What wrong with it? do you think that a first time bachelor buyer has the money to buy one bedroom 800, 700 or 600 sq ft at $500 sq ft in downtown? you should go to New York and see the size of the small units in Manhatan. That is not crazy and ridiculous, that is what the market is asking for.... blame builders and buyers for what? for building affordable and nice living spaces for first time buyers, bachelors or young couples?
Our condo was built in 1990, and it's well under 400 square feet, so condos of this size are not a new phenomenon. My wife bought it a few years before I came along and it was a great chance for her to finally stop paying rent and own her own place. Granted now it's a bit cramped for two, but we make do, and small space living keeps the condo fees low and limits any temptation to buy crap we don't need. In a few years we'll pay down the mortgage, sell to another young person looking to break into the market, and then move up to a bigger place. No big deal.
If you don't want a small condo, don't buy one! But I see no need to start "blaming" buyers and developers for encouraging small units. If all units were 800 or 900 square feet, these days that would mean that a large percentage of people couldn't afford to buy in the core; not everyone has 400-500K to spend, especially when they're younger, and renting into your 30s or 40s is downright depressing.
wow, i seem to have hit a nerve.
the main topic of this thread was the labelling of 570 SF as 2 bedrooms, where an 8 FT x 8 FT space without any closet is called a 'bedroom'; and the progressive down-sizing of SF / up-size labelling.
if one wants to buy 400 SF, that's fine; but the main problem i have is developers are getting away with calling that a '1 bedroom unit' when the same space only 5 years ago was considered a 'bachelor'.
with prices reaching $500 PSF, it's been a creative strategy by builders that has allowed them to market this as
"1 bedroom from $199,900" and
"2 bedrooms from $280,900"
it plays on a buyers' sense of value making one
think you're getting more for your money when there isn't ...
honestly, don't you think one would have more sense of pride/ownership in saying they own a 2 bedroom condo vs. 1 bedroom condo in the same 570 SF space ?!?
it's happening all over ...
the down-size labelling of women's clothing by couple of sizes to make the buyer feel better/slimmer so they will buy that item ... size 6 becomes 4
a few years ago, a bag of chips was 200g, reduced to 180g, then 150g, now 135g ... they keep the bag similar size but fill it with air.
box of tissues was 200 count, then 180, 150, now 132 ... the container is similar size but the tissues aren't packed in as much.
