Author Topic: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?  (Read 10321 times)

reader2580

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Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« on: November 05, 2015, 12:24:42 PM »
I was just reading the thread about bedrooms for kids and was shocked by how many folks bought a house with more bedrooms just to have a dedicated guest room.  It just doesn't seem to very mustachian to me to have a guest room unless you have a lot of guests.  It is one thing if you have two or three bedrooms and have an extra bedroom available, but buying a larger house or even moving to a bigger house just to have a dedicated guest room seems like a lot of money to spend to have an empty room most of the time.

It seems kinda like buying a huge gas hog truck because you haul stuff twice a year.  I am pretty sure MMM would tell you to rent a truck when you need it twice a year.


zephyr911

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2015, 12:28:51 PM »
We actually have TWO guest rooms! But they're both multi-functional - each is also an office, mine is also a storage/music room, etc.
And we use them both, several times a year at least. Had both our moms over recently and it was a great time. Waking up every morning and making coffee and breakfast is 100x better than having to drive to a hotel for a pickup.
« Last Edit: November 05, 2015, 12:32:46 PM by zephyr911 »

TheAnonOne

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2015, 12:29:36 PM »
It depends if the guest room itself cost you more money than a comparable house that you were also thinking about buying at the time of sale.

It also depends on the energy efficiency of each house. Having an extra room in a house that cost the same or slightly more may not be worse off if the thing uses less energy over the course of your stay.

A larger house in a growing area may also appreciate faster, due to the density increasing in the relative area.

In most cases I would call it a wash, unless you spent more for a house that is no newer or any more energy efficient.

TVRodriguez

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2015, 12:33:04 PM »
We have a 3rd bedroom that we use as a guest room, but all our 3 kids are in one bedroom, and our house is about 1250 sq ft, so we're not really wasting space.  It's a playroom when there are no guests.  And it's a room that we carved out of a larger space.  Plus, we really like to have the family stay with us rather than rent them a hotel room or other accommodations.  More fun that way!  And we get house guests regularly.  FIL stays 2-18 weeks/year, and other family or friends come about 2-4 weeks/year.

I'd say that if you use the space, then it's not a waste.

I'd also argue that it's not a matter of the number of bedrooms but more about the square footage that you will use.  Beyonce's daughter's nursery is larger than my entire house, for example, but I don't know if they have a dedicated guest room.

JLee

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2015, 12:48:00 PM »
I had two extra bedrooms in my house. I rented them out for a combined $1100/mo (offsetting an $848.95 mortgage/taxes/insurance payment). :)

Leanthree

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2015, 12:51:34 PM »
No guest room means the in-laws never stay at our place. Less sq footage to rent and less headache.

My older brother and I are also in a competition to have the least attractive house as we semi-jokingly say our youngest brother will be moving in with one of us eventually (he is on the Van Wilder college plan). My goal is that he lives with my older brother and my older brother's goal is that he lives with me.

catccc

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2015, 12:53:43 PM »
I would say, in a word, no.  But if it's a multipurpose space- office, craft, play, etc...  that isn't quite as bad.

okits

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2015, 12:54:08 PM »
We rent in a HCOLA.  A solo guest sleeps on our couch.  Pre-baby, ILs visiting got our room and we slept on the couch & recliner (due to health challenges, nowadays we always go see them and stay in DH's childhood room.)  Parents stay with friends who are empty nesters but still in the family home, so have tons of space.

We are wanting another bedroom but to stay in the same school district.  Looks like it will add 50% to our rental costs for that one extra room.  No way will I pay that just to host guests more easily.  We'll pay for a hotel, if needed.

rockstache

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2015, 12:59:03 PM »
Beyonce's daughter's nursery is larger than my entire house, for example, but I don't know if they have a dedicated guest room.

I'm sure they have several. Not arguing your point though.

We have two bedrooms (DINKs), and I think it is just right for us. We sleep in one and the other is an office/guest room. We could get by with one, but it is also nice to have the space for when either of us needs a bit of alone time.

