McMansions

zinger1457 said:
There's a nice development down the street from me where most of the homes are in the $400-500K range. About 3 years ago some family started building their McMansion. Could tell it was going to be over the top when I drove by while it was being built. They had a 3 car garage attached to the house and another 4 car garage semi-detached to the house by a covered walkway. Just the garage space is probably bigger than 90% of the homes in the development. They weren't in it for much more than a year when they listed it for sale for $2.5M. Two years going and it's now down to $2.3, I'm not sure a $1M cut would be enough to find a buyer. I doubt there are more than a handful of homes in the entire county that are worth over $1M, not much of a market here for really high end homes.
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I do not know where you live, but here in the Houston area there are plenty... I looked and there are 14 homes over $10 million... all I got for $1 million was 'over 120' as that is the max they will show you...


And if you live in NYC, a 900 sq ft condo on the Upper West Side sells for more than $1 mill... heck, the monthly condo fee is more than I pay for my entire house and maintenance...
 
Options said:
For most Americans, 7 out of 10 in fact, a McMansion is anything but a wise choice.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings

It's been said that your money (and what you spend it on) is your time is your life. You can have stuff, or it can have you. It's a choice.
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I think that is old.... I recently saw an article that said the typical (maybe avg) checking account balance was a bit over $4,000
 
the one on lapeer is definitely a mcmansion. horrible commute too. I played raveneaux a few times and that was a long drive from my house in the 77018
 
That second one would be a steal in Chicagoland for that price.
 
Jack_Pine said:
That second one would be a steal in Chicagoland for that price.
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no mass transit = 1.5 hour one-way commute at least

it does look like a really good deal though - dig that pool
 
When I was a child, I knew the names of many of the folks who lived in the "mansions" in our area. Folks like bank presidents, Univ. presidents, major real-estate developers, construction company owners, etc. Still, it all made sense. These few rich people had mansions. It's what you would expect. But now, as I travel the US, I see rows of McMansions and wonder how is it we have so many rich folks who can afford such huge homes. I just can not fathom that there are that many folks richer than I am (no envy involved here - just surprise at the numbers.) YMMV
 
Where I live, the definition of a McMansion has been the same for several decades: a large new house built on a lot that is just barely big enough for it (no yard). In other words, when you spill your coffee, your neighbor gets it in his lap.

Not something I would ever consider buying.
 
Texas Proud said:
Just my opinion.... but here is a McMansion that is around here....
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Those are crazy- and the one on Lapeer has 6 full baths and 2 half baths. Ugh. WAY too much to clean. When we were in our last house, DH was in charge of cleaning till I retired and he didn't do a very good job of it. Even after I retired, it was too much: 3 BRs plus two that were home offices, 3 full baths, 2 half baths, 3 levels. I'd rather spend money on travel than professionals to mow the lawn or clean the house. Fortunately I can maintain our current house and still have a life. I'd never buy a house that pretty much required hiring professionals to maintain the house or the yard.
 
6miths said:
The taxes on those places seem high - is that 2.7% per year?
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Property taxes in Texas are high but there are no state income taxes, they get into your pockets one way or the other.
 
zinger1457 said:
Property taxes in Texas are high but there are no state income taxes, they get into your pockets one way or the other.
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No kidding. What's the point of no income tax if they ding you for 25,000 a year in property taxes. Is there property tax relief once one retires or over a certain age? Otherwise you'd wind up paying more in property taxes than you ever would have in income tax.
 
6miths said:
No kidding. What's the point of no income tax if they ding you for 25,000 a year in property taxes. Is there property tax relief once one retires or over a certain age? Otherwise you'd wind up paying more in property taxes than you ever would have in income tax.
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Once you turn 65 your property taxes are frozen (school and depending on city and county city and county property taxes). Note that depending on where you own you may or may not pay city taxes anyway (outside of city boundries, all be it you then have to pay for trash pickup). Typical property tax runs in the 2% of property tax value range, which implies a 1.25 million dollar house which in Tx would be quite a house. (not in River Oaks or the Dallas equivalent but...). So in particular if retired where you can choose where you live you can control the property taxes.
 
2500 sq. feet for the five of us, I can't imagine cleaning anything larger. $650k now in north San Diego county. I wanted to go bigger but DW talked me out of it, for which I'm very glad. Three car garage helps a lot! I just can't imagine the air conditioning bill of those McMansions in Texas! We don't have to use much air here. Do you big house/McMansion types have maids??
 
Koolau said:
When I was a child, I knew the names of many of the folks who lived in the "mansions" in our area. Folks like bank presidents, Univ. presidents, major real-estate developers, construction company owners, etc. Still, it all made sense. These few rich people had mansions. It's what you would expect. But now, as I travel the US, I see rows of McMansions and wonder how is it we have so many rich folks who can afford such huge homes. I just can not fathom that there are that many folks richer than I am (no envy involved here - just surprise at the numbers.) YMMV
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And to think they can still afford to live in those mansions while paying 90% of U.S. Income Taxes. It's kind'a mind boggling.
 
laurence said:
2500 sq. feet for the five of us, I can't imagine cleaning anything larger. $650k now in north San Diego county. I wanted to go bigger but DW talked me out of it, for which I'm very glad. Three car garage helps a lot! I just can't imagine the air conditioning bill of those McMansions in Texas! We don't have to use much air here. Do you big house/McMansion types have maids??
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Reality in one part of the country is different than that in other regions.

My house is 5200 square feet with two double car garages. My utilities have been running $400 in the hottest months of this somewhat hot Summer. And it's because I only run one a/c system--and leave the downstairs unit off.

The utilities are not the problem in Texas--it's the property taxes. When my best friend in North Dallas had property taxes go to $50K per year, he sold the house and moved into a luxury rental apartment. His house in Seaside, Florida has property taxes over $10K though.

Just be glad you live in the city with the best overall weather in the continental U.S. It's a shame that real estate in many California cities have demand based prices vs. a cost of construction basis'.
 
Koolau said:
When I was a child, I knew the names of many of the folks who lived in the "mansions" in our area. Folks like bank presidents, Univ. presidents, major real-estate developers, construction company owners, etc. Still, it all made sense. These few rich people had mansions. It's what you would expect. But now, as I travel the US, I see rows of McMansions and wonder how is it we have so many rich folks who can afford such huge homes. I just can not fathom that there are that many folks richer than I am (no envy involved here - just surprise at the numbers.) YMMV
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If you are talking about the top 5% as "rich", then it's likely just a numbers game. When you were a kid, there were - what - half as many people? By extension, that's half as many "rich" people. And, by extension, half as many "rich people homes". Add in a good number more foreign buyers these days compared to when you were young, and more wealthy people owning more homes, and the number of homes of "rich people" is even more (in proportion to when you were a kid). Also, your universe as a child didn't include the various areas that you travel now. How much did you get around as a kid versus where you get around now? And...the "rich areas" even in your area as a kid were probably far fewer in number than now. Back when you were a kid, the rich wanted to congregate in a certain area. Now, there are probably more areas in your city that the wealthy want to live in. Now that it's spread out, it may seem larger than it actually is (when taking into account population growth, foreign buyers, etc.)
 
6miths said:
No kidding. What's the point of no income tax if they ding you for 25,000 a year in property taxes. Is there property tax relief once one retires or over a certain age? Otherwise you'd wind up paying more in property taxes than you ever would have in income tax.
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Good point. Property taxes are especially a concern for those with second homes. That's one reason why Paradise Valley and Arizona in general are good snow bird destinations. My property tax there is less than .5% of market value.
 
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