[One Thousand Characters a Day] Dr. Park Wongap's 'Real Estate Psychology Class' <2>

Editor's NoteThere is a saying that eighty percent of the real estate market is psychology. Besides supply and policy, one must also understand human psychology to see the market clearly. Model houses, which show apartments for pre-sale, are also thoroughly calculated stages of psychological warfare. Dr. Park Won-gap, author of Real Estate Psychology Class, points out that the reason we are unhappy because of real estate is that "houses have degenerated into mere tools for the desire to make money." The concept of assets, where 'houses that are easy to sell' rather than 'houses that are good to live in' become the deciding factor in purchasing a home, has led people to talk and act about houses like profit-driven companies. If you are currently unhappy because of real estate, it may be due to the aftereffects of worshipping real estate prices like a religion. Word count: 945 characters.

"The place (model house) was bustling like a festival day. Three impeccably decorated rooms. There was even a small fountain spraying water in the indoor garden on the veranda. I was excited as I looked at the bright kitchen equipped with a dishwasher and washing machine. I thought that if I drank tea in such a beautiful space, the world of my husband and me would brighten as well. Maybe we could even have a beautiful child. A man, reading my expression, kindly handed me his business card and said, 'There are many royal floor units available. Let's go to our office.'

(Omitted)

A model house is a temporary structure lasting at most six months, but it is an exhibition hall where human dreams and the images created by construction companies are exchanged. Construction companies invest billions of won to build model houses that are used once and then discarded. In the softly lit kitchen and cozy living room emanating from such model houses, we fall into the illusion that the 'sweet home' we have always dreamed of is just around the corner. For a while, housewives even started decorating their homes following model houses, making them a benchmark for interior design.

Cultural critic Jung Yoon-soo said, "A model house is a kind of glamorous theatrical stage where you can touch dreams." For example, we walk through a fictional living room and sometimes turn the kitchen faucet even though we know no water will come out. A theatrical act takes place in the model house.

If the 'house to look around' created by interior companies for sales is a quaint small theater, the model house can be compared to a large theatrical stage. While performing theatrical acts in such a model house, you unconsciously become the proud protagonist living in that apartment and begin to dream of a new life. However, the interior of the model house?including slippers, lighting, beds, and furniture?is all created for the commercial purpose of 'pre-sale marketing.' Desire-inducing images to attract consumers permeate every corner of the model house. Even spaces you pass by without notice may contain traps set by construction companies' advanced psychological warfare.

- Park Won-gap, Real Estate Psychology Class, Mate Books, 19,800 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.