Missing out on $12M condo? Oh, rats!
By Beth Teitell
Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Initially, I must admit, I was depressed by the idea of that Back Bay condo that's being sold for $12 million, mostly because it's not mine.

But then I imagined meeting the owner, and winning the battle of smugness.

Me: $12 million for your condo! That's fabulous!

Owner: Yes, yes it is. Excellent location, you know.

Me: Well, for that price, of course. And your back yard must be enormous! I can only imagine the plantings.

Owner: It's a brownstone. There's no yard. It's more of an alley with garbage cans. And rats.

Me: Rats? Really? Still, you must be in a very secluded location.

Owner: Ahem, well, we are set back from the sidewalk by a few feet.

Me (feeling a lot better): Have a great day! And I mean that.

Well, a girl can fantasize, can't she?

Actually, the sad news - sadder than the fact that most of us will never even go to an open house for a $1 million condo, let alone one 12 times that much - is that in some parts of the country (read Manhattan), $12 million doesn't even raise waxed eyebrows.

In New York City, no one gasps until the $44 million mark is hit - as it was in December, when Rupert Murdoch reportedly bought a 20- room triplex with a terrace overlooking Central Park.

Moneywise, it takes a lot to geta gasp, even here. We've become so used to reading about super-wealth that we're blase over mere millions.

Here's how a woman who lives in a cramped two-bedroom apartment - which she RENTS- responded when I told her about the Commonwealth Avenue condo: "$12 million isn't even that much money," she said.

"Things are expensive now. By the time you're done paying for parking spots and a personal chef and buying resortwear before it goes on sale, you're almost there."

Well, almost. Give or take $12 million.

As for me, it's time to readjust my dreams. Before reading about the $12 million condo, I'd been lusting over a $1 million place, but not any more.

One million? I haven't spoken to any Realtors, but my guess is that that buys you a crackhouse craphole in a lousy part of town. And that's without parking. Or windows.