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Housing inventory risingAn increase in homes to choose from is good news for buyers.
Buy a home near a star schoolGive your kid a shot at the best education with one of these homes.
Midcentury-modern marvelsThese sleek homes may be 60 years old, but their appeal is surging.
World's tallest places to liveHeight sells — but who's buying?
10 opulent party padsThese homes would befit 'The Great Gatsby' or any reveler.
Not for sale? Not a problemWith a tight inventory, agents are coaxing homeowners to sell.
World's densest megacitiesThese cities have the most people packed into them per square mile.
Mega-homes in the priciest ZIP codesCheck out homes for sale in the most expensive ZIP codes in the country.
Beautiful U.S. mansions for saleBuy yourself some elbow room with one of these expansive homes.
© Jim Schmid Photography; D. Charles
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© Garth's Real Estate Services
© D. Charles
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LOL! What a stupid article. Like anyone has enough money to buy even an "affordable" mansion? Oh, that's right, we've had our recovery summer and things are just peachy now, and we have to spend money to save money.......
I believe its not selling due to the ugly red square wth the white and blue circle yuck!
Why would someone do that to their driveway?
One mansion that will break the bank--address:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20006
10 bargain mansions
By Christopher Solomon of MSN Real Estate
Have you ever dreamed of owning the mansion on the hill?
That big house might be more within reach than you suspected. Thanks to the Great Recession and the collapse of the housing market, many really big homes nationwide are for sale for a song. We're not talking only 6,000-square-foot houses but 12,000-square-foot palaces — the kinds of places in which a person can get lost.
With help from the folks at Realtor.com, we've scoured the listings to find some of the largest homes available for less than $1 million. You may be startled to see what you can get for under — sometimes way under — a cool mil.
NOTE: All descriptive information is courtesy of listing agents. Properties were on the market and listed as available at the time of publication in September 2012, unless noted.
10 bargain mansions
Chesterland, Ohio
Size: 15,000 square feet, 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms
Price: $899,900
The dramatic J. Wigmore Mansion was built in 1901 in Lakewood, Ohio. In 1930, it was taken apart in five pieces, placed on barges and floated downriver to Chesterland, about 20 minutes east of Cleveland, where it took three years to reassemble.
The 30-room mansion on six acres now just needs the right owner to buff it to the glory of its heyday. The home has several 8-foot-high fireplaces wrapped in Italian marble, a trophy room, a ballroom with 26-foot ceiling, secret panels in some walls and a nine-car garage.
- On our blog, 'Listed': 'Bargain mansion' brings the outside in
- Find bargain homes for sale in great neighborhoods
Slide show: 2012 MSN Real Estate Most Livable Bargain Markets
10 bargain mansions
Excelsior Springs, Mo.
Size: 12,500 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms
Price: $749,950
You'll never be at a loss for a loo in this 10-bathroom home in Excelsior Springs, about 30 miles northeast of Kansas City, Mo. The home, built in 1973, has a generous country kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, tile floors and an open breakfast area. The rustic family room includes a brick fireplace, hardwood floors and built-in bookcases. The master suite upstairs has a sitting room with a stone fireplace.
It wouldn't be a big house without an indoor pool; this one is lighted by a wall of tall windows.
Why such a good deal? The owners have raised five children and are now empty-nesters, so the house has been priced to sell.
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10 bargain mansions
Martinsville, Ind.
Size: 14,519 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
Price: $895,900
Looking for your own retreat in the Heartland? This mansion sits on more than nine acres on a hilltop surrounded by woods, about 25 minutes south of Indianapolis. This home, completed in 2003, was a custom builder's private residence and has the amenities you'd expect: granite countertops in the huge kitchen, a massive master closet, hardwood floors throughout the main floor and a large covered porch out back.
10 bargain mansions
Springfield, Mo.
Size: 11,784 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms
Price: $859,900
Talk about a loaded pad. This home in southeast Springfield seems to have it all: five fireplaces, two full kitchens and a four-car garage. Other high-end touches include extra-wide crown molding; two-story Palladian windows; a five-unit, zoned heating and air-conditioning system; and recirculating instant hot water.
