Sign of the Times! 75 Million Dollar Mansion for Sale As-Is, Where-Is

These days, most Realtors are accustomed to a myriad of sales that used to be somewhat unusual. "Fixer-upper" seems to have slipped its way into the descriptions that used to read "like-new" or "totally renovated." We see a lot of foreclosures, unfinished homes, flooded homes, moldy homes, sinking homes, abandoned homes, and the like these days. But even after wading my way through a few years of listings in less-than-ideal condition, I was still impressed to learn that the largest home for sale in America has almost 100,000 square feet, a baseball field, 23 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 3 pools, 10 kitchens, a wine cellar, over a mile of pristine private shoreline, and the architecture was modeled after the grand 17th-Century residence of King Louis XIV. Oh - and it's unfinished. As-Is, Where-Is. A, ahem, fixer-upper.
         The home is the brainchild of a Florida based timeshare tycoon whose homes state, profession, and construction project were all hit particularly hard by the economic downturn. Timeshare sales fell sharply in 2008 and have yet to make much progress toward recovery. As a consequence, somewhere on a lake in Florida is an enormous abandoned mansion available at an incredible discount. And in my estimation, it is more than just a good deal. It is a perfect symbol for the current dark underbelly of our housing market, and  also says a lot about how we arrived at this crisis to begin with.
     America likes everything as big, shiny, and fast as it can be. Where else in the universe could you buy an inflatable barbecue, you know, so that you can grill while you swim. And hey, why not, right? I have to admit that I really don't have a fundamental problem with that. If you want to go to work, make some money, purchase an inflatable grill, and cook up a few t-bones while you perfect your breaststroke, have at it. This is, after all, the home of the free. But perhaps the time has come to exercise our freedom in a more reasonable way. The pursuit of happiness has become for many citizens the pursuit for things they do not need and cannot afford; a pursuit of luxury in a dangerous extreme. Maybe the average middle American family can't afford to own a little slice of heaven in the form of a timeshare. Maybe they can just call it good at the inflatable barbecue and try to find the vacation of their dreams in their own back yards. And maybe 90,000 square feet homes in the style of 17th century kings are only appropriate quarters for, well, 17th century kings.
     I believe that the economy will recover - that it is recovering as we speak. I think that the 75million dollar fixer-upper will sell and go on to be finished. But, I also think that it would do most folks a lot of good to take the lessons from this recession and hold on to them, and so will return to the premise of my blog with some buyer advice: Buy a home you can afford! Finance your dreams on hard work, not debt. Recognize that quality differs from quantity, and that there is a lot more time to enjoy life when you get to stop stressing out about how to pay the impossible bills.


If you would like to check out the listing for the mansion, be sure to visit the Realtor's website here.

If  you are interested in something a little more affordable than the unfinished mansion, check out some of our listings HERE