I live in a flat with three main rooms, kitchen, and bathroom, and that's still only about 500 square feet. What has she got in there? A bowling alley?
To most Americans, it sounds like Marcus is living in a closet. Houses and apartments in the US are generally larger than those in Europe or Asia, especially if you're away from the big cities on either coast. You have to remember that Americans still recognize a 500 acre cattle ranch as a "small spread," and most of us have heard of the 19th-century land grant program where a farmer could receive 40 acres of farmland for no money down if he worked it for five years. Despite having over 300 million people in the US, we still expect to have lots and lots of elbow room. Comes from too many cowboy movies and too much open unclaimed land.
As far as cost goes, you could get about 1200 square feet of apartment in Dallas for less than $1500 per month, and that would be in one of the really nice complexes. If you were willing to go a bit downscale, you could pay less than a thousand.
