">HomeOwnerNut

We learned from Ghostbusters about the willingness of college students to be strapped to electric shock machines for a few bucks or in the name of research. When I was in college, I was paid to sleep. I drove over to the NASA Aames facility and climbed into bed around two in the morning while scientists monitored my biorhythms while I dreamed of that fox in my journalism class.

A few months ago, a few dozen Old Dominion University (ODU) students clicked through a series of photos of test homes while an ocular tracking program scanned their eyeballs. The results of the study to chart buying habits of would-be homeowners, were reported this week by Yahoo. Students were asked to evaluate a range of design features, including shocking pink living rooms. Findings in these and similar studies are not all that surprising when you really think about them.

A University of Texas study crunched data from 60,000 real estate transactions only to find that homes with a fresh coat of paint, new roofing or carpeting—something consistently suggested by agents and home improvement experts—sold for “slightly less” than homes without those last-minute upgrades. Researchers said it was just like putting lipstick on a pig, scaring buyers into thinking that there might be hidden problems with the house.

Here’s something to ponder: the ODU study found that when a male home shopper found the selling female real estate agent attractive, he was willing to spend more on the house. Simply shocking! On the distaff side, women shoppers were not affected price-wise by a handsome male Realtor.

How long before we see prices go up again? Despite the fact that, on average, housing prices have plummeted by 30 percent across the country since 2006, it’s still hardly a buyer’s market, reports National Public Radio. The reason: bruised lenders are raising the bar on requirements for financing. It’s called shooting yourself in the foot as a nation.

Stay tuned. If university students are willing, there may soon be a survey on how many people are pricing yurts.

I recently had a roofing contractor suggest that because I was considering painting my house a dark blue, that I may want to consider blue shingles. Blue. Shingles. On my roof.

Really?

Blue?

And okay, speaking of blue, I once also tiled my kitchen counters in a 2″ blue tile– which looked fabulous, by the way, and just like the Arts & Crafts style I was going for. In the process, however, the contractor who was working on my house at the time suggested that I use a rounded black tile on the lip instead. Blue tile on the top, black tile on the side… no other black in the house mind you, just on the lip, because that’s what he’d seen on special at the Big Box store.

I suggested he remove himself from making any more design decisions about my house and did the lip in matching blue tile, as it should be. But I’m thinking that people who are stressed out with the house building process occasionally listen to people who are best suited for building houses and not picking out paint colors. Which in turn led me to question, how do those truly hideous houses come into existence.

1.) You listened to a contractor who thinks they are a designer. I mean, they build houses all the time so they must know what they are talking about. Right. Right?

You, my friend, are sentenced to the blue roof for 30 to life for that decision. Good luck to you.

2.) You think you are a designer, or know you are not a designer and are just testing out “being creative”. The truth is, there is nothing creative about painting your house purple and orange. You are not on to the next big thing. Its just that no one else does it because it looks horrible.

This isn’t an accidental ugly. This definitely qualifies as an on purpose, and if you live here, you have to take full credit for it.

Side note: These are definitely people who thought they were being creative and failed, as evidenced by the house number placement. I think there is an equal chance that the house number is 5625, or 5265. Not creative. Not functional. Just no.

3.) You just don’t know any better. That color looked so fresh and beachy on the two-inch square paint swatch…

I sympathize. Really, I do. I’ve been stressing over roof colors, trim colors, siding colors, what to color and what not to color, and the end result is anyone’s guess. Here’s the good news for those of you us that just don’t know any better… paint can be painted over.

Bad news… roof shingles can not.