Square footage is really the cheapest thing you can add onto a house. At the core of most any dwelling you will generally find that the electrical system, plumbing, heating, appliances and structural components are similar in at least one key way. They are all expensive. This costly core is housed in the relatively cheap volume that surrounds it. Because the price of extending core components outward to accommodate any amount of additional space really isn't all that high, and open space itself is priced at next to nothing, square footage is really the cheapest thing you can add onto a house.

Combine this with the fact that small house design and construction is almost always much more difficult than that of a large house and you can start to see why small houses are a bit of a hard sell in a culture where the first rule of economics has already been all but forgotten – bigger is not necessarily better.

In light of all this, it might seem that you really can’t afford to buy anything less than the most house you can get your hands on. It would certainly seem that the more you buy the more you save, and who doesn’t like a bargain these days? It’s the hidden costs that get people into trouble. After all, more house than you need comes with more debt in total, more utility bill, more maintenance than you need and more foreclosures and more bailouts than any of us needs ever again.

Consider the quality of any designed space over quantity. A well-designed little cottage will feel less crowded and provide more utility than a poorly designed mansion. Live well. Build small. Buy smart.

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