Tjat

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2015, 12:59:51 PM »
A mustachian guest room is an office/craft room with a bed.

backyardfeast

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2015, 01:00:42 PM »
We moved to a rural area and it was a priority for me at the time to have space where family and friends could come and stay regularly, because otherwise we wouldn't see them very much.  The plan worked well; we have a spare bedroom, bathroom and sitting room downstairs that we don't use except for storage, and we do have people staying regularly.  We even had two couples come and stay for 2 weeks from across the country, and were able to accommodate everyone in comfort.

However, within a couple of years, that extra space quickly became recognizably unnecessary.  I'd rather just have a big office with a pullout and forego the extra rooms to clean.  Although it's nice to have people come and visit, it's not a huge priority, and sometimes is a pain.  It's highlighted that while we do need some storage/workspace, 99% of our life takes place within 900-1200 sq ft, and the "pleasantness" of the guest rooms for guests is not worth it at all (for us).

ketchup

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2015, 01:15:40 PM »
My girlfriend and I have a three bedroom, one bathroom house, about 1100 square feet.  One bedroom for us, one is our office (she works from home in there often), and one is our "guest room".  It's a pretty small bedroom (with a twin bed), and when it's not in use (used for a guest about once every month or two), it's just occasional extra storage space, as our house doesn't have a basement or anything.  At the moment, it is holding some extra insulation I need to return to Home Depot, and a 10lbs bag of potatoes.  In a month, we'll be whelping a litter of puppies in there.

hops

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2015, 01:16:39 PM »
We regularly host relatives but our house is so small that the two tiny spare bedrooms are better used as offices, one with a futon and unobtrusive over-the-door towel rack for guests.

mm1970

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2015, 01:29:14 PM »
I was just reading the thread about bedrooms for kids and was shocked by how many folks bought a house with more bedrooms just to have a dedicated guest room.  It just doesn't seem to very mustachian to me to have a guest room unless you have a lot of guests.  It is one thing if you have two or three bedrooms and have an extra bedroom available, but buying a larger house or even moving to a bigger house just to have a dedicated guest room seems like a lot of money to spend to have an empty room most of the time.

It seems kinda like buying a huge gas hog truck because you haul stuff twice a year.  I am pretty sure MMM would tell you to rent a truck when you need it twice a year.
We technically had one when we bought our house, but then we had 2 kids.  So, 4 people in a 2BR house.  The cost of the extra bedroom was prohibitive.  When we bought the house a relative asked "but where will WE stay?"  I said: on the couch or in a hotel. 

Realistically, it is cheaper for me to put family up in a hotel once every 4 years that they visit, than it is to have a guest room.  My MIL is currently the only person who stays with us when she visits.  My stepdad gets a hotel (every 2 years), and my SIL's family only comes every 4 years.  And...we seem to get sick before she comes, so both times they've ended up in a hotel.

honeybbq

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2015, 01:31:40 PM »
We moved to a rural area and it was a priority for me at the time to have space where family and friends could come and stay regularly, because otherwise we wouldn't see them very much.

This. We live far away from our family. When they come to visit, they come for a week or two at at time. They probably couldn't/wouldn't afford a hotel for that length of time. Now obviously we cover that expense in housing the guest room; we also use it when one of us is sick or getting in late, etc.

Jack

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #15 on: November 05, 2015, 01:33:47 PM »
The economics in my neighborhood are such that even though a 3-bedroom house cost a little bit more, it was worth it because I'd make it up on faster appreciation and lower transaction costs (i.e., not feeling the need to change houses as the family grows). 3/2 bungalows are worth renovating, but 2/1 cottages are usually tear-downs (or require a large addition to become marketable). I probably paid an extra $10K for that third bedroom 6 years ago, but my house is probably worth an extra $25K or so now because of it.

zephyr911

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #16 on: November 05, 2015, 01:34:39 PM »
We rent in a HCOLA.  A solo guest sleeps on our couch.  Pre-baby, ILs visiting got our room and we slept on the couch & recliner (due to health challenges, nowadays we always go see them and stay in DH's childhood room.)  Parents stay with friends who are empty nesters but still in the family home, so have tons of space.

