Let there be light
I made a policy of not doing first showings at night. So my house-showing hours get noticeably shorter, now that we have reached the Autumnal Equinox (September 22 at 1:27 PM, EDT according to the U.S. Naval Observatory). In a month or so, there will be no after-work-hours showings until next March. During the longest days of summer, I can show vacant property until 8:30 at night. (Occupied homes generally have earlier cut-off times.)
I found night-time first showings gave the wrong information or not enough information. If a house doesn’t have enough active light bulbs, it shows awfully at night. This same house may show fairly well in the daytime. Empty houses without enough light are downright creepy at night. Even if the house is well set up for showings, a buyer can’t make a decision until that buyer has seen the house in the daylight. Why?
Because people react to light! We are not plants, but most people either really need light or think they need light. Some people get sick or depressed in the winter for lack of light, so if their house is shadowy they are doubly doomed. Buyers simply need to see a house in the daylight before buying it.
What makes a house dark inside? It is not necessarily that it faces north. If it faces north, the kitchen in the back faces south. Rooms that seem dark have one or more of these factors: small windows, windows blocked by curtains or shades inside, or trees and bushes outside. Houses which are blocked by trees, other houses or buildings, and houses built near ledges or hills.
Condos and apartments suffer from limited exposure. In large buildings, most units have only one exposure so direct sunlight comes in only part of the day. Some rooms (usually the kitchen) have no windows at all. In a row of town houses, the units in the middle have two exposures and dark rooms in the middle of the unit. Some people get used to this, can you?
Many of my clients have “light” on their list of “must haves.” Is “light” on your “must have” list?
Literally, all properties with windows have light, but what light? Some people have specific requests for the direction of the light. Artists want north-facing studio windows. Gardeners want southern exposure in the yard. Some are happy with two exposures of any direction. Some want big, unblocked windows on the south or east. What about you?
Happy Equinox! Enjoy the daylight while we have it!
