The irony of the housing market

Guess you could call this "Small Spaces Part 2." Though it's more like just a thought tangent that is related, but I didn't want it to clutter up the other post.

I find it ironic, that typically when a young couple (like Nick and I) just starting out in life buy a home, we tend to go for something small at first. This type of home is often referred to as a "starter home," and (at least before the housing market crash changed things for some of us) isn't intended as a home that the couple will stay in long term as their family grows in number and size.

But small children seem to take up a lot of space; and the younger the child, the more disproportionate is the space he or she requires. But, the family somehow struggles through the first few years as their small home threatens their sanity at every turn, causing them to exclaim in exasperation, "We need more space!"

But then, by the time the couple can afford to "upsize," often the oldest children have started school, then the younger children follow; the family spends less and less time at home, and the growing children-- while not perhaps requiring less space than when they were small-- are more capable of sharing space, keeping that space tidy, and picking up on the concept of organization and space efficiency, making the small space finally begin to feel more livable.

Most families, though, will still choose (if they can) to move into a larger space. But then, after several more years, the children start to leave the home. Suddenly all that space that once seemed so necessary instead just starts to feel empty. And, in the end, you're often left with an elderly couple living alone together in a house that (except for when the kids and grandkids come to visit) is simply overkill on a day-to-day basis.

Anyhow, the irony is: when we really need the space, we can't afford it; and when we can finally afford it, we don't really need it anymore.