, I really love renting b/c everything is done for you and you can minimize your stress load a lot. My fiance insisted we buy a place though and deals with all the BS so I guess that's ok. Not going to lie, absolutely loved being able to email them and get my lightbulbs replaced lol
I would like to have so much money to buy. But I would choose a small house
I'd say people buy big houses for 3 basic reasons:
1. Status symbol/to show off/keep up with the Jones
People like to be flashy. Sometimes its hard to be the one in the office on a "discount" home, as they say. Basically this was the premise when operation varsity blues found Aunt Becky was spending like $500K to get her kid into USC.
2. They grew up in a big house, but need something bigger
I see people doing this because they don't want to downsize, or have less than they have when they grew up. I know people whose parents did really well (law firm/accounting firm partners) who had rather big homes, but they themselves ended up being teachers (nothing wrong with that, just prob less pay), but felt they needed the same size home and amenities as their parents.
3. They think they need it/have some random thing they need it for.
I remember I watched one of those HGTV shows, and the couple buying the house, the lady was adamant that the kitchen had an island that could fit 20 people around. You throwing a party every day/weekend, or maybe you through a 4th of July party every three years? Sometimes people make dumb decisions when purchasing houses for one off reasons that happen every three years. People will buy homes with multiple guess rooms so everyone can have a room on Christmas when they host it in a rotation once every 4 years.
^^^This. When my wife and I bought a house, we had this same discussion. She said we'll need an extra two rooms for XYZ event or for when all the relatives come over, which is most likely like once every 3-4 years. I explained to her that would cost us an additional $200-$300k. It would be more feasible for me to pay for all of my relatives hotel rooms when they are in town for my entire life then it would be to spend that type of money. In addition extra sqft thats wasted actually costs more money because it means it takes your house longer to cool/heat, which impacts your utility bills.
I feel you.
To me this is one of one of those things thats just logic vs non-logical. I've had this conversation with many people/family members, and its always met with something liken to "yea, but if they stay in hotels we can't all wake up and have breakfast together without it being an 'ordeal' "...$300k big amount to not have an ordeal.
I know you can't exactly chop parts off of a house, but sometimes it gets a bit extreme.
My parents live in a village with big Victorian houses on sale for 150-400k. Not like mega mansions but still pretty huge. In fact, sea captains used to own them many years ago, my parents house was home to a father and son who were both lost at sea.
While it may seem like a bargain, due to the obsolete insulation they cost a fortune to heat or cool!
If you can get a big Victorian with good bones for under $300k fucking do it and just drop another $150k on the reno.
Things like this are capital banks. For someone in that kind of earnings space there are a very few things you can do to take advantage of tax optimization. Buying insanely expensive houses just so happens to be one of the best possible tax structuring plays for ultra high salary earners. They can't structure their incomes through companies so they need to find something that grows in value and has tax advantages.
don't you need to rent it out to claim depreciation expense on your taxes?
For depreciation, yes. But, you can still get mortgage interest deductions.
About 4k sqft on 2-3 acres of wooded land would be perfect. 3 bedrooms, one for me and wife, one for the kid, and one for guests. Large common area and lots of windows, if not an entirely glass exterior. And most importantly, a dedicated home gym. The one thing that gets understated with large houses is how much the cost to furnish is. Like it doesn't make sense to me to buy a nice $10k couch for the living room and then leave the guest bedroom barely furnished with a twin Ikea bed because you can't afford the true cost of the house you're living in.
I'd rather have a 2 bedroom house on a large piece of land than a 5+ bedroom house on a smaller lot.
Quality > quantity, I'd drop 8 figures on a penthouse thats around 2-3000 sqft as opposed to some 25000 sqft house in buttfuck nowhere
My house is a townhome about ~15 mins from downtown, ~3200 square feet. I think I'll be here for ~7 years before I move to something closer to 5000. Live with my wife and one kid and plan to have at least one more. So need at least a 4 bedroom house (1 guest room) with 4.5 bathrooms (no one shares a bathroom), and a game room/theater room (can be both or can be two distinct rooms), and an office. Importantly, need a very nice backyard patio area potentially with a pool - this is where a lot of hosting is done. Current house is 3 bed/3.5 bath with a game room and no backyard - does have a very small rooftop patio where my grill is though.
corporate finance pays that much, interesting
Depends on where you live. And which company you have equities in. Oh, and you didn't even consider my wife's income. Interesting.
must be Chi. no way anybody can afford that much land in NYC/LA unless they're a famous athlete or actor.
to answer your question, yeah, definitely I'd take a massive house if somebody gave it to me, however I wouldn't buy it myself unless I'm a billionaire, cause there are better things to spend money on, and life is too short to spend it all working to save up for a mansion.
