Posted on 02/22/2010 3:24:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
Nearly every apartment-shopper has had it happen. You’re walking through a new place. You like what you see. And then … something goes awry. Terribly, uncomfortably awry.
Broker Samantha Kleier Forbes tells this story: She was taking clients through a very chic Upper East Side co-op when she brushed against a desk, jostling the computer’s mouse and awakening the screen from its sleep mode, revealing a hard-core fetish-porn site. “I think we’re done here,” the buyers said quietly—and bolted.
The deal-killers are not always quite so dramatic, of course. Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Darren Sukenik saw open houses at a downtown loft sputter when lookers encountered a wall full of Republican memorabilia (including pictures of the owner with George Bushes senior and junior). “I finally had to tell him to take the stuff down,” he says. Klara Madlin lost what looked like a promising deal when the owners of a Hell’s Kitchen one-bedroom forgot about a showing and greeted her in their pajamas, yawning, at 11 a.m. The buyers “couldn’t get out fast enough,” she says.
Showings can turn on even smaller offenses: unmade beds, strewn laundry, dead plants. One uptown broker has a listing completely free of art and photographs—the seller likes her walls pristine—and buyers get so curious that they forget to pay attention to the rest of the place. “If one thing sets them off or says, This isn’t me, then it’s over,” says Sukenik.
Picky buyers such as those mentioned above make for good deals for those who don’t depend on surface appearances.
Whatever.
I wonder if the author has the courage to admit that Crucifixes and Palm leaves tucked under the picture of Jesus or Mary are equally as unpopular. I'm wagering Mr./Ms. Robledo doesn't.
I guess I better hide the two WW2 German helmets I have on display next to the fire place.
They single out republicans, but what if the house was strewn with sex party fetich paraphalalia?
This was a NYmag attack on republicans but there is nothing new in the rest of the article. This was a “cloud” attack to generate search engine buzz against republicans to force republicans under ground again.
Maybe a picture of Che Guevara would close the deal.
I can count on at least two of my 3 neighbors to look out for me when they sell.
If I were renting out an apartment, I’d go out of my way to post Bush pictures. Those who may appreciate it would be WAY more likely to take good care of the place than if it were Zero.
Personally, I wouldn’t care to have such fickle idiots living anywhere close to me for numerous reasons.
But then I’d never be caught living in or near NY anyway!
Sean Penn holding a picture of Che while dressed as Harvey Milk would probably bring 10% over list price.
Sounds to me like one group (Democrats) is a lot more biased than another (Republicans) and those who tend towards atheism are more biased than those who practice a faith.
I don’t much care what the sellers have in their house; after all, they’re leaving.
I’d be more concerned with the bumper stickers on the cars parked around the neighborhood.
Its a buyers market, this is what happens.
I had a listing with OJ and my owner. I turned it over. Another had a picture of herself and Hillary - it never sold.
I wondered if that caused her any problems given that we live in a fairly liberal college town.
She told me she has had people come in, take one look at the wall and in a big huff turn around and leave!
We live in the country and had a pygmy goat. Our liberal neighbors demanded we get rid of the goat because it was somehow hindering the sell of their house. Excuse me? One little tiny goat! It’s my property and if I want a 6 camels, 3 donkeys, 7 pit bulls and 248 goats I darned well can! We threatened to paint the garage door with graffiti, put an old couch on the porch, throw beer cans by the gate and borrow another neighbor’s rebel flag. I wish we had.
I think this perfectly illustrates why the left can be rightly accused of focusing on ephemeral appearances and emotional responses rather than on reason.
In San Francisco, that's called "staging".
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