We are wanting another bedroom but to stay in the same school district.  Looks like it will add 50% to our rental costs for that one extra room.  No way will I pay that just to host guests more easily.  We'll pay for a hotel, if needed.
Yeah, if we lived in a HCOLA we'd do things much differently. In our town and at our salaries, even 1900SF was affordable; dropping to 1100 was as much about reducing our footprint in advance of our next move as anything else. Next place we live will probably cost at least 50% more per square foot, maybe even 3x as much, and we want to be ready.
The things we've learned by shedding living space will help us next time - more multipurpose space and furniture, more habit changes to be happy with less acreage in the living room. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Vilgan

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #17 on: November 05, 2015, 02:04:41 PM »
We have a guest room that doubles as our tv/video game room since we like to keep the TV out of the way. People are much more willing to visit Seattle than flyover country where I lived before - we host guests probably 8 weekends and 3-4 full weeks per year. The first year it felt like we had guests over the entire summer nonstop, although it was probably only about 35% of the time.

I do see a lot of people worry too much about a guest room though. It seems especially ridiculous when people interested in a "tiny house" want a room just for guests.

reader2580

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #18 on: November 05, 2015, 02:19:45 PM »
Certainly, if you're like one poster who has someone staying for a month or two then potentially paying more for a guest room makes sense.  Personally, if I make plans to take a trip I take hotel costs into account and don't take the trip if I can't afford the hotel rooms.  I am rarely visiting people I know on trips anyhow as most folks I know live locally.  I will take up someone on using their guest room if they offer.

I live alone and have three bedrooms however the house is 1,300 square feet.  I would just as well have two bedrooms, but the houses in my area almost all have three bedrooms.  I have no guest bed because I never have out of town visitors.  The $500 for a bed and such would be a waste for me.  My parents and siblings all live within an hour.  One of my bedrooms is an office and the other is full of junk from moving in nearly a year ago.  (I need to get rid of most of it.)

zephyr911

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2015, 02:21:55 PM »
It seems especially ridiculous when people interested in a "tiny house" want a room just for guests.
Wait, what the fuck? Really?

partgypsy

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #20 on: November 05, 2015, 02:23:30 PM »
I think people should weigh the benefits and cons of what percentage of money they spend on housing versus nitpicking or judging how people should or should not use any particular space in their house, condo, etc. It's kind of like asking whether a mudroom is mustachian or not. It depends. People can spent 50% of their income on a single apartment in NYC with no guest room. Some people may spend 10% of their income on a big sprawling house in the country with multiple extra rooms. If the person can afford and use that room or space and sees value in having that utility, maybe it is a good use of their money. If it costs a huge amount of extra money and they never use it, then no.

kite

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #21 on: November 05, 2015, 04:19:22 PM »
We fill our empty bedrooms with foster kids. 
If you've got room, please consider doing the same.

MayDay

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #22 on: November 05, 2015, 05:35:08 PM »
It totally depends on the COL.

In our LCOL area, the cost of an extra space of some kind (office, basement, 4th bedroom) is fairly minimal.  If I lived in NYC, guests can get a hotel.

For us, we do have guests quite a bit.  My mom just stayed for a week.  My dad, mom, sister, and BF are here for a week at xmas.  My parents will come at least 2 other times a year.  My inlaws come maybe 5-6 single night trips a year.  My grandparents come once a year.  Etc. 

We have a 4 bedroom house.  The 4th bedroom is actually a play room/treadmill room because we use those things on a daily basis.  When we have guests, the kids get kicked out of their rooms, the guests get the beds, and the kids sleep on the floor.  It is costing us an extra zero dollars a month in rent (3 bed houses are the same price) and a tiny bit in utilities. 

If I was buying a house, would I pay extra for a guest room?  Not, probably not.  But I would pay some small amount extra for some kind of space outside of the main living room, to use as an office or play room or exercise room or whatever.  And I might stick a bed in the corner. 

