Temporary House of Home
Home of Capital
Photo: Johannes Schwartz
Every day, the Instagram account Funda Makeovers shares a home whose market value is significantly boosted with the help of a few aesthetic interventions. Using the hashtag #ziedepotentie ('see the potential'), it presents before and after images of apartments, floors and houses that have been posted twice within a year on Funda, the Netherlands' largest real estate platform. Stripped-down interiors undergo a restyling featuring herringbone parquet, steel window frames, and, ideally, black taps. Suddenly the asking price doubles.
These makeovers can be considered part of the phenomenon of 'house flipping', a popular practice among private investors. They buy dilapidated houses, quickly make them presentable using their magic box of stylistic products and then sell them on immediately at a substantial profit. Since the pandemic, Funda Makeovers became so popular that in April 2021 it had close to 400,000 followers.
It was Airbnb that first enticed us to become landlords of our own personal paradise, Funda Makeovers exposes a phenomenon that seems to represent the next step on the capitalist ladder, in which the home is above all a home for capital. From residents and landlords, we have now evolved into speculators.What financial mechanisms and ideas about society are underlying this phenomenon?
Home of Capital is part of Financial Architectures, a research project to document and reflect on the intricate financial formulas, incentives, and protagonists behind the designs of present-day buildings, cities, and landscapes.
Research: Ludo Groen and Marten Kuijpers
Graphic design: The Anderen
With thanks to: Funda Makeovers (Beitske de Jong)