Mansionmania rolls along with our juggernaut Elite 8 4th-round contestants. You will choose among each pair of houses with the following assumptions:
The purchase price for you is $0.
All maintenance, utilities, property taxes, HOA fees, and cleaning is included.
You must live in the home for the rest of your life.
You can't travel more than 100 miles from home (via google maps drive time) other than 1 two-week vacation each year.
You get $250,000 per year as a living allowance
You get an additional living allowance at the cheaper home, which will be valued at 1% of any cost difference annually. I will note this amount in the poll.
You get the furnishings. If unfurnished, you get an allowance that will give you mid-grade furniture in every room.
You get any vehicles in the garage. But only the garage - nothing parked outside.
I encourage you to click on the maps in the listings to see the general location and neighborhood.
Also, I will only enter contestants if they have a sufficient number of photos to judge, as determined by me.
We have another battle of mountains versus ocean here.
That Colorado house is darn nice. I really like the design and the setting is off the charts. The downside is of course that I'm not into six months of winter. It's also probably around 8,000 feet in elevation, which is a notable issue if I'm spending the rest of my life there. I'm going to have one of those portable oxygen tanks for the last five years of my life.
Florida is warm and sea level. It's in a big metro area, and the setting is also great in a different manner. I'll confess that I don't like the style as well as I like the Aspen house, though, and it's half the size. I also sunburn easily, which would be a constant issue of concern. Much of my stipend would go toward 50 spf sunscreen.
I'll go with Colorado, I think. The house is big enough that I can survive the winters, and the money will buy me reasonable access to Aspen. [Reply]
Man, that blue water just calls to me. To go outside every day and to see that right in front of you would be a dream come true. Yes, humidity sucks, but you do have a POOL AND AN OCEAN RIGHT THE HELL THERE TO COOL OFF IN.
The Aspen house is just more appealing somehow. I think in this round, the starkness of the Florida house doesn't hold up to Colorado, I guess? I don't know. I'll go with high society living in the mountains this round. Can't hardly believe it, really. [Reply]
I can't begin to tell you how much I hate snow. I don't care if it's for a day or the 6-7 months I'd have to live with it in Aspen. I'll take the heat and humidity because there's a wonderful invention called AC and a cement pond just outside the house. I kind of dig the whole Miami Vice look of the house. I'll just scrimp and save a portion of that $250K and in a couple years buy that Testarossa. Try driving that in the snow. [Reply]
Originally Posted by oldman:
I can't begin to tell you how much I hate snow. I don't care if it's for a day or the 6-7 months I'd have to live with it in Aspen. I'll take the heat and humidity because there's a wonderful invention called AC and a cement pond just outside the house. I kind of dig the whole Miami Vice look of the house. I'll just scrimp and save a portion of that $250K and in a couple years buy that Testarossa. Try driving that in the snow.
I'll buy the Lambo or Ferrari AWD SUV instead. [Reply]