This.
The house I grew up in was one of the nicest in my town. I think it cost around $100k or so.
That same house in say Florida where my folks moved to would’ve cost at least half a million at that same moment in time.
Yes. Not my point.
Maybe elaborate because your “point” makes no damned sense at all.
It’s Zylon; his purpose is to be a lovable, curmudgeonly wang!
But why pick on Armando for his ‘$400,000 McMansion’ example in the first place? I live in a major metropolitan area and $400k will buy a perfectly fine McMansion. All the coastal people who cannot envision such a concept are at least equally as unimaginative (not to mention paying way too much for a house).
Listing price for this 4800 sq ft McMansion? $417,500
Armando expressed befuddlement at the concept of expensive houses just because he’s never lived in one. He did NOT balk at the concept of property value being determined by location. So not relevant to my response.
Not sure how you couldn’t follow that. Sad!
These are all over Minneapolis. They’re pretty great.
Yeah, but how long is the commute to Manhattan? (j/k)
Around $100 per square foot is pretty common here in the suburbs where I live outside a large Midwestern city. An older house with few updates will run 25% less, a newer house with upgraded finishes will run 25% more. So a $400,000 McMansion is pretty much right on the money for real estate prices in my area. I like where I live cost of living-wise. It’s very reasonable. Granted, there are enclaves around town where home prices shoot up to semi-ridiculous levels because they are considered trendy or upper-class, and that’s fairly ridiculous considering said enclaves don’t offer up much in practical value (like waterfront access, or a killer view, etc…). There are also areas out further that are considered more “rural”, and home prices are lower there, even on new construction, so good deals can be found for those willing to look hard enough.
We have an HOA in our subdivision. For the most part the fascism of an HOA is directly proportional to the personality of the people running it. What happens is that everyone is super involved the first couple of years, but that’s when homes are new, streets are pretty and everything is running smoothly (and the developer is usually still involved as well, making HOA management easier), 5 years in 95% of the homeowners could give a shit less about the HOA, so if the 5% of people still showing up at the meetings and voting are crotchety old people with nothing better to do, nosy busybodies and petty fascists, then your HOA is going to be a nightmare. Ours was like that for a couple of years thanks to a single woman who got herself voted onto the board and went nuts with the power. Once we got her removed and a quiet, responsible guy put in charge, the HOA faded to the background and acts only as an entity to pay the community bills, address concerns, approve construction and collect the reasonable fees. In fact, they spearheaded a project to replace all the streetlights in the subdivision with LED streetlights three years ago. They asked for a one-time charge of $100 from every home in the neighborhood. In exchange for the $100, we got lights that save enough energy that we pay over $10,000 LESS in community electrical costs annually, which meant that after the project completed last year, everyone’s HOA fees were reduced $50 a year. An HOA is what you make of it, take part and keep the assholes from taking over, and you might actually see some good come of it.
Still waiting on the lovable part.
@slaintemhath around here, prices are hitting 300/sqft…and not for top of the line updated stuff either. It’s nuts.
Sign me up for living in parts of the world where hills are considered mountains. J/K. There’s a reason the coastal cities have higher prices, and it’s not because the option to live in the Midwest and South isn’t there.
That’s okay. A few more decades, and the Midwest will be the coastal regions!
oh looky here, a new HOA story came up, and so soon!
Now I understand some people want uniformity in their neighborhoods but if this is the only thing this guy is doing, seems odd to be update about a mailbox with a USA flag on it, in the USA of course.
HOA’s remind me of political parties.
“Look, sure - some HOA’s are bad, but they don’t represent all HOA’s. Most are fine, upstanding people doing what’s right for those they represent.”
“Okay, I understand you’re not happy about your HOA, but maybe that just means you should do something about it. Write to your HOA, heck run for your HOA. Then you can have your ideas heard.”
“HOA’s are evil, fascist dictatorships that only care about property values and not the people who live on them!”
“Only two things are certain in life; death and that my HOA will find something to complain about my property.”
“This is why I rent - my only CC&R sings Bad Moon Rising!”
So… it seems like Pence is probably going to run against Trump in 2020?
I am sure Trump will react to this with his usual equanimity and thoughtfulness.
Pence’s hair looks injection-molded.
Still better than Trump hair.
The irony is, in his heart Trump probably doesn’t even want to run in 2020. Being President hasn’t been the romp he expected it to be.
But he’s got to pretend to be interested in running in 2020. For one thing, he’s using his “campaign” as a dodge to get his credulous supporters to pay for things. And of course, as much as he can’t stand being President, having anyone challenge his authority is much, much worse. So expect the backlash against Pence in 5,4,3,2 …
Meanwhile, yet another poll shows his base crumbling:
President Trump’s approval rating dropped 5 percentage points in August to a new low of 32%, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll, with 59% saying they disapprove of the job he’s doing as president… Trump’s support among white men — the one demographic group who approved of Trump — dropped from 51% in July to 44% in August.