Mansionmania Tournament: Round 3, Heat 1 (and a map of contenders)

[Rain Man]

I generally leave heats open for a couple of days, so if by some miracle there's a change in voting in Heats 15 or 16 of Round 2, this may change. But I doubt that'll happen since the votes aren't very close.

As we roll into Round 3, our 16 remaining competitors are diverse. We have:

2 in New England
2 in mid-Atlantic states
3 in the South
1 in whatever region Oklahoma counts as
3 in the mountains (lumping Nevada with CO and WY)
3 in California
2 islands (HI and the USVI)

Mansionmania continues with our Sweet 16 3rd-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.

Your entries in this heat are:

Alabama:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...1_M78699-72545

California:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M95237-01396

California:

[oldman]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Not sure if your reply is aimed at me, but if it is, here goes. If not, disregard.

It isn't that I have to have LA, its that it's close enough that I don't want to get any of that on me.

And the thing you don't understand is its 4.5 HOURS from Wichita or Colorado Springs and Denver. Garden City is 45 minutes and sub 50K people. So not living by a sprawling metropolis or tons of traffic is certainly not a detractor, and probably a benefit.

And where I currently live already has the slack jawed LEOs.

The difference is, while I'm perfectly happy where I am, what I don't have is a ****ing million per. I can get it spent. Believe me.

No, it wasn't your comment. Trust me, I know all about living in western Kansas. Been there, done that, and wouldn't do it again. The point I was making is that the CA place has more of what I'd want to do than AL.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

What would happen if I just did nothing with the CA land? Obviously it would slowly return to its natural state, but would I get in trouble with any local or state regulations on farmland or something similar?

Well, before it returned to it's natural state, it would be a weed **** disaster mess.

Depending on if the farm is enrolled in any government programs, there may be requirements. Probably nothing serious. If there are noxious weeds, you may be required to terminate them.

If there is any local ordinances you have to comply with those would be on you too.

Smart money is rent it out.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by oldman

No, it wasn't your comment. Trust me, I know all about living in western Kansas. Been there, done that, and wouldn't do it again. The point I was making is that the CA place has more of what I'd want to do than AL.

I'm neither a young man, nor am I an old one. I know what I like to do now but I don't know what I'll like to do in 20, 30 or 40 years.

But I can be pretty sure that WHATEVER it is I'll want to do when I'm 70, I'll be able to do it at the Cali place. If I become a fan of the arts and want to get opera tickets - boom, done. Or if I become a hermit and never want to see another living soul - I can probably pull that off out there as well.

There really isn't any sort of hobby or pass-time I couldn't take up out there. If I suffer from some sort medical condition I'll have direct access to top shelf healthcare in LA.

Forever is a really long time and that's why I usually end up leaning heavily into proximity. You get 2 weeks a year for the rest of your LIFE outside of that 100 mile radius. I think the relative freedom we have to go wherever we wanted if we could kinda blinds us to how critical having those goods/services available to us can really be, even if we don't utilize them all that often.

And without knowing what I'll want to be doing in 2-3 decades, how can I just close the book on it and not focus on versatility?

[Graystoke]

Sweet Home pulling ahead