Posted on Nov 29, 2014
Back in the days PPS ( pre play station) many parents would amuse, or perhaps pacify, their children by reading to them.
Often there was also an element of education in the stories they told. Stories,or fables,or rhymes, were handed down from generation to generation, and contained a message. Sometimes the message was subtle. Other times less so.
As I read yet another flyer from a certain real estate agent I was reminded of one long ago bedtime story in particular. Now, do not mis-interpret the message in this story. We love receiving pitches from Real Estate agents. A well-constructed , accurate pitch can be a work of art. To be able to convey the essence of a property, the salient details, and a convincing argument to buy, and all on one page, should be revered up there with Van Gogh and Rembrandt. But more on that later. Of course many of the pitches are, to use the same comparative analogy, more akin to playcentre scribblings than fine art. There are plenty who use a whole page to say “LIM available on request”. A whole page! And then there are 15 pages of an Information Memorandum.But nowhere in it does it tell us why we should buy the property!
Being of somewhat limited attention span, we find it often difficult to maintain focus past page one. So if the first page doesn’t grasp our attention, often we won’t get any further. By the same measure, there are times that the first page very often ensures we don’t get any further. And the flyer aforementioned which reminded me of childhood fables was just one of those. It described in glowing and exuberant terms a property which just did not deserve either glow or exuberance. The opportunity may well, if priced right, but not the property.
In our line of business there are many properties which are simply not able to be described in the same way a Lamborghini, or a super yacht, or a sunset on a palm fringed tropical beach may be described. But this does not mean that they are not functional, fit for purpose, a solid investment or a great opportunity. A building whose aesthetics can only be described in somewhat derogatory terms, can still be a great investment for an owner-occupier and /or investor.
So to receive yet another missive inaccurately describing a building in terminology better suited to a description of a Leonardo painting, took me back to a bedtime story entitled “The boy who cried wolf”. For those of you who were not privileged enough to grow up in an era pre-ipod, or even pre-walkman, or perhaps pre-radio, let me give a synopsis of the story – as I remember it.
A small boy was tasked with looking after a flock of sheep. If predators threatened his sheep he was to alert the village who would deal to the predator. One day, the bored little boy cried “wolf” . The villagers came running to protect his sheep from the predator wolf. There was no wolf, but the little boy enjoyed some excitement and attention – however fleeting. This seemed a good boredom breaker. Twice more in ensuing days the bored shepherd boy cried “wolf” and the villagers came running. More excitement for the bored boy. But more annoyance for the villagers, having to leave their tasks to go and chase a phantom wolf.
Then the next time the boy cried “wolf”, the villagers had woken to the ruse. So they ignored the little boy. But this time there really was a wolf. And the wolf devoured both sheep and small boy.
The moral of the story of course being that if agents describe in inaccurate terms, then next time round, their call won’t be taken, or their email won’t be read.
