If you're in real estate, you need to understand #thedress
It's 2am and my wife and I are woken by our newborn. As we drift back to sleep, she turns to me with her mobile and says, "What color is this dress?" Half awake, I mumble "Black and blue" and fall asleep. The next morning, I knew why she asked me. Social media and traditional media were ablaze with discussions of #thedress.
#Thedress, viewed by some as black and blue, others as white and gold, is an example of color constancy. Color Constancy is the method by which our brains doesn't simply pass on what our eyes take in, but rather, interpret it and then present it to our consciousness. All without our knowing. The image, captured by a cell phone, contains too little information for our brains to process the colors. So our brain is forced to make an educated guess, and for some of us, guesses wrong (the dress is actually black and blue). Sorry #TeamWhiteandGold
Still with me? Color constancy is also at play in image below.
Our eyes see the squares as A and B as identical in shade. IDENTICAL, which is what they actually are. But our brain recognizes that B stands in the shadow of the cylinder so it 'presents" the B square as lighter. It's not.
So what does this have to do with real estate? Quite a lot, actually. Not only do our brains interpret colors before presenting them to us, but they also interpret size. Here's an example of that:
Intuitively you may know that the circles are the same size. But our brains tell us otherwise. The same thing happens with properties. Rooms can present small, or large, depending on furniture (or the absence of furniture), layout, colors, textures, and light. In some cases, your buyers' brains are presenting them as small. Your 1700 square foot property may only be 1400 as their brains are concerned. Poof, just like that, they've discounted several hundred feet of square footage, and with it, the rest of their brain is discounting their offer on the property (if they even make one).
So if you're in real estate, you realize the very real problem that size perception can have. Size perception can cost a seller a LOT of money. Since buyers spend more on larger properties, that means they'd spending less on theirs. Savvy sellers need to optimize their square footage; ensure that it presents as large as it possibly can. They need to use layouts, colors and light to their advantage.
They need to have their buyer's brains working for them, not against them.