Noodle

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #23 on: November 05, 2015, 05:39:27 PM »
It so depends on family circumstances. I know of one case where a young couple, getting ready to start a family and wanting to be close to relatives, had job offers in HCOL city and LCOL city, each close to one set of parents. They opted for LCOL city, but the deal was that the other side of the family would be welcome to visit at length, which meant a guest room. I can guarantee that the cost of a room which sits empty a good part of the year is more than balanced out by the fact that they paid 250K less for a house than their sibling in the HCOL city.

Rubic

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #24 on: November 05, 2015, 06:54:47 PM »
Quote
Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?

Yes! 

(As long as it's a paying guest.)

justajane

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #25 on: November 05, 2015, 07:51:50 PM »
The economics in my neighborhood are such that even though a 3-bedroom house cost a little bit more, it was worth it because I'd make it up on faster appreciation and lower transaction costs (i.e., not feeling the need to change houses as the family grows). 3/2 bungalows are worth renovating, but 2/1 cottages are usually tear-downs (or require a large addition to become marketable). I probably paid an extra $10K for that third bedroom 6 years ago, but my house is probably worth an extra $25K or so now because of it.

Yeah, our neighborhood is similar, although the price gap between a 2/1 and a 3/2 is much more. We paid 165K in 2007 for a 2/1, in large part because we couldn't afford 3/1s, much less 3/2s, which were all over 200K. 2007 was the worst time to buy, and if we hadn't put an addition on our home, it would likely still be worth less than we paid even 8 years later.

But we spent 75K and put a bedroom/bath addition on the back, which includes a new basement with a roughed in bathroom, a mudroom, a deck, and a re-graded yard. We never want to move, but I think our house is worth about 210K now, maybe even more. Three bedroom homes just appreciate faster, especially in this day and age when even single people with no plans for a family want three bedrooms. God knows why, though. I agree with the OP about that. It's silly to have rooms you aren't using but a few times a year.

ash7962

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #26 on: November 06, 2015, 08:21:50 AM »
A mustachian guest room is an office/craft room with a bed.

+1 this is exactly what my SO and I plan on.

KCM5

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #27 on: November 06, 2015, 08:50:32 AM »
It's mustachian to spend consciously and according to your values.

So if you've done the math on the cost of a guest room and it's benefits to you and have determined that it's worth it, go for it.

In our case, we're actually going to spend about $40k to add on a guest room to our 2 bed/1 bath house. The horror!  But it's cheaper than moving to a 3 bed, all of our family is at least an overnight visit away, and then there's the issue of housing the overseas grandparents when they visit for months at a time. Sure, we could rent an apartment for them for the duration of their visit, but there're not really any apartments near our house, we don't have an extra car, renting one is quite expensive, I'm not going to stick my mother in law on a bike, etc, etc, etc.

honeybbq

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #28 on: November 06, 2015, 09:23:16 AM »
I think this is also regional, so would could consider resale value, too.

A 2 bedroom house in a really great school district probably isn't as desirable as a 4 bedroom to most of the population.

reader2580

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #29 on: November 06, 2015, 09:30:59 AM »
If you have people who stay for weeks or months every year then a dedicated guest room makes sense.  For a week a year it doesn't make as much sense to spend money specifically on a guest room.  Some even said they put two kids in a room to have a guest room.  (Nothing wrong with two kids in a room.)  If you happen to have a spare room nothing wrong with making it a guest room.

I don't personally know anyone who purposely bought/built an extra bedroom just to use as a guest room.  I was just surprised on the bedrooms for kids thread at how many people said they purposely bought a house with an extra room for guests, or added one on.  I know plenty of people with guest rooms, but they didn't buy a larger house just to have one.

reader2580

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #30 on: November 06, 2015, 09:38:52 AM »
I think this is also regional, so would could consider resale value, too.

A 2 bedroom house in a really great school district probably isn't as desirable as a 4 bedroom to most of the population.

Buying a four bedroom house because resale is better, or because you plan to have more kids is one things.  Paying extra for another bedroom for a guest room doesn't seem very mustachian unless it is used a lot.

