[Diolla]

My house is 900 sf and it is perfect for me, after my divorce I realized I couldn't afford the upkeep/utilities on the 1600 sf house we owned when we were married so I moved here. Instead of $150- $200 a month just for heating/cooling it is $50 a month. I bought it for $34,000 ($27,000 mortgage) and my payment is $165.00 (P&I only) a month. I got a really good deal on a fixer upper owned by a nice guy. It is the crummiest house in a nice neighborhood. The move has allowed me to make some goals that would not have been possible had I stayed in the larger house and frankly I like the smaller house.

I agree that it is the layout that counts though. My house has nice sized BR closets, storage built into a windowseat, storage under the benches in the eating area, built in closet in the laundry and bathroom and a small (3x6) pantry off the back of the kitchen. Any unused space is a storage space and there are no hallways. The rooms just flow together with the bedrooms off the livingroom and the bathroom and laundry off the kitchen. It is very efficient.

I would not however like a condo, I can't stand sharing walls. BTW-so you will know houses in this neighborhood are usually much bigger 1600-2100sf and sell for $90-$100k so as you can see housing is cheaper here but not as cheap as my house. It was probably built as a 'mother in law' house for the huge house next door. Estimates on the renovations are around $15k and the 'after' appraisal is $83k. We'll see I plan on making it my last house.