A brief lesson in...

...judging a book by it's cover.

There are certain types of phone calls that I receive almost every day. There are the typical information gathering phone calls from normal people looking for apartments. There are the phone calls from residents who are having a problem. There are sales calls, and contractor calls, and calls just to say hello. But my favorite are the people that think they can find an apartment by only looking at the outside of a building.

First, when they call it's because they have seen a sign in the neighborhood that looks like this:



















Ok, maybe it doesn't look quite like that. (How's THAT for Photoshop skills!) But what does that sign ultimately say to you? More on this later...

This is a phone conversation resulting from someone seeing the sign:

Caller: Yeah, I would like more information on the apartment you have at *insert address here*.

Me: Oh, you've seen a sign. We actually don't have an apartment available at that address, just one of our permanent signs.

Caller: Ummm....oh. Well...

Me: What kind of apartment are you looking for?

Caller: Oh a *insert type of apartment here*.

Me: *Proceeds to tell caller about whatever apartment is available in the criteria that they are looking for*

Caller: Ok, well I'll drive by and look at it and then call you back.

This is where I'm always dumbfounded. How in the hell can you tell what an apartment is like on the inside based on what it looks like from the outside? I always offer to show the inside of the apartment and 9 out of 10 times I'm told "No, I'm just going to drive by first." Now, I would understand if the apartment is located in a different neighborhood or something.

For example, lets try something here. I'll show you three pictures of the outsides of three buildings. We'll call them 1, 2, and 3. Yes, I know I'm original. Then, I'll show you three photos of the insides of those apartments and we'll call them A, B, and C. It will be your job to match the correct interior photo with the correct exterior photo. Got it?

















Here is 1
























...2...


















...and 3.

And now for the interior photos.

Here is A.

















And B.

















And C.

Lets see how well you do matching the interiors with the exteriors. I'll post the results tomorrow.

Oh, and back to that sign. I also have a very similar copy running in the newspaper. It's amazing to me how people see what they want to see.

"Yeah, I'm calling about the one bedroom apartment you have listed in the newspaper."

WTF? Does that thing not say "1, 2, & 3 bedroom apartments and houses"?

It's like a patch for my addiction...

I had posted a couple of days ago about a blog that Steph introduced me to. Last week I started reading the archives thinking "Well, when I get bored of this, I'll just stop reading." Problem was, I never stopped reading. I read through every back entry on that site. Yesterday was a dark day for me. I finally reached the end. No more posts. I think I cried a little.

So. To help soothe my addiction (I hope), I am borrowing the style that this post will be written in from PW. Granted, her photos are WAY better than mine...but you guys will just have to deal.

I'm sure that you (and by 'you' I mean the two people that still read this from time to time) have just been dying to know what I do on a day to day basis. So I'm going to satisfy your curiosity. All of you know about the "showing apartments" aspect of property management. Yesterday I focused on the other aspect of the company.
























One of the things my company does is rehab old historic buildings. This is one of two that we are currently be working on. It will have two very nice apartments in it soon.


















There's the tile that will be going in the kitchen and bathrooms.

























These front doors used to be yellow. Big Bird yellow. No joke.

























This is the kitchen. No really! Ok, it WILL be the kitchen once all the construction equipment is out, the floor is down, the cabinets are up, the appliances are...ok. You get the idea.


















This is a new bathroom layout for us. In the past, our bathrooms have all had a tub/shower combo. Like most standard apartments. In this particular apartment, we are trying out a separate shower and tub arrangement. (I just wish we had put a bigger tub in...I mean, if you're going to separate them the only reason to use the tub is for a bath right? That tub barely looks big enough for me!)

























Then I got distracted. LOOK! I can see my shutter move! Ok, actually, I was just checking to see that I wasn't getting too much dust on my lens. But when I turned the camera over, my finger hit the button. Oh so flattering. Hey, do I have anything in my nose? Guys? Hey guys?
















































This happens a lot at our construction sites. Not really sure why...

























And finally, here is the next building in progress. That whole front wall had to be torn down and re-built. Funny, as soon as I pulled my camera out all of the masons seemed to disappear. Weird.

So there you go. Don't you feel better now? Breath a sigh of relief and go about your day with renewed purpose. You're welcome.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another "A Brief Lesson In...".