Most People Buy Mansions But This Virginia Lottery Winner Took the Lump Sum From a $348 Million Jackpot and Bought a Zero-Turn Lawn Mower Instead

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Most lottery winners marque a beeline for luxury existent estate, buying up seven-bedroom mansions with koi ponds, solid walls, and garages that look similar car museums. But 1 fortunate Virginian with $155.6 cardinal successful their pouch decided to observe differently—with a tract mower. Not conscionable immoderate tract mower, either. A zero-turn riding mower. Call it humble. Call it hilarious. Either way, it's a acold outcry from the Hollywood Hills.

The anonymous victor of Virginia's largest-ever jackpot—a $348 cardinal Mega Millions haul—walked into the authorities lottery office, cashed retired with the lump sum, and made 1 privation known: they planned to mow their tract successful style. That's not precisely the plotline My Lottery Dream Home was built around. In fact, the full HGTV amusement banks connected winners going house-hunting for multimillion-dollar properties—mountaintop estates successful Colorado, beachfront retreats successful Florida, oregon swanky Texas compounds. Not pushin' a mower down the driveway.

For context, Edwin Castro, who won a grounds $2.04 cardinal Powerball jackpot successful California successful 2022, spent a chunk of his currency connected 3 mansions: a $25.5 cardinal glass-box location successful Hollywood Hills, a $4 cardinal Zen-inspired retreat successful Altadena, and a $47 cardinal Bel Air property implicit with koi pond, naturally. That was each earlier helium started stockpiling vintage Porsches. He whitethorn ne'er interaction a weed-whacker again.

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But this Virginia winner? They're bucking the cliché. And ironically, that low-key determination mightiness beryllium a smarter fiscal determination than buying a $40 cardinal mega-mansion with upkeep costs that chew done millions annually. Real property is inactive a top-tier wealth-building tool—but owning it and surviving successful it are 2 precise antithetic games.

But here's the twist: skipping the mansion mightiness really beryllium the much financially dependable move.

Homeownership remains 1 of the astir almighty ways to physique wealth. According to the Federal Reserve's latest data, the median homeowner has 43 times much nett worthy than the median renter. That wealthiness spread isn't conscionable astir spot value—it's besides astir stability, appreciation, and the quality to leverage equity.

Unfortunately, homeownership has go a high-barrier imagination for many. Mortgage rates are high, starter homes are scarce, and adjacent humble properties travel with hefty down payments, bidding wars, and monthly payments that rival luxury rents.