The home may be priced so well because few buyers here are in this price range, listing agent Ethel Curbowsays. Plus, she says, newer construction seems to be the hot ticket, and this home was built in 1990.
10 bargain mansions
Atlanta
Size: 11,288 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms
Price: $995,000
How about this magnificent home on one of Atlanta's most desirable streets, overlooking the Chattahoochee River This seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom home, built in 1990 for a Georgia Tech University professor and his family, has a huge great room with a 22-foot-tall coffered ceiling, oversized fireplace with ornate mantel, chandelier, wet bar and columned gallery.
The lower level has a large ballroom and a gym, plus a large two-bedroom apartment with its own entrance and kitchen.
"I believe that we have the property correctly priced and that it has been slow selling because of its size in the bad market we have been experiencing," listing agent Joe Oliver says.
- On our blog, 'Listed': Home prices show best performance in 6 years
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Slide show: 2012 MSN Real Estate Most Livable Bargain Markets
10 bargain mansions
Cambridge, Ohio
Size: 11,093 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Price: $395,000
Whoa! Less than $400,000 for home of this size? What's the catch?
The Gross Mansion was built in 1921 by Ohio businessman Charles Gross after he made millions on an oil and gas investment in Oklahoma. In the late 1950s, his daughter sold the home to the local YMCA for use as a community facility. A recreation center was added, and the main home was turned into offices and classrooms.
When the area Y expanded elsewhere in the early 2000s, a citizens group formed to save the mansion. A bank foreclosed on the group after a few years.
Luckily, interior details have survived the mansion's many uses, including handmade tiles throughout, a conservatory, and wood paneling enclosing the library.
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10 bargain mansions
Fair Oaks, Calif.
Size: 9,500 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $999,900
Fair Oaks is a suburban and semirural area near Sacramento. This Tuscan-style estate, built in 2006, exudes an Old World feel, starting with its solid-wood front door. Inside is a double-arched plaster ceiling and arched doorways throughout. The home, which includes attached guest quarters, also boasts a gourmet kitchen with two Bosch dishwashers, a warmer drawer, a Thermador double oven, an eight-burner Wolf stove and bull-nose granite countertops.
10 bargain mansions
Concord, N.C.
Size: More than 10,000 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms
Price: $998,000
This mansion in Concord, a city in south-central North Carolina, was built in 1900 by J.W. Cannon, founder of Cannon Manufacturing Co.
The home, which combines elements of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, is so handsome that it inspired a holiday ornament. Outside, the home has a two-story gable and domed turret. Inside, you'll find a large central hall, formal parlors, a library and a dining room. Each of the five bedrooms has access to a bathroom and unusually large closets for a home of its era.
10 bargain mansions
St. George, Utah
Size: 9,328 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $460,000
Looking for a place to keep your horses in spectacular southern Utah? Check out this big home at a great price in fast-growing St. George.
The home, built in 2006, sits on nearly 2.5 acres, with a huge, fenced backyard with room to board Black Beauty. It has a five-car garage with high ceilings to accommodate lots of toys, as well as a geothermal heating system to keep utility bills in check.
- On our blog, 'Listed': 'Bargain mansion' brings the outside in
- Find bargain homes for sale in great neighborhoods
Slide show: 2012 MSN Real Estate Most Livable Bargain Markets
10 bargain mansions
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Size: 10,017 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $999,945
Looking for your own castle? Check out this English Tudor-style home in the Yellow Breeches area of Pennsylvania, about 15 minutes from the state capital of Harrisburg. Perched on a bluff, Ford Farm was designed by its current owners and built in 1991 on more than five acres. Among the many custom touches outside are two circular driveways, a drive-through pass-way with a carport and a 177,000-gallon reflecting pond with an arched bridge. Inside is a custom-built, oak spiral staircase, and the lower level boasts a tavern bar with a draft-beer system reminiscent of an English pub.
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