Do you know anyone who's house is so big they can't afford anything else?

[JoyG]

I have a relative who lives in a McMansion. The structure of the house is beautiful. It's also in a nice neighborhood. There's lot of potential there.

However, there is very little furniture. When you talk, your voice echoes throughout the house. I could list all the items in the house in this post and I wouldn't have to number past 20. For example, the master bedroom has a bed. That's it. Nothing else. If you want to put something down you set it on the bed or the floor.

The walls are all white with no pictures or paintings hanging anywhere. There are no blinds or curtains in the house on any windows (I think I would have put up curtains before buying a bed).

This relative has lived in this home over 3 years. Would you ever live like that, or have you lived like that?

Maybe they thought the investment was worth it even though they couldn't furnish it right away. I just hope with everything going on in the mortgage industry they don't get burned.

 

[mom2rb]

Our first house was small. We had a big empty dinning room for 4 years. Then one year for my Christmas, Valentine's, Mother's Day, Birthday, and Anniversary, I got a nice table and china cabinet.

Now this house we bought a little over a year ago. It is twice as large as our last house. We knew we wouldn't be able to furnish it for a few years. We ended up buying almost all the furniture from the previous home owner. The rest I picked up at garage sales. My house is way nicer than my furniture but I didn't want to charge furniture. I plan on buying the stuff I want in about two years.

 

[Daxx]

Yes, I do! My cousin also bought a McMansion in an expensive area of town. Problem is that their mortgage is so insanely high that they can't afford anything else!

Walking into their house is like walking into a gigantic dorm or starter apt. b/c she barely has any furniture. For example, we went to visit and they have one sofa to sit on in this enormous "family room" that screams for chairs, bean bags, something. The sofa looks like it should be in a doll house. The kids were on the sofa, my cousin and her DH, along w/my other cousin and his wife were on the kitchen chairs and they brought in lawn chairs for us to sit on. I was thinking "WTH - you have this beautiful, huge, expensive home and we're sitting on lawn chairs?" And, not nice lawn chairs either -- those canvas fold-out kind that you sit on when you watch your kids play outdoor soccer or take to sit at the park. The "coffee table" in the middle of the room turned out to be a piece of plywood w/milk crates underneath! One of her kids crawled under it and she picked up the tablecloth and I could see!!!! The book shelf was so beaten on and it looked so dumpy (and ready to fall apart). The dining room is huge and they have this small kitchen table that seats 4 in it. Something like you'd have in your first apt. b/c you couldn't fit a big table in. Plus, in the new house, their furniture looks so old and crappy and looks like it belongs in a low-class dollhouse.

I guess I just don't understand why people feel they have to live beyond their means. She had a great house prior to this one. They had just as much land, but a smaller home (but perfect size for them). Instead of investing in her current home, she bought bigger and more expensive and now the place looks ridiculous. I'm sure she wants to "keep up w/the Jones" but can't. I could see if she moved into the house to get her kids into a better school system ... but her kids go to a v. expensive private school (that she now tells me they can barely afford). Heck -- if you can't afford school, how can you afford furniture!?!?

I wish she'd wake up ... but she'll never sell the place and get one she can afford. She'd be too ashamed to move back to a "lesser" house.

Like you said ... the rooms were huge and nothing in them! Then, she laments that she can't afford furniture b/c their mortgage is so high. Duh. Didn't dawn on you before you bought the house?! I am sure she'll get there eventually ... like after the kids are out of college!?

ETA -- Joy G. - we're both in Buffalo!!! I wonder if our "person" is the same!?!?!? Our cousin lives in E. Amherst.

 

[paintnolish]

In HS I had a group project with a girl who was known to live in a ritzy neighborhood. Her house was huge. Pillars, a big circular drive, tec...but inside, it was barely finished. I remember there was a huge fountain in the entry wasy, but the floor was all particle board and carpet remnants! I think they had wicker porch type furniture in the living room, too!

 

[JoyG]

ETA -- Joy G. - we're both in Buffalo!!! I wonder if our "person" is the same!?!?!? Our cousin lives in E. Amherst.

That would be funny if it was the same person...but my relative lives out of state.

 

[disney junky]

My neice and her husband just bought their first home...they've been married for a year now, and they were renting. Both have what I would consider pretty well paying jobs. Both have brand new cars, so car payments, and they needed to take out two mortgages to afford this new home. The one mortgage (I would call it a second mortgage) has a much higher interest rate than the regular mortgage, but I have to ask, who would give them two loans to start.

 

[Alesia]

I have a relative who lives in a McMansion. The structure of the house is beautiful. It's also in a nice neighborhood. There's lot of potential there.

