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

[NYBlue1]

I know the trend of the mcmansion started in the NY burbs because people were moving up from the city and wanted a bigger home but due to most families having both partners working did not have time to mow the mclawn or shovel the mcdriveway and wanted the bigger home without the bigger land that usually went with it. Alot of folks grew up in the city on concrete lawns so anything green is not expected or even wanted.

I dislike when the older homes are knocked down and they are placed in there place so you have a beautiful neighborhood of 1930,40,50's capes and than a mc mansion placed in the middle of them. I think thats gross. The developments and neighborhoods of them however I have no problems with. Real estate is never a bad investment, especially in the bigger cities suburbs.

I think another thing to take into consideration is the pure cost of living these days, I dont think its relative to the times its just plain outrageous , I can understand why familes are defaulting on mortgages more than ever and its a sad state of affairs.

 

[NYBlue1]

I think you are being WAY to sensitive!!! The person in a house that is busting at the seams needs to rethink their spending before there is not place for them to enter the home.

Nah they are not being to sensitive nobody likes to think that others are judging how they live there life. If you are a person living in a larger home and cutting it close to afford it , it stings a bit to read some of this stuff. I dont think the poster is ready jump off a pier over it but it bites just a bit. At the same time i dont think the OP or anybody on this thread is intentionally trying to be mean.

This forcloser problem is a real issue right now for people in all sized houses, I really hope things level out, its a sad thing to see people in this situation, alot were convinced by shady mortgage brokers , real estate agents during that crazy boom with super low rates a few years back to move in over their heads. Many a new development in my area are nicknamed "forecloser acers".

 

[Galahad]

I'm still trying to figure out what "McMansion" is really code for. Is it anybody with a big house and a small lot? It seems a term intended to be derisive of anybody who's house folks consider "more than they need". Kind of like folks lampooning SUV owners for having more car than they need. I ask this question because we live in a large house (5000 sq feet) on a small lot (1/3 acre). It was a custom home rather than a "production" home and it is adequately furnished. It is in a thickly wooded, "natural" kind of neighborhood. As someone said in another post - I have no desire to have lots of yard to take care of. I suspect that our neighborhood would be the subject of ridicule as McMansions, but I'm not sure I really get why the disdain. Who is being hurt by some people being in large houses?

 

[JoyG]

I'm still trying to figure out what "McMansion" is really code for. Is it anybody with a big house and a small lot? It seems a term intended to be derisive of anybody who's house folks consider "more than they need". Kind of like folks lampooning SUV owners for having more car than they need. I ask this question because we live in a large house (5000 sq feet) on a small lot (1/3 acre). It was a custom home rather than a "production" home and it is adequately furnished. It is in a thickly wooded, "natural" kind of neighborhood. As someone said in another post - I have no desire to have lots of yard to take care of. I suspect that our neighborhood would be the subject of ridicule as McMansions, but I'm not sure I really get why the disdain. Who is being hurt by some people being in large houses?

I don't use the word McMansion with distain. I'm actually fond of those houses, but they are out of my price range.

The word McMansion has become part of our vernacular with the building boom our country's experienced. They have those developments in many parts of the country so when I use that word everyone knows what kind of house I'm talking about. I don't know who made the word up, but it fits. If your house was custom, it probably doesn't fit that word b/c I think it describes huge houses in a development that are all the same.

 

[barkley]

Try the reverse and see if it sounds offensive.

Know people with a small home on a tiny lot- full of stuff. Stuff all over the place. Crammed into the basement. Closets are packed. Stuff under the beds. Cars in the driveway and on the street because they can't squeeze their car into the garage. Would you think? Gosh why don't they stop buying all this junk and save some money and they could move into a bigger place to house all their junk.

i'de think 'oh my gosh, these are the people that bought my house last year'.

seriously, bought it primarily because it was one of the largest lots for sale at that time and they planned to cement over all my beautiful landscaping to house their multiple cars, recreational vehicals, sports trailers and boats.

but they overbought and in addition to not having much if any furniture to put in the home they could'nt afford to do the cement work and have landscaping removed so despite having a home twice as large as their prior-all that stuffs still filling up the garage, the driveway, the front lawn


btw-the 'mcmansions' in our former area were the 4000 plus square footers that were built on about an 8th of an acre in the residential neighborhoods. the ones it hurt were those with preexisting homes who were surrounded by them-i kid you not there were some very nice, modest one story homes that literaly did not get any natural light because of having a 'mcmansion' on all 3 sides of them. but it was a continuing trend because so long as the person who built retained one minute portion of the home that originaly occupied the property-it was deemed a remodel vs. a new construction which save mondo bucks (though how anyone can pay $500,000 to buy a home just to tear it down to build something else floors me).

 

[perdidobay]

I've been in my current home for 10 years now and the only window treatments are wood blinds on all the windows. The reason-I have SAD and the amount of sunlight coming into my home is better without drapes on the windows...all 35 of them! Those blinds are open all day and all night-we live on 2 acres with lots of privacy.

 

[KelNottAt]

I know the trend of the mcmansion started in the NY burbs because people were moving up from the city and wanted a bigger home but due to most families having both partners working did not have time to mow the mclawn or shovel the mcdriveway and wanted the bigger home without the bigger land that usually went with it. Alot of folks grew up in the city on concrete lawns so anything green is not expected or even wanted.

Yes, that's part of the history. Down here, in the Maryland suburbs of DC and Baltimore, mcmansions are practically required by the government. There are local building regs that require a certain minimum population density. It's all in the name of curbing suburban sprawl in order to preserve what bit of agriculture remains.

For example, I understand that new neighborhoods where I grew up (Montgomery County) must include townhouses with single family if they want public water and sewer. Large lots (acre+) consume land, require just as much infrastructure as small lots, yet generate less tax revenue. From the point of view of the local government, they're really not cost effective. So they make them financially unappealing.

Basically, the only way to put your large house on a large lot around here is to expect well and septic, private roads the residents must maintain, etc. And that's just to keep it "affordable," relatively speaking. If you want a large house on a large lot with public services, expect to pay dearly. The government has to find a way to break even on those developments, so they're hard to afford.

It basically comes down to 3 choices for people looking for 3000+ square feet:
mcmansion with public services OR
large house on large lot without public services OR
large house on large lot with public services and extra fees and taxes.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I don't use the word McMansion with distain. I'm actually fond of those houses, but they are out of my price range.

The word McMansion has become part of our vernacular with the building boom our country's experienced. They have those developments in many parts of the country so when I use that word everyone knows what kind of house I'm talking about. I don't know who made the word up, but it fits. If your house was custom, it probably doesn't fit that word b/c I think it describes huge houses in a development that are all the same.

I saw the definition on a real estate show as - large home, small lot with multiple architectures in it (palatian window, gorgian dormers etc in the same home).


We live in a 4000 sq foot federal architecture home on 10 acres. It was custom built and would fit in in Williamsburg, VA. We farm most of the acreage and some is wooded.