Bigger homes offer more space and utility areas, smaller homes, on the other hand, offer more cost cutting in terms of being built and maintained. Size of home depends, principally upon pocket and inhabitant size, lifestyle and preferences.
Typically, following are the key factors that must be considered when deciding about the size of home;
What do you exactly require and how do you intend to use your home?
Pakistan is a land of hospitality. For Pakistanis guests are actually the blessings of ALLAH (God). Even if people don’t have money, they will borrow it to entertain their guests. Similarly, providing space to accommodate guests is also an essential consideration when deciding on the size of the house. One must consider the following questions when pondering over the size of house to buy;
- How many people have to reside in the home?
- Do you prefer inviting guests over?
- Do you like to arrange movie nights at home?
- How often your relatives visit to see you?
- Do you need some spaces for gardening activities?
- Think about your day-to-day life and then decide accordingly which home size suits you the best.
Think about Future Family Growth:
An ideal home is one which accommodates current family size besides having a space for future growth. Future family sizes are largely culture dependent, for Pakistan relevant factors would be, how many children do you intend to have, does anyone from the family intend to move abroad, whether your children are already married or not. In case they are married, you need more rooms to ensure privacy for everyone, do the family elders live with the family. Normally, in well-established families, with grown children and teenagers, you may require incorporating features like additional living areas and private bathrooms.
Meanwhile, expected family growth in future requires plenty of playing area, extra bathrooms, or even a nursery. Today, in many advanced areas (cities) of Pakistan, people prefer to live in a nuclear family structure rather than a joint family structure. With the passage of time, new generation has different priorities and grew up having the belief that they are supposed to be independent and would not entertain anyone’s interference in their personal lives. So, everyone needs a personal space now. In this case, you have to count current family members when you will think about home size.
Types of Family Structure:
Size of home also depends upon family structure. In joint family structures post marriage homes are usually not independent households rather the newcomers get incorporated in the existing house setup. This means more people sharing the same space. Therefore, in this case, you may require more bedrooms, extra bathrooms, and additional playing/entertainment/common-use space. Whereas, a nuclear family structure consists of parents and their children. If you have a nuclear-family setup, then there is no need for extra spaces.
Dependency on number of rooms:
In Pakistan, family members share their rooms with each other. In most cases, siblings live in one room while parents live in another. Pakistani households tend to be large with an average of six to seven persons living and eating together in a single household. Moreover, number of residents reside in one room (i-e 3.3 residents per room). Hence, on average two rooms are the requirement to facilitate a family of seven members. You just need to know about the number of family members for deciding about the number of rooms. More number of rooms require greater coverage area. Someone can estimate immediate need and future need while considering number of rooms. When you plan on growing your family in the near future, you will require additional rooms. So, number of rooms help you to calculate the required area to build a home.
Requirement for Land:
Land will be required according to the situation. Each situation will be different. If someone has children and pets they may require more parcel of land. In case you live in the urban area you may be more comfortable to purchase a townhome. Before considering how much land is required, you need to consider what your family situation currently is and how it may change in the near future. Not to mention family trends and pocket size are equally important.
Affordability:
Size of the home majorly depends on affordability. You need to consider property taxes, utilities, maintenance cost, mortgage interest rates (In case you are arranging institutional financing) and such other related costs. If you don’t consider the cost of these things, rather accurately, that may prove to be a costly mistake. House prices are normally dependent upon area of the house and the locality it is in. Given the budget constraints (in case any), some people might choose to live in a smaller house but in a good locality others might choose to live in a bigger house but give in a little on the locality. This boils down to personal preferences.
Once you have considered all these aspects, it’s time to turn your dreams into reality. For most, in Pakistan, this is a once in a lifetime thing so one needs to give a good thought before making the decision. To find the perfect home, one must consider all the above mentioned aspects.