However, there is very little furniture. When you talk, your voice echoes throughout the house. I could list all the items in the house in this post and I wouldn't have to number past 20. For example, the master bedroom has a bed. That's it. Nothing else. If you want to put something down you set it on the bed or the floor.

The walls are all white with no pictures or paintings hanging anywhere. There are no blinds or curtains in the house on any windows (I think I would have put up curtains before buying a bed).

This relative has lived in this home over 3 years. Would you ever live like that, or have you lived like that?

Maybe they thought the investment was worth it even though they couldn't furnish it right away. I just hope with everything going on in the mortgage industry they don't get burned.

This is remarkably common!

My mom used to be a caterer and when she did parties in peoples homes they were often furnished when she arrived. The next day when she came back to get her dishes, the rent-to-own company would be there taking the furniture away and the family would be sitting on lawn chairs!

My house may be tiny, but it is comfortable and everything in it is mine.

 

[punkin]

I have an average house (2300 sq. ft) with 4 br and 2.5 baths, built in 1964. Not exactly a McMansion. I have rooms with no curtains. I have white walls with very little "Art." I do not have a sofa in my living room. The only furniture in my bedroom is a bed and a bookcase. I guess you guys would make fun of me too.

We all make choices and decisions based on our own unique circumstances. You have no idea why these people don't furnish their houses the way you would. For all you know, it has nothing at all to do with money.

 

[ducklite]

I saw that a lot when I lived in NJ. People bought these 5000 s/f McMansions and they wouldn't have any furniture. When we first bought this place we didn't ahve a dining room set. I had one in the old house, but it was poor quality and totally not going to work as far as the decor in the new place. So I gave it to Goodwill and the dining room sat empty for a year until we were able to buy a discontinued floor model set at Ethan Allen for almost $1800 less than the regular price!

The rest of our home was furnished and we had curtains and blinds on all the windows though.

Anne

 

[trip]

My neice and her husband just bought their first home...they've been married for a year now, and they were renting. Both have what I would consider pretty well paying jobs. Both have brand new cars, so car payments, and they needed to take out two mortgages to afford this new home. The one mortgage (I would call it a second mortgage) has a much higher interest rate than the regular mortgage, but I have to ask, who would give them two loans to start.

Sometimes people get two mortgages so they aren't required to have PMI.

 

[KelNottAt]

At the risk of over-generalizing, the spending priorities in my life are:
Health and medicine
Food and clothing
Retirement savings
Shelter (mortgage and utilities but NOT furnishings)
Education savings
Vacations
Cars
Furniture

And we live this way without credit card debt or loans. Our house is fully furnished with nice things, but if you visited us during the first few years we lived here, I would have fit the description in the OP. (LOL, I still need to replace the "This End Up" coffee table that sits in the middle of our family room.)

Just because some rooms are empty doesn't mean a family is overburdened, unhappy, or house poor. Perhaps they're very content and wise savers/spenders. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[punkin]

Agreed. I have no debt (other than mortgage). I have one child in private school. I am saving for retirement (10% pre tax). I have 5 months of living expenses in a liquid high yield savings account just in case. We vacation several times a year. AND I have very limited furniture-mostly of the hand me down variety.

 

[daisyduck123]

It just depends where people's priorities lie.

We actually could've bought a bigger house last year, but we decided to buy into DVC instead!!
No kidding! Our present house suits us just fine, & now we get to vacation in WDW for about 20 nights a year!

 

[ducklite]

Sometimes people get two mortgages so they aren't required to have PMI.

That's what we did when we bought this place. We put 15% down rather than 20%, because I needed the last 5% to furnishings and window treatments. The 5% second was paid off about a year after we moved in.

Anne

 

[Freyja]

Nope. Luckily I don´t know anyone who has a house so big they can´t afford anything else. With that being said, I´m not sure that half-empty houses are always half-empty due to lack of money. Some people simply prioritize differently. Some people just couldn´t care less how their house looks and some people don´t really want more than they need.

Apart from all of these reasons, some people have a minimalistic taste. I would prefer to have nothing in my bedroom other than my bed. As it is now, I have a white drawer and nothing else. All walls except one are white. My bedding is white and my curtains are white.

I prefer to have as little stuff in my living room as possible. We have 2 sofas, a table, a little cabinet and a piano. 2 pictures on 1 wall each, and nothing on the other walls. No family pictures and very little "extra". 3 vases and 3 candle holders. That´s it!

My kitchen is pretty much the same. I prefer nothing on the kitchen table and only want to have my coffe maker and the toaster on the countertop. It is all in black and white and the only decorative items I have are 3 black butterflies on one wall, and a very minimalistic painting (mainly in black, white and grey) on 1 wall.

