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I guess our place could be considered a McMansion, but I couldn't care about this article. It's similar to the articles preaching that we should be driving econo-boxes versus pickup trucks and SUV's. This is America. You buy what you like as long as you can afford to. It's called freedom and rights.
The problem, of course, is that too many people couldn't afford these places. Nor could they afford their leased monster SUVs.
5-7,000 sf homes usually built in developments by developers (rather than builders) on a small lot typically 1/2- 1 acre. Big on size with fancy kitchens and baths but usually lacking in quality. City people like Mc Mansions because they get a lot of house but have no need for a large yard.
Watchung, Warren, Green Brook, NJ is the McMansion capital of Central NJ.
7-10,00 sf houses are all over Far Hills, Bedminster, NJ on 5-100 acre farms.
These are real mansions.
Wall Twp. and parts of Howell aren't far behind. Both attract a lot of NYers. There's a big McMansion community under construction in Barnegat Twp. (or it could be Stafford Twp. by that point) that looks pretty empty. They haven't sold too many of those puppies yet.
The over 2500 sf market is dead. The trend is toward smaller more compact housing, not that the market is great for those either. I don't see many blowing out their 1400 sf capes and adding the second floors any longer. Most of those were financed by the inflated values of their homes using equity loans. Now many of those McMansions are underwater.
The over 2500 sf market is dead. The trend is toward smaller more compact housing, not that the market is great for those either. I don't see many blowing out their 1400 sf capes and adding the second floors any longer. Most of those were financed by the inflated values of their homes using equity loans. Now many of those McMansions are underwater.
I think the real estate market in New Jersey is still in bubble mode. Because people spent so much on these houses, they want to recoup their cost, but nobody has the money to be able to afford the prices these days. So the houses seem to stay for sale forever. Eventually, people will have to realize that the days of the $600K cape cod on the 50x100 lot are over. No one can afford it. No one could afford it 10 years ago when they were putting 1 percent down on a mortgage and couldn't so much as afford closing costs.
While I always expect housing in New Jersey to be a bit more pricey than in Indiana or Idaho (obviously) the prices even now in 2010 are absolutely mind-blowing. I often wonder how ANY young person in their 20s will ever possibly be able to afford a home in this state - at least in the desirable areas.
I think the real estate market in New Jersey is still in bubble mode. Because people spent so much on these houses, they want to recoup their cost, but nobody has the money to be able to afford the prices these days. So the houses seem to stay for sale forever. Eventually, people will have to realize that the days of the $600K cape cod on the 50x100 lot are over. No one can afford it. No one could afford it 10 years ago when they were putting 1 percent down on a mortgage and couldn't so much as afford closing costs.
While I always expect housing in New Jersey to be a bit more pricey than in Indiana or Idaho (obviously) the prices even now in 2010 are absolutely mind-blowing. I often wonder how ANY young person in their 20s will ever possibly be able to afford a home in this state - at least in the desirable areas.
Very well said. The prices have indeed come down, but they're still ridiculous. Something is going to have to give eventually. This was and never will be a cheap place to live, but prices are still nuts.
To show you how nuts prices have become: My parents never owned a house, but they looked for several years. They came extremely close to buying a house in Dumont, in 1982. The asking price at the time was $58,000. It was an older house (I think a Victorian), but it was a decent size (I think it was 4 BR) and my parents liked it a lot (I did too, as a 10-year-old kid.) My parents decided the house was too expensive, and passed on it.
Now, if you go to an online inflation calculator, that $58,000 in 1982 would be $127,249 in 2009. BWA HA HA. That house would STILL sell probably sell for 400K today, and during the bubble, probably could have commanded in the upper ends of the 400s. And while Dumont is a pretty good town, it's a far cry from the fanciest Bergen burbs which command significantly higher premiums for houses.
Have salaries for people septupled over the past 28 years? Not bloody likely for most people. No wonder nobody's buying houses right now. People simply cannot afford them in this area.
much to my surprise as i didnt know it when we bought it, the last home we owned in NJ was 835 finished sq ft. we were 2 and then a baby. it was perfect for us-- i loved the layout and the size of the rooms. we had a living room, eat in kitchen, bath, 2 bedrooms. then in the finished attic we had my little library and a guest room--pretty big actually
. very private yard but on a major rd.
our current home in NC is 1394, i hate the layout, the yard is nice but by NO means private. it has everything we need, but i feel the space is dispersed in an odd way. the bathroom is too big and the only eating area too small, etc.
i would love to have a smaller home like my last one again--it was cut just right
Could you or someone define what a "McMansion" is?
A cookie-cutter house constructed during the building boom accompanying the housing bubble whose primary selling point is its size.
The construction of such houses was the inevitable end result of excess capital going the way of the building industry due to the availability of cheap credit to home buyers.
My house is a 4500 sq ft home with 6 bed and 6 bath. Every room has a private bathroom. It has an office, soon to be home theater, large kitchen, 2 combined living and family rooms, a breakfast room and dining room, two decks, a front porch, the cealing is 9ft tall even in the basement, pool and about 1.2 acres of land. Is this a mansion or mcmansion? Our house is surrounded with houses about the same size ranging from 3000ish to 5000ish
My house is a 4500 sq ft home with 6 bed and 6 bath. Every room has a private bathroom. It has an office, soon to be home theater, large kitchen, 2 combined living and family rooms, a breakfast room and dining room, two decks, a front porch, the cealing is 9ft tall even in the basement, pool and about 1.2 acres of land. Is this a mansion or mcmansion? Our house is surrounded with houses about the same size ranging from 3000ish to 5000ish
Yeah, but I'm sure shes pissed because her girlfriends house is over 5000 sq ft....
I vote that post as Troll #1 of the year and it's only January 28th.
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