Paradigm Shift
Author: Betsy Dell
Word Count: 854
Date: 1/30/09
In January's issue we talked about two kinds of houses-the dream house on the beach and the solid house on the bluff. These represent the two dominant but alternating attitudes about housing. There are times when we all want a house on the beach and there are times we all want a house on the bluff. Which one we desire depends on the prevailing attitude.
An attitude is a judgment we make about what is good or bad, pleasing or displeasing, important or unimportant. This judgment is based on our experience and our environment. As our experience grows and our environment changes, our attitude adjusts. But sometimes the adjustment required is so drastic that we must completely change our point of view. And that's exactly what's happening to our attitude about housing.
It is changing radically. We're going through a paradigm shift.
For almost 30 years we've been living on the beach. Houses on the beach are characterized by a More is Better attitude. More is Better basically means that we think having more will make our lives better. Since 1980 our houses have grown increasingly bigger and more fantastic.
We have more space, more stuff, more high-end features and more exclusive amenities than have been seen since the tycoons of the 1920s built their mansions. Only now all that space and stuff and features and amenities belongs to regular folks like you and me. And it seemed as if our More is Better attitude would never be shaken.
A 2003 report distributed jointly by a major new homebuilder and a major home products supplier predicted that our pursuit of More would last another 20 years.
So what happened to make our attitude change? Two things, really. First, after nearly three decades of adding More to our homes, we discovered that More has diminishing returns.
Instead of improving our lifestyle, More owns our lives. Said bluntly, the house on the beach is time consuming to care for and expensive to run and maintain.
While this discovery alone would have caused our attitude to change, it would have changed slowly were it not for the second thing. Our economic environment changed. The sub-prime debacle that led to a banking and lending crisis was like 200 nails in the coffin.
The one thing that had us holding on to More is Better was increasing home values. The house on the beach had not improved our lives but its value was our security. When values plummeted, we could only conclude that we had put our confidence in the wrong place. So we're packing our bags and moving to the bluff.
The house on the bluff is characterized by a Less is More attitude.
Now, while More is Better sounds pretty much like what it is, Less is More can be misleading. To be clear, Less is More is not a platitude we use when we're feeling poor. We don't chuck everything in our beach house overboard. And we don't trade beauty for simplicity. Less is More is a reformation, a restoration and a reclamation.
Less is More is a reformation of our ideas about space, beauty, quality and value.
These elements all exist in the house on the beach. But when we move to the bluff, the emphasis changes. In the house on the bluff, space is something to use, not something to have. Beauty is a necessity, not a luxury. Quality is in the design and construction, not the effect. And value is concrete, not cosmetic.
Less is More is a restoration of home.
The house on the bluff reflects the way we actually live, not the way we think we should or want other people to think we do. It is designed to nurture rather than impress. It places a premium on family and friendships.
And finally, Less is More is a reclamation of our lives. It makes simple what had become complex. The house on the beach taxed our wallets, our time and our relationships.
In the house on the bluff, we lower our fixed expenses, reduce on-going maintenance and free ourselves to spend more time (and money) on the people we love. The value of a home is no longer based on the whims of the market, but on how well it serves the people who live in it. And our confidence is in the richness of our lives, not how much we are worth.
Ironically, when Less is More is the prevailing attitude, the house on the bluff rises in value.
So whether your house is right on the water, somewhere on the beach, or just across the street, it is to your advantage to make the move to the bluff. You will improve the quality of your life and make your house more saleable at the same time.
At House2Home, we're very aware that the transition to the bluff is a paradigm shift. This is new territory, and we want to help you navigate it. So in next month's issue we'll talk about some of the positive trends, as well as the traps of the emerging Less is More market.
Good Morning on Friday July 30, 2010
