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People don't buy houses for a status symbol, people that can't afford a larger home, make this crap up. They buy a home, based on a good location, good schools, nice clean area and enviroment. Blame half of the Home Builders then, they are building so many new Developments with very large floor-plans and at such good prices, why wouldn't people buy them now.
I* had a construction job for a time helping build those mcmansions...they're absolute crap. Impressive facade outside, poor underneath. And they were expensive homes I was working on. Several merely had foam board as sheathing under vinyl siding. On top of the lousy lumber used. Won't last as long as the mortgage I'd venture a guess.
Only an idiot would build such a large house here anyways. There's years when you have to heat the place 8 or 9 months a year. There's a reason the older (settlement era) houses here are primarily capes, small saltboxes, etc. They were efficient.
The neighborhood that I wanted (because of the excellent old construction - my parents' appliances/furnaces/a/c units/garage door openers are all original to 1983 and still work fine; no issues with structure, either - and excellent, established location) ONLY HAD BIG HOUSES. So there you go...to get the quality and location I wanted, I had to go big and expensive.
I* had a construction job for a time helping build those mcmansions...they're absolute crap. Impressive facade outside, poor underneath. And they were expensive homes I was working on. Several merely had foam board as sheathing under vinyl siding. On top of the lousy lumber used. Won't last as long as the mortgage I'd venture a guess.
Only an idiot would build such a large house here anyways. There's years when you have to heat the place 8 or 9 months a year. There's a reason the older (settlement era) houses here are primarily capes, small saltboxes, etc. They were efficient.
No other State can claim the eruption of shoddy built, giant houses during the run to 06. They may have double paned windows but for the most part no insulation. It's no wonder since the amount of illegal labor that was used to build them.
I drive through areas like East Lake and it's a sea of for sale signs now. A whole bunch of people that never should have had a crack at them in the first place.
I have a few friends (and family members) who have 5000sqft+ homes and to me they seem so impersonal. There is so much room that you can go an entire day without seeing another member of your family.
Its a personal decision, and if you like giant houses, then that's great. Personally, I prefer small houses where you don't have big, unused areas (I lived in a 3 bedroom for a while with my ex and we had an entire room that we rarely went inside...it just collected junk) and you don't have to collect 'stuff' just to keep it looking full.
I hate stuff. I would take a small teeny house with a big barn/garage/shop space over a big house any day
haha.. my bedroom is larger than some of the homes here.. Not criticizing them.. They seem to be very happy with what they have.. I only wonder why they are so unhappy with what I have
I'm not unhappy for you. If it works for you, that's really all that matters.
No other State can claim the eruption of shoddy built, giant houses during the run to 06. They may have double paned windows but for the most part no insulation. It's no wonder since the amount of illegal labor that was used to build them.
I drive through areas like East Lake and it's a sea of for sale signs now. A whole bunch of people that never should have had a crack at them in the first place.
My bil does framing. When they were building the house they bought in the 90's, he visited daily. Being in the industry nobody noticed how he walked around and checked things and so on, not just his house but the rest of the neighborhood. Nor did he ever get any notice as he wrote stuff in a notebook.
The framing was "offically" done and he pointed out several things on his house, like the windows were crooked. He said he'd be back the next day to see if it was fixed yet, but... surprise the framing was already covered and the windows were still crooked. He said no more. They almost cancelled the purchase but had to move from their rental anyway soon.
The house got finished. He did a long list of things wrong. There was a porch light up but no wiring, for instance, in addition to other places where windows were crooked or not even. And he looked over his neighbors houses too, with his notebook.
The builder blew them off when they wanted it fixed, so they went together and sued, holding the builders bond hostage. Since he inspects framing and other aspectes of construction for a living the court listened. The company was oblidged to fix everything in every house before they got their bond released. The house is still not top notch but at least it got far better than it had been. They plan to move in a few years and either want an older house or to build their own. No more slapped together disastors.
One of the most interesting Holmes on Holmes episodes was about a couple who bought a new house to avoid having to repair things. The master bedroom was freezing cold that winter. Ice formed inside the garage and the small patio on the second story was sagging.
They found the insulation on the roof had run out and been left off... water had soaked through the layers of roof and a less than a year old house got a whole new roof, plus redoing all the non-existant insulation in the garage and second story. It cost more than it would have for them to buy an older house and do a few repairs and his chief regret was all the neighbors houses were built the same. I've never heard anyone who works in construction reccomend new homes that knows how they are built.
My 1930's house needs some blown in insulation and such but its been standing for 80 years and is doing just fine. Doubt the new mcmansion can say that in less than half the time.
I have a few friends (and family members) who have 5000sqft+ homes and to me they seem so impersonal. There is so much room that you can go an entire day without seeing another member of your family.
Its a personal decision, and if you like giant houses, then that's great. Personally, I prefer small houses where you don't have big, unused areas (I lived in a 3 bedroom for a while with my ex and we had an entire room that we rarely went inside...it just collected junk) and you don't have to collect 'stuff' just to keep it looking full.
I hate stuff. I would take a small teeny house with a big barn/garage/shop space over a big house any day
It depends. Some big houses have many rooms. We don't like those kind of houses.
Our big house (4600 sq ft) has few rooms, but they are all big. Like the family room is big, the formal living (where we keep a pool table and sitting area) is big...but there aren't a bunch of extra rooms all over the place. Three bedrooms (each bedroom is big), a gym, and a movie theater/media room. So you don't have extra rooms you don't use - each room you use is large. It feels good for me, as I have claustrophobia issues...and it keeps the house well lit all over, as I also have darkness issues and bask in natural light. And it sits on half an acre, so no 'mini yard' to deal with. Pool and plenty of room for the dogs to run.
I* had a construction job for a time helping build those mcmansions...they're absolute crap. Impressive facade outside, poor underneath. And they were expensive homes I was working on. Several merely had foam board as sheathing under vinyl siding. On top of the lousy lumber used. Won't last as long as the mortgage I'd venture a guess.
Only an idiot would build such a large house here anyways. There's years when you have to heat the place 8 or 9 months a year. There's a reason the older (settlement era) houses here are primarily capes, small saltboxes, etc. They were efficient.
I think you have a point for many of those houses. Our house was constructed via specs created by the former owner (we know him) who spent quite a bit more to have a well constructed home. Oddly, our second house (it was 120 years old then) was built near a lumber center on the Mississippi and had OAK studs (yes, oak) with pegs. It was incredible to see it in the attic. I wonder how much that would cost today? We had to clean out horse hair from the walls (a little bit of a fire hazard) that was used for insulation.
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