Those of you that live in places with basements, I feel like that could be a game changer. Your square footage is actually way more than listed.
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We now live in a house with a basement that I realized also came with a bonus of sorts: no crawlspace to defend from rats, mice, etc.
In Southern California we have all concrete slab foundations. No basements, or crawl spaces either, but maybe thatās a bonus! 
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The discussions here (and on coralbrookās threads) about rats & mice have given me so much pause - for whatever reason the ārat factorā wasnāt on my radar - itās now it is like #1 on my list of things I absolutely will do almost anything to avoid, lol! 
Houses in Seattle suburbs are pretty much all built with crawlspace. Cleaning out a rat infestation was not a pretty job. My husband took care of the ratsā¦ that was the easy part. Taking out the rat-crapped insulation and replacing it with new oneā¦ that job was outsourced to the pros. 
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Bunsen - your husband deserves a medal! Yikes! 
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We have a house on concrete slab, so no crawl space below and no basement. House is 1250 square feet and has been a good size for us and 2 kids and now us alone w/o kids.
We have nice weather year round and H is outdoors much of the timeāputtering in yard and doing woodwork outdoors.
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Apparently there are rules about whether or not you can count the basement space as square footage when you lost a home. When my kids purchases a townhome last fall, they liked 2. The two level one was listed as having more space, but the three level one, with a walkout basement, had more usable space for sure.
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It has to be heated, finished, and have a minimum ceiling height to be counted in my neck of the woods.
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Our cellar in NY was pretty damp and dreary (with little usable space until the old octopus furnace in center with large angled ducts got replaced.) But it gave a place for the washer/dryer, workbench, storage - very helpful.
In our current 2400 sq foot house, we have a larger 1st floor (1400 square foot), and the basement is partial crawl space. It has two āegress windowsā that would make bedrooms legal and pre-plumbed for bathroom We liked the unfinished space for shop, storage, playing (we added carpet from a motel doing remodeling). Future families could opt to finish it. If they did so, I think square footage would be added for real estate listings.
I live in officially less than 900 square feet. The house is apartment sized. However, as this is the Midwest, between the front porch that I enclosed, a full and dry basement, and walk up attic with plenty of storage, there is room to move. Iād sure like a bigger kitchen, but that may happen in time. For now, there is plenty of shelving for kitchen items in the basement.
I grew up in Phoenix slab houses with one tiny storage area. Garages were rare in those days as we had carports. The situation was far more cramped for a full family than what I have now as a single retired person.
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Most old(er) homes in our area have raised foundations, not slab on grade.
The overwhelming majority of new homes being built in my locale are designed and built with ābasements,ā or really, theyāre complete lower levels, which can be as large as 1,500-2,000 SF in some cases.
And obviously, in those cases, counted in the overall SF calculation of the house.
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I was a regular poster here about a year ago. We moved from Austin to a Santa Fe rental almost a year ago and into our new house about 9 months ago. It was a very stressful move from our house of 30 years since I ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks just as we were signing away our house in Austin. But - we are now settled in and very happy. We ended up not downsizing, but with a house with about the same room. Iām disappointed not to have a garage again, but the weather is sooooo much nicer here and friends easy to find.
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That sounds idea. San Diegoā¦.University City ā¦. Torrey Pines?
Iāve never lived in a house without a basement. Itās ideal for storing all sorts of crap. Extra blankets that weāll never need, extra cleaning supplies that Iāll never use, DHās models of battleships that he never built, games that we havenāt played in years, a fondue pot Iāll probably never use again, silverplated items that Iāve hung on to way too long . . . You get the idea.
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My next house will not have a basement. And we wonāt rent a storage unit. And the house will be no more than 1600 sq Ft. My BIL and wife just bought a 1500 sq Ft houseā¦and itās very spacious. Large kitchen with tons of counters and an island with seatingā¦and a breakfast room area for a table. No dining room. A very nice size great room. No family room plus a living room. Tons and tons of excellent storage and a large garage. High ceilings, and large windows. Itās really really nice.
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We are in La Jolla near the campus.
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Best place in that area! Stay put. 
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thumper1- that sounds absolutely perfect! Spacious layout, big kitchen, no dining room and big windows- all the key aspects!
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Where is this house?