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By Lisanne van Sadelhoff 1 minute ago Modified: 1 minute ago
© RTL
RTL
How lucky you are when real estate agent Alex buys a house for you, which is then thoroughly renovated by contractor Bob and stylist Roos. The public outrage when that same house is already on Funda four years later is therefore great, says RTL Nieuws editor Lisanne van Sadelhoff.
Roy and Deveny, the couple who participated in season 3 of Buying Without Looking and found a beautiful home, put that same beautiful home up for sale again four years later. They may have thought they could do it on the sly, but then they didn’t know the power of the house-lurking site Funda. What happens at Funda, certainly doesn’t stay at Funda.
The message went viral in no time: Buy Without Looking couple puts house back up for sale, and the internet did the rest. “Restyled and all!” was added by many viewers on Facebook, and: “Completely renovated, huh?”
The written word never concerns intonations or voice, but the collective indignation is evident. There is a large camp that seems to have come up with the proverb ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’. The word ‘ungrateful’ is often used, as is the word ‘fast’. ‘Couldn’t they have thought of this earlier?’ All people who are apparently aware of the existence of a house-selling etiquette, which determines when it is socially desirable and permissible to sell a house.
(Too) small?
The word ‘small’ is also interpreted in many ways. The couple finds the 87 square meter house too small for their growing children, to which some people respond kindly and affirmatively, ‘I understand’, and ‘I would also prefer a bathroom upstairs if I were them, especially with two small children’.
Others like to compare it with their own situation: ‘I live very happily with three children in a house of 60 square meters: it just depends on how you deal with it’.
© Roy Beusker RTL News editor Lisanne van Sadelhoff tries to explain every week which stories concern people.
Yet there are always people who adhere to the adage ‘live and let live’. ‘What’s everyone so worked up about?!’ ‘Leave them alone.’ And: ‘Yes, that’s possible and allowed. I don’t really understand all the reactions.’
‘It’s especially bad for the makers and stylists’, someone responded, referring to Bob and Roos ‘who always do their best’.
These reactions also show the popularity of the program – and of Funda. Houses for sale trigger something voyeuristic in us. ‘If someone shares a link in my timeline that they are selling their house, I can’t help but take a look’, someone confesses under the message. It’s a bit like peeking through people’s curtains when you walk by, but without the chance of being caught.
Looking without judgement
Then there are the what’s in it for me people, who see their chance. People tag their partner – because who wouldn’t want a completely restyled house? ‘Let’s have a quick look, honey?’, someone writes under the message. After which a lot of ugly stuff is deposited: ‘Boring beige brown house, uniformity’, or: ‘I think it’s a beautiful house, but I wouldn’t want to be found dead in that city, hahaha.’
And so the program showed once again that we enjoy other people’s living situations. We think Buying Without Looking is fantastic, but we are significantly less good at looking without judging.
