Strollerderby : mcmansions and starter castles

Many Urbanites Go from House Proud to House Poor in 5 Years

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:36:00 GMT

Admitting one has made a serious financial mistake as an adult (who is supposed to know better) and especially as a parent (who is supposed to teach children about money) is a source of great shame for most people...

So it's not surprisingly many folks are keeping mum about their housing woes. As the the rates of foreclosure in parts of the country skyrocket and unravel local economies, many cities are predicted to see house values decline by as much as 26% over the next 5 years. These cities include Seattle, Portland, Orlando, Greater Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and others.

Say you elected an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), a few years ago when appreciation seemed a sure thing and low monthly mortgage payments in the beginning of your term might have gotten your family into a bigger house, or a nicer area than you'd have otherwise been able to afford. Or, you refinanced or bought into an equity line to pay for kids' schooling, or vacation, or car, or remodel. Or, perhaps you bought a house because it was a good investment rather than a lovely place to live.

Many of us had our closest encounter with paper wealth as a result of the double-digit appreciation of the late-90's and early 2000's... So maybe we deferred saving for retirement or other smart uses of our money in favor of betting it all on our housing.

As the housing slump marches on, economic insecurity will hit many of us very close to home.

Greenhouse: A House Built for Hobbits? or You?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:06:00 GMT

Efforts to buy green, consume less, and teach our children to love Mother Earth often falter in the face of toy overload and dreams of each child having his or her own themed bedroom by age 2. McMansions obviously have wide appeal for a reason.

Building green is another matter, one more complicated and revolutionary (and often more expensive) than remodeling a craftsman in an urban center. Creative approaches such as the one pictured right get around the whole expense by simplifying the scale and scope (and by using the landscape as an important structural component).

Nevermind that one might expect Bilbo Baggins to answer the door. This off the grid approach is admirable (if likely impractical for any but the most woodland of creatures).

[via Boing Boing]

How Big Are Your Family Digs?

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 29 May 2007 22:06:00 GMT

Another old house in my beautiful neighborhood is getting knocked down. It is a house kiddy-corner from our apartment building and granted, it was on the market for a very long time and then for rent for an even longer time. It is not beautiful, not in great shape. But it is an old house on an over-sized lot with a great yard and its own character. And like many other homes turned construction sites within blocks, a Starter Castle will surely be built up in its place. With lots of bathrooms, more bedrooms and no trace of Earth on the lot.

This McMansioning of America cannot be surprising to anyone who owns a home, is buying a home or just walks past homes in their 'hood. A recent report citing one in five homes now have four bedrooms and 2.5 baths is up from a one in six ratio in 1990. This trend toward bigger home size doesn't match up with the trend toward shrinking family size. It is, however, right on track with our need for more expansive space to fit all our stuff, no matter how much greenspace it means we chop away or how big our environmental footprint is on our cities, counties or country.

All this construction comes at a price (and not just environmental). The average home price has risen 40% since 1990, hitting $167,500. I almost choked on my latte when I read this since our family's hunt for even a crappy fixer-upper keeps landing us at doorsteps with at least a $400,000 price tag. While I loved our own Crank Mama's ode to small spaces and while I can go on and on and freaking on about the horrific crapification of monstrous new builds in our neighborhood, I know that when we are finally ready to move out of our tiny apartment (noooo, not bitter about that at all), I will have every home-office/playroom/kid's bathroom/guest space/art studio/fitness room reason in the world to hit all the 4 BR/2.5 BA open houses I can find.