Owning a home has been an American tradition from the start. But the home itself has changed dramatically over the years. For example, you may be surprised to learn how much the size of the average American home has increased since the turn of the 20th century—especially when you compare it to the size of the average family during the same time period.

According to two recent surveys that took industry watchers by surprise, many family homeowners are putting frugality aside and upsizing to new houses that average as large as 2,480 square feet (an increase of as much as 13 percent from the year before), and sometimes exceed 3,500 square feet in size.

It’s tough being a first time home buyer, especially in a fiercely competitive market like Seattle where multiple offers are the norm. Windermere clients Haley and Yash experienced this first hand when they started shopping for a home. With the help of their agent Elsa Nunes-Ueno, they found and fell in love with “the little blue house”.

Constructing or remodeling a home is a complex, expensive endeavor. Ideally, everything goes as planned, and when the dust clears, the homeowner can settle in and enjoy the new home — and never think about the building process again.