The aftermath of the real estate crisis has already reached the dating world, which becomes especially turbulent when temperatures soar. “Meeting someone in June is basically like two people with high electricity bills sitting across from each other trying to figure out which apartment has the most powerful air conditioning,” writes actor Taye Diggs on his social media. The response of some to the heatwave? Asking Cupid to find someone who has air conditioning at home. This is what Mel Magazine claims: Forget winter. For those who sweat a lot and don’t have air conditioning, summer could be the real dating season, headlines a piece in which a woman named Dana, 28, confesses that she put up with a fling to cope with the heat. “I had moved to a horrible apartment where we could only have air conditioning in the kitchen, and I was dying of heat because I’m the girl who sweats the most in the United States. I met a guy who told me he had the air conditioning on all the time because he didn’t have roommates yelling at him about the expense. So I threw myself into his arms,” she said.
Madonna herself has just confessed that in the eighties her dates depended on whether or not they had a shower she could use. “I dated men depending on whether they had a bathtub or a shower. I would ask them: ‘Where do you live?’, and they would answer: ‘I live in the Upper West Side.’ And I would say: ‘Do you have a bathtub?’. That was a big plus,” the singer said on the Rent Free show by Bilt.
Among dating trends is the so-called zip coding, that is, filtering potential candidates based on the postal code where they live. In the most extreme case are those who only date someone when that person is in their region but consider themselves single when the other person is outside their postal code. A good example would be university students who have a partner during the term but when they return to their family home for holidays, they date other people. The classic “what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas” taken to a new level where classism mixes with having a lot of nerve. Sexologist, couples therapist, and founder of Tapersex Eva Moreno tells ICON Design that when someone says they don’t want their partner to have a certain economic level, there is some hypocrisy: “When choosing a partner it is important to know their economic level. That dismantles the idea of romantic love, which is never a bad thing. But when it comes to choosing partners as if they were an investment, there is a risk, because if what someone considers is the money the other has or what house they have and not their values… We wouldn’t be talking about a couple relationship, but a type of business.”
Sandra, a data analyst, explains that her partner and she chose to buy an apartment together despite not being married. “Since we were already over 40 and tired of depending on landlords’ will and their ups and downs, with help from our parents, we made the down payment to buy an apartment. Since my boyfriend is an architect, he has taken care of renovating it, so in a way, it’s our child. I suppose now, besides being partners, we are also business partners,” she says. “We have a contract to clarify what would happen in case we separated depending on different scenarios. The first clause if we break up? Neither of us will live in our house,” she says firmly.
When renovating or designing homes, it’s not unusual for people to manifest their desires. This was the case with Kim Kardashian, who in her reality show explained to her mother, Kris Jenner, that she wanted “a whole new closet.” “But, for whom?” her mother asked astonished. “For HIM,” Kardashian replied, although at that time she was not dating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. “Who is HE?” Jenner asked surprised. “I don’t know. I’m manifesting,” Kim said to her wide-eyed mother.
Juanjo, an architect, says his clients do similar things. “Many tend to project a situation that in reality, they don’t know if it will happen,” he comments.
Anita Calvo, PR, Production & Management, says she takes into account the pantry of the person she dates. “Only a man who has a well-stocked fridge, with quality cold cuts and fresh products conquers me. A pantry full of expensive canned goods, a cupboard with good wines, and obviously, one or two bottles of champagne. If not, ciao,” she says. For his part, Luigi Espósito, Regional Marketing Manager The Social Hub Iberia, says architecture has always been a form of seduction. “That’s why the fact that it now also works as a Grindr filter seems to me the most honest evolution of late capitalism. Have I dated someone because they have a penthouse? Only if it’s all well furnished,” he says without a hint of sarcasm.
Eduard Alegre acknowledged in his podcast Hijxs de boomers at the end of an episode what his dating app bio text was: “The way to win me over is humor, curiosity, a dinner with wine and good background music and if possible, a stylish apartment with a terrace.” One more proof that more and more people, when looking for a partner, take into account real estate aspects that might seem unrelated to romantic interests but in times when finding an apartment is challenging, matter more than ever.
In fact, hobosexuality is already being talked about, a phenomenon that refers to those who start a relationship with the aim of securing housing and financial support. Because in turbulent times, many care more about a hot shower, good wifi, and a sunny terrace than a movie romance.