To each their own I guess!

 

[MushyMushy]

I'm happy to say that I don't know anybody like that! I only have one friend who lives in a "McMansion," and they actually got the house for a song and can well afford it. It's furnished beautifully, but she also didn't spend an arm and a leg for her furniture. She would think nothing of getting a good quality piece of furniture from an estate sale.

The house we purchased recently is a bit beneath our means and our furniture is average. But we're very happy! We love our house and we're extremely happy with our furniture. We're not the least bit ashamed to have people over, and if they're the type of people to turn their noses up at us, then we probably wouldn't be friends with them anyway. Our priorities are just very different and we're okay with that.

 

[Banshee]

Yep, my one friend has a big old honking huge house and they literally have a card table and folding chair's in the kitchen. It is actually pretty sad. They struggle to make end's meet. They have 2 kid's and it just really seems to be very un-fair to them.

 

[Daxx]

I have an average house (2300 sq. ft) with 4 br and 2.5 baths, built in 1964. Not exactly a McMansion. I have rooms with no curtains. I have white walls with very little "Art." I do not have a sofa in my living room. The only furniture in my bedroom is a bed and a bookcase. I guess you guys would make fun of me too.

We all make choices and decisions based on our own unique circumstances. You have no idea why these people don't furnish their houses the way you would. For all you know, it has nothing at all to do with money.

Nobody's making fun of anyone here!

I honestly don't have much art up on my walls (I have one large piece and one smaller piece inthe living room). First off, the walls were just painted a month ago and second, I am not sure what I want to put up as far as art goes. I'm still looking for that "perfect piece" and I'll know it when I see it. I know I want to have a "photo wall" w/our favorite photos but am not sure which wall to use. Also, I don't know what I want in my dining room as a "focus piece" of art so those walls remain blank.

And, you're right ... we have no idea why these people don't furish their homes ... w/the exception of my cousin b/c she outright said they can't afford anything but the basics at this point.

I am speaking ONLY in the case of my cousin here. I guess I just don't understand why she chooses to live beyond her means. I guess I just don't understand sitting in a half-a-million dollar home on lawn chairs. I guess I don't know who she is trying to impress b/c her McMansion isn't impressing her family or ours. Her house looks like every other McMansion on her street. See one, see 'em all on her street. I'm not impressed sitting on lawn chairs in a half-a-million dollar home. I'm not saying I should be sitting on expensive furniture ... but why buy the place if you KNOW you can't afford to do anything else (buy clothes for yourself, etc.)!?

ETA - we bought a beautiful home in a nice residential area. We paid for it in full and carry no mortgage. Our furniture comes from our old apt. We have a beautiful sofa in excellent shape, a beautiful dining room table and chairs, hand made, no wood veneer crap that we bought from the Amish. We have an antique breakfront that belonged to my great-grandma and it's gorgeous and in impeccable shape. We have the dresser from when I was a child, DH's childhood dresser, our childhood nightstands and a new bed we bought before we were married. DS's bed, nightstand and book case all came from Target which, we all know, is not the world premiere furniture store. We don't live beyond our means and we're able to afford the good things in life like private school and lots of vacations.

We didn't burn through everything to have a McMansion we can't afford to have.

 

[Daxx]

They have 2 kid's and it just really seems to be very un-fair to them.

That's it, exactly! My cousin asked how our Disney trip was and Ms. McMansion got mad b/c they can't afford to take their kids to Disney so we shouldn't be talking about it. We were talking about getting together at the local amusement park this week ... just bring your own picnic lunch, some drinks and a bag of chips to pass and hang out and let the kids have a ball together. Ms. McMansion told us that wasn't fair to her b/c she can't afford to take her kids. Whose fault is that!? We're not the ones who bought a home we can't afford. And, your kids don't get to do things b/c you over-extended your means? She had to pull the girls out of swim classes and no baseball for her boys b/c they can't afford the fees. Def. gotta feel bad for those kids. Do you think they wanted that house or were given the option?

 

[Acklander]

I have a friend who is the opposite - she has fantastic furniture, window treatments, expensive car, designer clothes etc....but rents instead of owning. Says she can't afford the down payment. It works for her, she's happy.
Maybe your cousin hopes to "grow" into the house some day. I guess it sort of makes sense since Real Estate appreciates and furniture depreciates, so if you can only afford one or the other it makes financial sense to get the house.
When I first got my house I didn't have much for furniture but over the years it filled up. I still don't have window treatments though. We live in the middle of the woods (no neighbors) in the middle of nowhere so privacy isn't an issue and I like having sunlight streaming in the house, so it's probably going to stay that way.