Bigger isn’t always better
There’s a new trend in the housing market. No, it’s not about
mortgage rates or days on the market or radon gas or the latest
must-have gadgets in the kitchen. It’s not about outdoor kitchens
or renewable resource bamboo floors or the current favored color
palette. And you won’t hear this blaring from the braying mouths of
talk radio show hosts or see it screaming on the above-the-fold
newspaper headlines.
Bigger isn’t always better
There’s a new trend in the housing market. No, it’s not about mortgage rates or days on the market or radon gas or the latest must-have gadgets in the kitchen. It’s not about outdoor kitchens or renewable resource bamboo floors or the current favored color palette. And you won’t hear this blaring from the braying mouths of talk radio show hosts or see it screaming on the above-the-fold newspaper headlines.
In fact, rarely is this mentioned. Now and again, there is a mention in an article of a real estate industry periodical or within the pages of a thoughtful tome on modern living. But it has come into my awareness with persistence over the past year or so, and so I share it with you.
There are two elements to this trend which I have dubbed “Home Experience” to differentiate it from “Home Ownership.”
The first is size. If you were around in the housing boom of the 1990s, you probably noticed this, though you might not have understood the implications. When the large home builders came in, they began building homes of 1200 to 1800-square-feet. They were a big hit. People bought them up in no time at all.
So builders purchased more land. And the owners of the land, recognizing an opportunity, raised the prices. So the home builders, to maximize their investment, began building bigger homes. These sold, too. So the dance continued until KABOOM! The city of Hollister blew out its sewer capacity. By this time, the homes were around 3200-square-feet. Super-size me!
The second element of the Home Experience is manageability. We Realtors are privy to access into homes at times when the owners would normally never let anyone in the doors. We have seen it all. I am convinced that more people than you can even imagine are at the mercy of the “Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome”, or CHAOS for short.
Let’s go back and look at the big house and its manageability. When the buyer saw the model home, they noticed the huge master bedroom with the master retreat. It was set up for quiet reading in an overstuffed chair. They were counseled that this retreat could be an interim nursery for that new baby, or an exercise area, or a quiet office space. The reality? Four years later the space is filled with a treadmill used for drying hand washables and the walls are lined with plastic boxes labeled “Taxes 2005” and “Christmas.” These boxes haven’t made it out to the garage because that is filled with the bikes, golf clubs unused since 1998, the cat carrier for Fluffy who died in 2003 and a favorite old chair to be recovered someday.
The office cubicle in the kitchen, touted to be the organizational center of the family in the model home, is today awash with the detritus of a busy life…bills, to-do lists, calendars shoved under junk mail, the kids’ report cards to be signed and sent back, the receipt for the laundry you left off a month ago, and upcoming appointment reminders for the dentist, the doctor and the hair dresser.
We could continue walking through the model home and see what has become of each of the rooms, but I’m sure you get the picture. We work long hours to afford the big house and we don’t have time to organize it, clean it, or…novel idea…enjoy it. What’s wrong with this picture?
I recently read about a woman whose house was severely hit by the San Fernando Valley earthquake. All her possessions were demolished… each item had been picked up and dashed onto the ground by the awesome force of nature. After her initial shock and grief, she said it was the single best thing ever to happen to her. All the things she couldn’t live without? She found she could indeed!
Today she only surrounds herself with possessions which Today she only surrounds herself with possessions which are beautiful and useful, each one selected carefully by her and appreciated fully. She no longer feels defined by what she owns.
So here’s the essence of the trend of House Experience: It doesn’t matter what size your home is, as long as it is the correct size for you. Get rid of possessions you no longer need, use or even like. Don’t be sucked into drooling over pictures of the perfect homes in Architectural Digest or Sunset. (Remember there were professionals primping and priming and plumping before that photo shoot. For all you know, the owners suffer from CHAOS as well in their real life!) The essence of contented Home Experience is to be grateful for the roof over your head, the possessions which make your soul sing and the love you find living within the walls.
May you be blessed in your home this week, and remember to be kind to your Realtor!
