McMansions are a poor investment [View all]

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The massive, gaudy houses lining the streets of America’s upscale suburbs began to look like the epitome of bad taste and poor judgement once the foreclosure crisis hit. The writer behind the blog “McMansion Hell” tells why they’ll eventually be gone for good. 

Kate Wagner, a 22-year-old getting her master’s degree in architectural acoustics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has been researching consumer trends in architecture since she was in high school. Her background knowledge has given her ammunition for “McMansion Hell,” which she started writing this summer. At first, she wrote for a few friends to let off steam about the houses she despises, but the blog quickly gained followers.  

There’s literally nothing that would convince me to live in a McMansion,” Wagner said. “I would rather donate it to a fire department to use for controlled burns.”

Wagner marks up real estate listing photos like a merciless English teacher. Her snarky but informative explanations of the problems with McMansions make architecture criticism accessible for people who aren’t experts. 

There’s no hard-and-fast definition of a McMansion, but Wagner has a long list of criteria. McMansions are oversized ― more than 3,000 square feet, with five or more bedrooms and a garage for three or more cars ― and typically too large for the size of their lot.

“One of the defining factors of the McMansion is this concept of waste and the proliferation of excess and … pushing this illusion of wealth,” Wagner said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/the-type-of-house-you-should-never-buy/ar-AAiVgWM?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=edgsp

Illusion of wealth? Who does that bring to mind?