CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Whether you're interested in cars, boats, or houses -- the winnings from either of two lotteries with jackpots over half a billion dollars right now would go a long way in the Coastal Bend.
The Corpus Christi marina is filled with boats -- some expensive and others on the lower end.
But if you're interested in keeping up with the Joneses, like Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, expect to pay a lot more.
Jones famously bought the Bravo Eugenia, a mega yacht appropriately as long as a football field, in December of 2018 for a quarter of a billion dollars.
A similar purchase would leave the winners of the upcoming lotteries with plenty of money.
The Powerball drawing Wednesday has an estimated jackpot of $730 million while the Mega Millions drawing Tuesday has an estimated $850 million jackpot.
With all of the money leftover from the yacht purchase, the winners might turn to houses.
"If I had the opportunity to by any piece of real estate here in Corpus Christi, it would have to be on the water," real estate agent James Magill said.
Magill recommended Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi or houses on the water in Port Aransas.
But he also had a cautionary tale.
“I have witnessed a lotto winner come into the Corpus Christi market and buy up a lot of real estate," Magill said. "Unfortunately he wasn’t as successful as he wanted to be with a lot of the outcomes on investments."
Magill also warned about making sure you keep enough money to be able to pay property taxes that he says are between $16,000 and $25,000 per year for every $1 million your homes are worth.
“When it comes to owning a property and owning that many properties sometimes people forget about the taxes that you’re going to have to pay on this property while they sit there," Magill said.
With homes mostly topping out in the seven figures in Corpus Christi, a winner of this week's lotteries would still likely have money leftover for lavish cars.
A client adviser at the new BMW dealership in Corpus Christi was quick to offer a suggestion.
“I would definitely steer him towards this thing right here," Tony Opel said while motioning to the M5 model. "It’s got six hundred horsepower. It’s definitely got all the muscle for all that money.”
The M5's sticker price of $118,000 might make some people think twice about spending that much money on a car.
But for our lotto winners -- there's money remaining to buy one for the whole family.
“If you’ve got the money, we can make it happen,” Opel said.