My first house was custom built for me.  It had one bedroom when it was built, but there was space framed in over the garage for two more bedrooms and another bathroom.  I decided to sell the house for various reasons, but I had to finish off the bedrooms and bathroom first.  It was going to be a hard sell to get a buyer to pay $300,000 for a good size house with only one bedroom.

KCM5

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #31 on: November 06, 2015, 09:48:11 AM »
I don't personally know anyone who purposely bought/built an extra bedroom just to use as a guest room.  I was just surprised on the bedrooms for kids thread at how many people said they purposely bought a house with an extra room for guests, or added one on.  I know plenty of people with guest rooms, but they didn't buy a larger house just to have one.

Maybe this is because your samples are different. People on this board are more likely to think critically about the true cost of their house and what they really need in housing. So they're going to see a smaller house and realize it will fit their NEEDS just fine. But if wants include a guest room, they're going to say they bought a larger house for the guest room. Someone whose default is a 3 bed 2 bath house (because that's what you buy, obviously!) is going to have  guest room or two, but they wouldn't say they bought a larger house for a guest room. The house they bought just happened to have more bedrooms than people regularly sleeping in the house.

Cougar

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #32 on: November 06, 2015, 10:01:47 AM »


 Not unless you are renting it out and making money on it like some here are. I keep the door closed and vent closed on mine most of the time, but I am still paying for the space as part of the mortage.


 But if you are going to go that far, same can be said of your bedroom. You can turn your living room into also the bedroom much like the flats in many urban condos today.

rachael talcott

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #33 on: November 06, 2015, 10:23:58 AM »
When I was house shopping, my goal was to find the cheapest house possible in a reasonably safe neighborhood.  I ended up lowballing and getting a foreclosure with three (small) bedrooms, despite being a single person with no kids.  So I followed what seems to be pretty mustachian principles and ended up with a guest room.  But it was not a requirement in the house shopping process. 

If you were designing a mustachian society from scratch, average house sizes would probably be much smaller than they are now. But we all have to choose the best house among limited options, and therefore many mustachians end up with larger houses than they really need.

zephyr911

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #34 on: November 06, 2015, 10:26:15 AM »
We fill our empty bedrooms with foster kids. 
If you've got room, please consider doing the same.
I SO want to do it someday! For now... we're overcommitted professionally and our residence here is of indeterminate duration.
Post-FIRE, it's very high on the list of likely activities.

sky_northern

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #35 on: November 06, 2015, 12:00:06 PM »
I have way too big of a house for me. I wan't planning on getting a house this big - I was looking at 2 bedrooms houses ( i bed room and one craft room) and at a whim looked at what is now my house.
All the 2 bedrooms houses were actually way more than the 4 bedroom, most were older and some had just terrible layouts. I got a great deal on my house. I might be paying more to heat it, but i try to minimize my heat bill by closing off the two rooms I don't use often. I have had a room mate that help pays for things and I never would consider a room mate with out the size and layout of my house. I like my house.

mm1970

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #36 on: November 06, 2015, 02:20:43 PM »
We fill our empty bedrooms with foster kids. 
If you've got room, please consider doing the same.
I SO want to do it someday! For now... we're overcommitted professionally and our residence here is of indeterminate duration.
Post-FIRE, it's very high on the list of likely activities.
There are so many kids out there who are needed.  My neighbor up the street does this and has adopted two.

It's not really in the cards for us. Our kids are too small.  Nearly all foster kids come with the statement "would do best in a home where they are the only children, or much younger by a large margin."  For good reason - most have had pretty difficult lives.

I can't risk that with my kids, and by the time they are out of the house, I'll be 60.

randymarsh

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Re: Is it really mustachian to have a guest room?
« Reply #37 on: November 07, 2015, 09:14:00 PM »
I don't think I'd ever buy a 1 or 2 bedroom house (unless I was planning to die there). Options for resale are limited, I don't think I'll buy unless it's a 3BR. So as a single or married person with no kids, I'd have 2 spare bedrooms!