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"?