I have friends who have 16 children. No, it's not a typo, they really have 16 kids. I just about made it through my three kids' teen years so the fact that they're not yet in a mental institution amazes me. Anyway, they built a 15,000 square foot home in NW Bergen County, just as the real estate market started its decline. Money got tight, so the home took much longer than they'd anticipated, and now they can't afford to finish it. It got me thinking about what happens to these giant behemoths when the market tanks, and no one wants or can afford them? I think about the homes in Franklin Lakes, NJ where I raised my kids, and where I do much of my business, and wonder what will ultimately happen to homes over 6,000 sf. For decades, homes in Franklin Lakes continued to get bigger, but not necessarily better, and now we have a glut of the ubiquitous McMansions on the market with not much prospect of selling at what sellers would consider a reasonable price. What will become of these homes if the unthinkable happens and they just never sell? Because I'm seeing a different kind of buyer coming out of this economy, and that buyer isn't looking for a big home; they're looking for a beautiful, managable home. Most of my buyers who are ready to sell their 5,000 sf homes would be thrilled to find a home just under 3,000 sf, preferably in the town in which they now live. I'm sure there will always be buyers who want the biggest home they can afford, but my guess is they will be far fewer in number. What that might mean is towns will have to rethink their building codes to allow for unsalable homes to be renovated into duplexes, or two-family homes. Unthinkable now, maybe, but who knows what the future of housing will be when everything shakes out?
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