Do you have any idea how much MDs make?
probably several million USD per year. which is enough for a nice apartment in Manhattan or a good house in LA, but not a 10,000 sf mansion.
Ok yeah you’re right it is Chicagoland, but I’m sure an MD could afford a similar house in the Valley or Connecticut
I have always followed the following equation.
MINIMUM 600 sqft per person reduced by 5 sqft per acre and 20 sqft per indoor and 50 for outdoor pets
MAXIMUM of 900 sqft per person reduced by 1 sqft per acre
Farms and ranches excluded.
Family of 7. We live in 4500 sqft including finished basement on an acre. Plenty of room, but not too much to clean.
Buddy of mine lives in 12000 sqft. He says it is way too big, but he rarely sees his wife and children...so thats a huge plus.
What if you're worth $200mn? $800mn? At what point do you say fuck it I'll get the stupid big house?
Please say “$200mm” or “$200M” - we don’t do “mn” here.
What about the British "$200m"? I'm not British but I read The Economist and think it looks better haha.
Haha. Biggest giveaway of my lack of real wall st experience. What about MM?
Having grown up an only child in a 4200sf home, I’d say quality is really most important. I don’t think I’d ever want any home I own to be bigger than 6k sf. It just becomes excessive. The thing that is kind of mind blowing is just how big many properties are. Why do you really need 10k sf?! Lol
Grew up in LES, so find that I really don't need much space for a primary residence. I am fine with a barebones 1 bedroom with a sectional, coffee table, tv and a dining set along with the typical bedroom. I would much rather spend that money on travel/a beach house in Florida or something like that.
The biggest perks to my future dream home:
- home gym
- lap pool
Just think of how blazed you can get to hit up the home gym and lap pool.
small house, big yard, quiet street. - And a hot tub.
Optimal house size is highly dependent on density of the surrounding area. If you are in an urban area you will do a lot of things outside of the home.
You could do Manhattan at 1500-2000 sq ft, Chicago / Boston / DC at 2500-3000 with a family. 3000+ is the sweet spot in the latter cities tho as this is typical a solid four bedroom at that size. Again this is for families.
2500 would be a bit small for any suburban area if you had a decently well paying job IMO. I would move before raising a family in a 2500 square foot suburban home. This is very typical for many working and lower middle class families however and would bet this is close to the modal family home in the US.
10,000 is massive and probably overkill as you will not use much of the space. Superfluous house space has negative value as you pay property tax on something you don’t actually use.
The feel of house size is non linear as well, with something of a j curve at the short end and diminishing returns at the long end. So a 1500 square foot home will feel more than 2x larger than a 750 square foot home. But as you get bigger there is no difference between a 10k home and 8k home.
If you can afford it, why not get something massive?
My parents were successful and retired to Florida, ended up selling their house (expensive suburb near big city) for a lot and ended up buying a huge place in Florida.
It’s around 8k sqft and has pool, gym, movie theater, golf simulator, full bar, 8 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, etc. Its insane and obviously completely excessive, but they both worked hard for a long time, and this brings them a lot of joy. If you can afford that much house, you can afford cleaners, landscapers, etc to take care of it, so it’s not any additional effort on them.
Being able to invite 12 friends to come with me on a random weekend, or inviting my 30 person extended family to Christmas are awesome. My parents host parties with 100+ people. These things just aren’t possible in a 4k sqft house.
Is it necessary? Not at all, but if have money to blow I don’t understand why you wouldn’t ball out on a house. There’s nothing else you’ll own that you’ll use more than a house, and I think splurging on a house makes more sense than buying a 500k car or something.
And where do you live ?
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