Mc mansion

I was reading about the McManion phenomenon. It seems they get a bit of stick in the usa. Maybe I am missing something but here in the uk with our smaller houses, a 5,000 square foot house relatively cheaply would seem a good thing. I know the aristocracy that lost there money always seemed to the same way: they built a large house and sucessive generations built on to it, and built on to it untill they eventually built themselves into bankrupcy.

I know there are practical matters like heating, lighting. But still if people in the uk were offered a house for sometimes about £180,000 with 7 bedrooms and 5000 square feet we would most likely consider it. Do you Americans simply have better taste?

reply to post by werewolf99


I think you've got the McMansion phenomenon wrong. They aren't low priced, super big houses, they're super expensive cheaply built big houses built by the hundreds by developers, often with no yard but, lots of silly amenities like built in vacuum systems. The average price for a small one (high density luxury homes they call them, I call them fancy row-homes) is $350,000 and the average price for the regular size ones are usually around $750,000.

I have no idea who it is who were buying those things and, because of them, its impossible to find any homes priced for regular people anymore.

They have huge developments of these damn things all over the place where I live but, I don't know a single person who lives in one.

I suppose it seems to us in the UKI you have so much space for houses. Over here =the building regulationsd have been lowered to the level where houses can be built cheaper. Lowered regulations lowered standards. But our new houses are much smaller than the old ones, and more expensive generally. So at least your badly built houses have some size. Some of the new houses in the uk are so small that people use 1 of the bedrooms as as wardrobe. Yes you read that right using a bedroom as a walk in wardrobe because the bedrooms will not fit a bed and wordrobe in one at the same time.

I am one of those rare people who think 5,000 square feet is simply too much space to live in. Heck, I think 3,000 square feet is too much space!! I don't understand why they are building houses this big when they're squashed between two other giant houses with no yard. I don't want to open my window and see a brick wall! Who wants to use an intercom to call the family down to dinner? If you have cats, good luck finding them in a house that size.

I live on the outskirts of town surrounded by farms. But now they're razing the trees and building these giant houses, and for what? So they can sit empty? Why can't people buy a used, foreclosed home and leave the scenery alone?!

reply to post by texasgirl


That's two of us rare people, then, texasgirl!

My home is all of 1,300 feet. When the kids lived here (2 of them), it was mildly "cramped" and we used the sun-room as a third bedroom (or the basement for a while - but it's only partially finished.

Those McMansions are not only ugly, and cheaply-built, but they won't stand for centuries, that's for sure. I have thought for years there should be a moratorium on "new" buildings until ALL of the foreclosed or vacant existing homes are occupied, AND all abandoned large buildings are taken apart and their materials re-used to fix up or build others.

Originally posted by wildtimes
reply to post by texasgirl

 

That's two of us rare people, then, texasgirl!

My home is all of 1,300 feet. When the kids lived here (2 of them), it was mildly "cramped" and we used the sun-room as a third bedroom (or the basement for a while - but it's only partially finished.

Those McMansions are not only ugly, and cheaply-built, but they won't stand for centuries, that's for sure. I have thought for years there should be a moratorium on "new" buildings until ALL of the foreclosed or vacant existing homes are occupied, AND all abandoned large buildings are taken apart and their materials re-used to fix up or build others.

Mine is only 1,000 but then I live alone (well, with 3 cranky cats!) and it's perfect for me. It's cozy and I don't have that problem of trying to fill all the space with furniture. My bills are low.

Yes, they're definitely ugly. No character charm whatsoever. The worst part is we're encroaching on wild animals so they have no choice but to live under the houses or invade the yards. And we're killing them for it!

The building industry will cry out in protest but why not use those builders to maintain the properties they built instead of building new ones?

A former real estate agent here....

McMansions are a result of the US housing boom (bubble) of the 90s/early 2000s. Interest rates dropped and all of a sudden for the monthly mortgage payment of what USED to be the value of 1500 sq ft house, you could get 3000+ sq ft (along with the de riguer granite counters, stainless steel appliances, walk in closets, soaking tubs, cathedral ceilings, etc). And you could acquire said abode BEFORE your 30th birthday. Then the housing bubble "burst" (alot of bank/political collusion--people who should not financially have been given mortgages were--and the resulting value plummets from multiple foreclosures on the same blocks crashed values). I could go on and on ...but

Most McMansions from the early "boom" years were quickly built, cookie cutter homes that looked gorgeous initially, but whose builder's lack of attention to detail; cutting costs on materials (usually in the "invisible" parts of the structure--foundation; wall studding; joists) leads to structural issues as the building ages. Granite and hardwood in the 18 by 20 kitchen is lovely, but if the floor isn't level and the ice maker water line leaks....

Sadly it wasn't uncommon to see 3000 sq ft homes furnished with a card table and mattresses on the floor (the financial by product of buying "too much house.") on the market as a short sale. That said, and as someone. Who worked in the industry, I believe in the free market--if you can afford it and want it l, buy it--just be financially realistic.

Well living in a place too large is the traditional British way to go broke. It has been repeated by wealthy families through the ages. Once they have somewhere very large then spend a fortune on antiques, art...... Then find themselves with no money. It is how the national trust get most of their properties.