How do you feel when friend buys McMansion?

[Anonymous]

You and your friend or coworker live comfortably in a $700,000 house. Suppose your friend that earns the same as you suddenly buys a $2 million house. What are the thoughts running through your head?
This hasn't happened to me but this is what I would think:
1.) I am very happy for the person.
2.) I hope they invite me back again because I LOVED the swimming pool or the sauna or the gym or the movie theatre or the gourmet kitchen etc. etc. And now I can enjoy it for free!
3.) How in the world did they afford this place? Are they smuggling drugs? Are they internet hackers? Something is fishy!
4.) This person is going through a midlife crisis. Even if I could afford this, I would never buy this ridiculous McMansion.

Other reactions might be:
5.) This person is out of my league. I don't want to come back.
6.) I can't invite this person to my house because my house looks stupid by comparison.
7.) Act as if nothing has changed. As if they had the same $700,000 house they had before.

If you get invited for dinner, do you bring nothing (the person is too rich anyways), do you bring the usual stuff (average bottle of wine), do you bring the luxury goods because this is going to be an amazing dinner in an amazing place. Do you say: No Thanks, because you no longer wish to associate with this person.

Any real life experiences as the guest or the host?

[Anonymous]

Why does the price tag make it a McMansion?

[Anonymous]

You are weird. If you are friends, stay friends.

[Anonymous]

In other words, if your friend does well, do you act like a psychotic jerk or not?

Wow, OP. What to say? If I had one, and I knew you, you probably would not have to worry about being invited much at all.

If (not when) you are invited, bring something you would bring to any other friend. Assuming it is a friend? Assuming you treat all of your friends like this? Yikes.

Your post says far more about you and your rotten attitude than it does about anyone with a nice house.

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Here's a secret, most of the McMansions are considered average housing in most places. They also do not cost 2 million depending on the location. No one really makes a big deal about it whether they have one or not.

The starting price of a McMansion inside the beltway with good schools is around 800K and increases closer in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You and your friend or coworker live comfortably in a $700,000 house. Suppose your friend that earns the same as you suddenly buys a $2 million house. What are the thoughts running through your head?

In this area, I figure that resentment, jealousy, behind-their-back put downs, or ridicule will figure into the reaction.

[Anonymous]

You are such a loser, OP.

[Anonymous]

$800k is a knock down, easy.

[Anonymous]

You made up a story to post here ?

GET A HOBBY.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like someone is jealous of their friend buying a house. Why should you care OP about your friend's house? As long as your friend is happy, then you should be happy for them. I don't care what type of house my friends buy because it's none of my business. Real friends care about you the person not the house that you live in. OP, you sound like you're not a true friend at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a secret, most of the McMansions are considered average housing in most places. They also do not cost 2 million depending on the location. No one really makes a big deal about it whether they have one or not.

The starting price of a McMansion inside the beltway with good schools is around 800K and increases closer in.

What city and beltway are you talking about? $800,000 inside the DC beltway will not buy you a McMansion.

[Anonymous]

This hasn't happened to me but this is what I would think:

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't really care either way. Although I suppose if I knew all their finances (friend's, friend's spouse, their savings, and any money they have coming in, etc.) and I knew 100% that they could not afford it, I'd be worried for them if something happened and they could no longer afford the house.

But I can't think of any situation that I would know every single detail of my friend's finances. That said if they had something about their house that was really awesome, I'd certainly hope to be invited to visit! But that has nothing to do with a McMansion or even a very expensive house.

[Anonymous]

If someone with our same HHI bought a $2M house, I'd be thinking "one day, when these goddamn loans are gone, imma get one, too!"

I have friends with fantastic houses in enviable locations. I have friends with mcmansions. I have friends who have condos. I have friends who rent small apartments. There's something enviable in all of those cases. *shrug*

[Anonymous]

McMansions don't cost $2million.