I took a drawing course a long time ago where the instructor based her course on Betty Edwards book: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I went from drawing stick figures that were totally awful to drawing things (boxes, flowers, faces, etc.) that looked at least like they somewhat resembled the object being drawn. Technique is one thing, talent is another. Each of us has our own unique talents in varying degrees.
The premise of this course was to allow the student to shift from drawing on memory (ie. what their brain thinks they see) versus what the student actually saw in front of them. The goal was to get the student to shift from the former to the latter, from the left brain (logical, analytical, etc.) to the right brain (artistic, creative, intuitive, etc.)
The shift is gradual but profound, and I realized slowly when I was in it, time became irrelevant and the moment was totally in focus. When basic techniques were learned, coupled with the right side of my brain taking over, then I was "mostly" free to draw what I saw, not what my left brain had stored and said to draw. In other words, if someone says, draw a hand, most people who haven't had this basic level of training and brain-shifting will draw a flat hand with four fingers and a thumb, no depth, no context, no foreshortening, no anything. That was me as well.
To make a long story short, it was probably one of the most fun and engaging classes I ever took, and while I don't think I have much in the way of the talent department, compared to some of my peers and friends who are artists, I really enjoy doodling, drawing what I see if I have a few moments, and experimenting.
How can this concept benefit a home buyer? I can see the skeptical looks in full gear already. To me, the underlying concept that relates to home buying is:
Intuition.
I encourage buyers to really slow down and let the house speak to them and see how it makes them feel.
How does the home REALLY make you feel?
There are both intuitive things to assess as well as the practical, and both are important. It is so easy to get wowed with a staged home, well decorated or designed home, modern colors, and the like, that one must envision the home completely bare and imagine how you will utilize the spaces in the home. We live in such a fast-paced, information-overload, wired society, that sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. There is so much to soak in about a home -- size of the rooms, condition, windows, basement, adjoining properties, facts sheets left in the home, smells, furniture, artwork, temperature, etc., that it is so easy to focus on all these things but not imagine the various intuitive and practical:
- How does the home make me feel?
- How would I really envision living in this home?
- What do I do most of the time in a home and will this home accommodate it?
- What kind of views does this home afford?
- Does the home have a sunny southern exposure or is it surrounded by mature trees with only indirect sunlight?
- Will the one step-down family room grate on my nerves after a while?
- Does the yard and/or neighborhood really support the types of activities you or your family enjoys doing, such as walking, biking, scootering, sunbathing, shooting baskets, etc.?
- Does the home provide the level of privacy I desire?
- Is the home at the head of a T intersection that will cause car headlights to shine into the living room where we gather each evening?
- Is the home located such that when the windows are open, the level of noise is acceptable? Sounds are much more amplified during the evening and night-time hours. Eg. Is the home at a 4-way stop sign where cars will be starting and stopping all the time or with the windows open, will the sound of tires on a wet highway not allow sleeping with the windows open in the summer months?
- Does the kitchen window provide a view?
- Are the rooms more compartmentalized or open?
- Does the home make me smile? Feel good? cold? indifferent? claustrophobic?
- Is the kitchen large enough to support 2 cooks if that is commonly done? Are there two ways in and out of the kitchen? Is there enough kitchen counter space for food preparation? Is there a kitchen pantry? Does the range/cooktop have ventilation to the outside?
- Is the driveway level that will support playing basketball or using it in general?
- How far is the home from the majority of places you go?
- How well kept are the immediate neighbors homes? Both on the sides and in the rear.
- Etc.
I try to encourage buyers when they first enter the home to really slow down and see how the home makes them feel.
Home staging experts suggest many buyers make up their minds within the first 90 seconds of being inside a home. I have found a lot of truth to that from observing buyers I have worked with.
Sometimes, I will see buyers trying to talk themselves into a home, trying to justify many things in order to make it work. This is almost always a bad idea. Never talk yourself into a home. While I'm not sure there exists a perfect home for a given buyer, there are definitely a wide spectrum in how a given buyer will interact with a single home. No two buyers are alike. One buyer may absolutely love a home, while another may have an opposite experience.
It's wise to really listen to your inner self, your intuition, as well as your logic.
I always recommend:
- Never purchase a home after just one visit
- Durng the second visit, really spend some time, at least an hour so you can get a really good understanding and feel for the home
- If you aren't sure after the 2nd visit, schedule a third visit. After all, this is a HUGE decision, and it's not like Target where all you have to do is whip out your receipt and return it!
- Know that if you are only part way through your home search, some homes that you really, really like, may be sold before you are ready to decide, that is part of the process
- When you are far enough along the home search process and you are on the home stretch, if you find a home that you are almost certain is the one for you, don't delay, act quickly and make an offer based on both your level of desire for the home as well as what the market is saying about it (new listing on the market, stale -- on the market for a long time, tired shape, mint condition, recent sales comparisons, market trends, etc.). Unfortunately, I have seen many a buyer lose out on their dream home because they wanted to see what else was going to come on the market in the next 1-2 weeks, or there were multiple offers because they delayed their decision by even 1-2 days sometimes, thereby causing them to pay a premium that they would not have had to otherwise, had they acted quickly.
- Take photos (with permission)
- Make another impromptu visit to the neighborhood, park nearby the home in question, get out and explore the neighborhood (okay, harder to do in Cleveland winters, but not impossible either) and talk to as many neighbors nearby the home as possible. Ask lots of open ended questions. Follow up responses with: Why's that? It's amazing what you can learn about the neighborhood, etc. There may be a block party every summer, a book club, a huge weekly play date gathering, golf outing, tons of babysitters, or a host of other things that makes each home, street and neighborhood unique.
- Ask for utility bills, monthly averages, over the past year. You may be positively or negatively surprised.
- Is someone in the home 6'5" and the main-level ceilings 7' as it was built in the energy-crises 1970s by Ryan Homes? Is the reverse true? Are you a cozy, nook, warm and intimate spaces type of person and your main family room area is two-story where it never really gets warm-warm in the winter?
Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up with excitement on a particular aspect or two that it's easy to miss forest for the trees.
Slow down...take your thinking cap off for a minute...take a fresh look at things...keep an open mind...it's amazing what you can sometimes uncover what's right in front of you that you otherwise may not have noticed.
As a personal note: My wife and I once bought a home. We moved in. I had no recollection that the master bedroom in this 1920s home had two double-door closets PACKED FROM END TO END with California Closets. My wife sure noticed, but I was focused on other things.
Every house has a story to tell -- are you listening?
Every drawing also has a story to tell as well (just don't read too much into mine! Wink...wink...LOL)
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