7,000sf McMansion in Arcadia | Arcadia Housing Blog

Price: $2,888,000 ($414/sf)

Beds: 5
Baths: 5.5
Sq. Ft.: 6,981(!)
Lot Size: 0.38 Acres

Today’s new listing is a 6,981sf McMansion sprawled across a 1/3 acre piece of land. The description calls it a “Gorgeous Luxury Custom Built Estate.” Of course, we all know that this “custom home” was built using a mid-90’s floor plan and originally designed by San Gabriel Valley architects. Don’t believe me? Walk into a dozen McMansions built between 1995-1999 and you will see the same plans used over and over.

There are two things that are rediculous about this property: 1) The nearly 7,000sf living space and 2) a asking price of $2.8MM+. Do you think adding the ‘888‘ will increase this seller’s luck in finding a rich knifecatcher?

Cost to build this McMansion @ $150/sf = $1,047,150
Cost of property purchased in 2003 = $636,000

Total cost = $1,683,150

Current asking price: $2,888,000 = $1,204,850 profit (!)

What does not make sense is why someone would spend nearly $3MM to purchase an overbuilt McMansion when they could build the same thing for much much less. There are several land lots in Arcadia currently asking for ~$1MM. Assuming you spent another $1MM building a custom home, total savings would be over $800k!

Comments (10)

george8 · July 30, 2008 #3829

Might have been a great idea had the Great Housing Bubble continued. Bad timing. Money from China has been cut off (by credit crunch, stock market sell off, and government crack down…), and many of the McMansion buyers of the last few years are struggling themselves…underwater and drowning.

Someone might like the 2’s in the address to offer $1.88 million?

puckhead · July 30, 2008 #3832

7000 feet!!!!????? Pefect for the Chinese family. You can fit 3 generations under one roof.

Sean · July 30, 2008 #3837

Isn’t this a Beverly Hills price?

And when did 1/3 acre become an “Estate”? This home is perfect for the Asian version of the “Arcadia Hillbillies” show.

TheArcadian · July 31, 2008

That’s the first thing that came to mind… a 1/3 acre “estate”… Laughable at best.

llking · July 31, 2008 #3848

I hope they don’t sell it to the Chinese Immigrant with the newfound wealth transferred from China. They might dig up the lawn and put in a vegetable garden.

T K Eng · July 31, 2008 #3852

Looks like tough luck trying to find a knifecatcher from China for this property. The Chinese housing industry is also entering into a major crisis as the country readies for the Olympics, check out this article-

http://www.chinastakes.com/story.aspx?id=531

Sales are already way down in Beijing, with some existing homes declining 15-20% yr to yr. I predict the Chinese housing market will undergo a major adjustment after the Olympics, maybe as dramatic as that China’s stock market b/c the housing bubble in China is even more ridiculous than the U.S. mkt. (-50% correction this year, w/95% of investors losing money). When that happens, even the nuveau riche Chinese will be cautious about blowing their $ on a property like this.

hapaguy88 · August 1, 2008 #3874

Why the anti Chinese / asian comments. What do you all have against Chinese???

TheArcadian · August 1, 2008

hi hapaguy,

First of all, glad to have you as a reader!

Second, I don’t think we are anti-asian/chinese. Not sure if you read, but I am a Chinese American myself.

Since this is Arcadia we’re talking about, the millions of dollars of wealth that have poured in over the last decade from Asian immigrants aren’t without some problems (that we perceive of course).

Instead of sprawling landscaped yards, wall-to-wall privacy and reasonable real estate valuation, they are replaced with

– Overbuilt pink McMansions
– Single family homes rented out to multiple families
– Neighborhoods losing their character
– Reckless home bidding

Of course, it’s not all bad because in return we get:
– More academic competition
– More taxes paid
– Overload of BWMs instead of loud Civics (at least significantly less than Alhambra/Monterey Park)

akr889 · August 1, 2008 #3886

The street view picture shows a white civic hatchback parked on the driveway (between a hummer and a sequoia)