A couple weeks ago, I put together a brief survey to look at the places folks call home, and in particular what people think about the size of home they live in. I’ve compiled a few short points of data in graphic form, giving that information a little more life.
The majority of respondents live in single family homes, and own those homes.
The number of individuals in the home varied, and the square footage varied widely as well. Ranging from 450 square feet to just over 3000 square feet. With the average square foot per person varying between 250 square feet per person, to 2600 square feet per person.
What’s most telling, I think, about the survey is how those square footages, and square footages per person, translated into feelings about the size of ones home. In short? There was very little correlation.
The majority of individuals, about 72%, felt that their home was either just right, or even too big. This is in seeming contrast with the boom-time mindset of bigger-is-always-better. There is an unfortunate tendency in the business of real estate and home building to focus on square footage primarily, rather than quality of construction, energy efficiency, or livability.
Certainly there is a ‘bottom’ level of house size that the average consumer is comfortable with, but what my small survey seems to indicate, is that there is a lot of flexibility in that bottom. Even suggesting that the average person can be content at just about any size.
A lot of folks surveyed, haven’t even considered buying a new home in recent years.
Of those individuals, even less have considered hiring an architect to design a custom home for them.
A myriad of reasons were offered, the ‘other’ answer consisted largely of individuals who themselves were architects (selection bias I suppose) and specific individual reasons relating to income, neighborhood, etc. Immediately following that concern, was the feeling that “I don’t think I can afford to hire an architect.”
Having worked on several very small house projects, directly with a trusted builder, on a modest budget, I can say for certain that a lot more folks can afford to have an architect involved in the process than they think. I think the question really isn’t whether or not one can afford an architect, it’s whether the perceived cost / benefit makes the cost worthwhile.
Clearly there is a disconnect with the general public over just what architects do, how much we cost, and what the benefit of hiring an architect is… I, for one, am doing everything that I can to change that.
This survey brought me a lot of useful data, and I thank everyone who took the time to fill it out! I hope to do additional surveys & giveaways in the future. Any suggestions on questions, topics, or gift items are more than welcome!
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