A family of 5 downsized to a one-bedroom apartment to escape feeling 'house poor.' Saving money hasn't been the only benefit.

Yahoo

16-05-2025

Megan and Emmett Hawkins were raising their three kids in a five-bedroom home.
After feeling "house poor," they decided to rent out the home and move into a one-bedroom apartment.
The couple said downsizing had saved them money and brought their family closer.
Going into 2024, Emmett and Megan Hawkins were living the American dream.
Emmett, 37, and Megan, 34, owned a 2,100-square-foot, five-bedroom home in Charlotte, North Carolina. They were raising their three kids there and had ample space for them to grow.
But after months of feeling isolated and financial strain in their picture-perfect neighborhood, the Hawkinses decided to downsize to a one-bedroom apartment.
A year into the move, the couple told Business Insider they had no regrets.
By the spring of 2024, the realities of homeownership were weighing on the Hawkins family.
"We were in a development, and we just weren't happy there," Emmett said. "We didn't really have that sense of community."
Megan was also the primary caretaker of their house, and she said she felt like she was "constantly cleaning" it.
The financial strain of homeownership was also adding stress to their lives. They'd been looking for a different home to buy in a better neighborhood for more than two years, but high interest rates deterred them.
As time went on, the idea of being "house poor" in a desirable neighborhood became less and less appealing.
Then, they went to a birthday party for a friend living in a Charlotte apartment complex. The Hawkinses said they thought the complex was "gorgeous," and they loved that it had amenities such as a pool and lawn for their kids to enjoy that they didn't have to maintain.
They lived in Queens, New York, in the early years of their relationship, so they were familiar with apartment living. It seemed like it could be the solution to their problems.
In May 2024, the couple decided to rent out their home and move into a one-bedroom apartment in the complex. Their mortgage is $1,400 a month, and they rent out the home for $2,300. Their apartment costs $1,600, but with the rental income and lifestyle changes, the couple said their overall expenses had been cut nearly in half.
They donated and sold much of their furniture and kids' toys, preparing themselves to live in the 830-square-foot apartment.
They initially set up the apartment like a studio, putting their bed in the living area. But in August, Megan received a diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation, and she had to have surgery in December. They moved the kids' beds to the living area following the operation, giving her a quiet space to recover in the bedroom.
The surgery left the mom of three with partial paralysis that's slowly improving over time. Emmett had to take time off from his job as an insurance claims adjuster to care for his wife and their children while she recovered.
He ended up getting laid off, so as of May, the couple's only sources of income are the rent their tenants pay and their TikTok account, where they document their life living small.
A year after they moved into their apartment, the Hawkinses are loving their minimalist life.
They said their smaller living space had made them closer since they spend so much time together. They also love spending more time outdoors, exploring the complex and the city as a family.
"We really treat this like a crash pad for the most part," Megan said of their apartment. "We're always at the pool or at the park."
The couple has also found it easier to clean their space since it's so much smaller. For instance, they said their old home's playroom was "chaos all the time," whereas their kids' toys are now in bins that the children help keep organized.
Though they love their downsized life overall, it does come with challenges. The Hawkinses said it could be difficult to get things done around the apartment or even just watch TV together when the kids are asleep, and they wouldn't mind having more storage space.
A one-bedroom apartment won't work for them forever, but they think it's great for their family, particularly while their kids are so young. Plus, living somewhere that saved them money when health issues arose was a "relief" for the couple, they said.
"There's some relief knowing that we have a lower monthly expense, which was huge because we were spending a lot of money, meeting our deductible, and going to the hospital," Megan said.
Initially, the Hawkinses planned to stay in the apartment for just one year, but they renewed their lease in May because of the surgery's impact on their family.
By May 2026, they hope to have purchased a plot of land to build a two-bedroom home for their family. They want their new home to be about 900 square feet, and they're eager for their children to have land to run around. Whether the dream happens or not, they don't plan to live in a large house again anytime soon.
"There's no joy when I see those big giant houses," Megan said. "I just feel bad for the person cleaning it."
Read the original article on Business Insider