Housing Life Cycle

Housing Life Cycle

This week in Interior Design we talked about the Housing Life Cycle.  We also talked about the different physical and psychological needs a house must have for people to remain in it.  The 5 physical needs a house must satisfy are food, safety, place to sleep, storage, and shelter.  The 4 psychological needs a house must meet are Love & belonging, privacy, identity, creativity, and fun/relaxation/comfort.  Lack of any of these needs would be inadequate housing.  The life cycle is a progression through a series of  different stages of development.  At these different stages, housing is very important.  Obviously when you're young you don't really realize how housing applies to the life cycle.  When you get older, you realize that there are certain kinds of houses that would need to fit your lifestyle at the time.  For example, when you get married and have kids you're going to need enough rooms for your kids to live in, and enough space for them to play around.  On the other hand, when you become a grandparent/senior citizen, you might want to downsize because it will just be you and your spouse living in the home.

My first house is actually a condo, located in Duluth, MN.  I'm thinking about going to college at UMD, so if I could find a job in that area after college, I could live here.  I'm guessing I will either be living by myself, or with one other person.  This condo has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths so it would be just the right size.  My budget for my first house is $200,000, and this condo would come out to be $199,000.  Although this is cutting it close, it is a very nice condo and has a great view of Lake Superior.

My second house is located in Annandale, MN.  It's located on Sylvia lake, and that is a big selling point for me because I've always wanted to live on a lake.  It has 3 beds and 2 baths, in case I was thinking about starting a family.  My budget for this house is 525,000, and this house costs 519,000.  The kitchen in this house is very outdated, but that can always be fixed.  The house itself is a little outdated, but it is very spacious which I really liked.  There is also lots of natural light in the bedrooms and living rooms.

My third house is located in Rogers, MN.  It will fit my personal needs at this age because it has 4 beds and 3 baths for my family, and it is very spacious.  I liked this house because it seemed big enough for my family and I, and it also seems like not much has to updated.  I love the kitchen in this house, and I like how there's lots of room in the basement to add furniture and decorations.  This house is only $434,500, and my budget was $631,999.  Although the overall cost of my house was a lot lower than my budget, I like it this way so I will be able to update anything in this house that needs to be updated.  I could also finish the basement, and add furniture.

Overall I think all of these houses would fit just fine to my lifestyle at these designated ages, and it was interesting to go house hunting for the first time.