Buying a home can be an exciting milestone and it’s often associated with the ‘American Dream’. Not everyone desires to become a home owner but for those who do, buying a big dream house may be seen as the end goal along with a major status symbol.
Personally, I think big houses are overrated and some people tend to bite off more than they can chew when they purchase a home that is too large for them.
If buying a huge home is on your bucket list of accomplishments, here are a few reasons why it might not be the best idea to move forward with that goal.
1. You Could Have to Take Out a Higher Mortgage
Buying a huge home instead of a smaller or standard home most likely means your mortgage will be bigger. If you have to take out a higher loan amount, the requirements could be stricter for you to meet and you could be paying on your mortgage longer.
Buying a home sounds nice, but I honestly don’t think people really consider 30-year mortgage part. Thirty years is a long time to have a house payment and even if your rate is low, you’ll still be paying quite a bit of interest if you take out a higher mortgage.
Plus, you run the risk of becoming house poor by biting off more than you can chew. Ideally, your housing expenses shouldn’t exceed 30% of your income. If you buy a huge home with a large mortgage, your house payments could dominate your budget leaving you with little room do other things with your money like save, invest, go on a vacation, etc.
2. More Repairs and Maintenance
More house, more problems. It’s no secret that owning a home means you are in charge of all the repairs and maintenance. If you buy a big home, that could mean twice the extra work to keep it up.
It can be stressful to maintain a huge home when it seems like something is always getting broken or going wrong. Repairs and remodeling aren’t cheap and you could wind up spending extra money on your home every single month.
Even if you don’t have a ton of repairs to do all the time, it may be exhausting to clean your huge home each day. Outsourcing the cleaning, landscaping, etc. can help but then you’ll have to work those extra costs into your budget.
With a smaller home, there’s a greater chance that the repairs and maintenance will be less frequent and on a smaller scale. This means you can keep more of your money for other expenses and enjoy your home without constantly having to worry about upkeep.
3. You Probably Don’t Need All That Space
The only reason why I would consider buying a huge home is if I had a big family or was thinking about growing my family by a considerable amount. Right now, my family of three doesn’t really need a 5 or 6 bedroom home.
People with huge homes who don’t really need all the space don’t get to truly enjoy their homes as much because there is just too much ground to cover. What’s the point of having a dining room when you only use it once per year? Why have a fancy breakfast bar in your kitchen when you never sit at it?
These added features that are often found in large homes are impressive no doubt, but your home is meant for you to actually live in it. it shouldn’t be something that is just for show.
With a smaller home that is more appropriate for your family size, you can truly enjoy ever inch of your space and possibly even feel closer in term of interacting with your loved ones.
4. More Pressure to Earn More Money
Everyone likes extra money, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to earn more money. However, the constant pressure to earn more money in order to keep up with your lifestyle or else can really weigh you down.
If you spend all your time working and trying to earn extra money to afford your huge house, you won’t have any time to enjoy it or even enjoy life for that matter.
That’s why there are so many stories out there of people who drop everything, sell their home and move into a tiny house or buy an RV and live on the road.
These people are tired of dealing with the pressure to earn more money and have enough to keep up with the demands of their lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, earning more money is a good thing. But it feels better when you’re doing it by choice and not out of necessity.
Desiring More Freedom
If you desire more freedom and flexibility in your life, you may want to decide against buying a huge house. If your dream house is going to stress you out and drain your finances, that doesn’t really sound like a dream.
Owning a home is just one aspect of your life and shouldn’t dominate the other areas you value like saving money, spending time with your family, and spending money on activities you love.
Buying too much house can threaten all your other values and leave you broke and frustrated.
If you are interested in becoming a homeowner someday, focus on only buying what you can truly afford and handle and don’t make the mistake of trying to keep up with the Jonses of viewing your home as a status symbol.
Have you ever considering buying a big home over a smaller home? What’s your perference?
Chonce is a freelance writer who’s obsessed with frugality and passionate about helping others increase their savings rate, eliminate debt, and work toward financial stability. She chronicles her journey to becoming debt-free on her blog, mydebtepiphany.com.
