CHAPTER 4 Creating Va Va Voom aka "Curb Appeal" Someone once said, “a stunning first impression is not the same thing as love at first sight. But surely it is an invitation to consider the matter.” This could not be truer than in selling a home. First impressions matter. Sometimes they are everything. After seeing and being told by her broker in Sex and City that the apartment they are to view is "the worst", Carrie and Big are whisked away to the Penthouse in the same building by the selling broker, who just so happened to have another unit in the building, where upon entry Carrie exclaims she has "died and gone to real estate heaven." Nothing sets the tone of a relationship or encourages a transaction more than first impressions. So, always consider what a potential homebuyer may think as he or she enters the building and unit or drives up to your property for the very first time. Think of “curb appeal” as the home seller’s shop window. Like window shopping, what's in the window that draws you indoors. I recently was scouting commercial property for a client in New York City on Madison Ave on the Upper East Side and came across an adorable shop for girls and boys, Monnalisa. The window was dressed in the most adorable red tutu skirt Olive Oyl and Popeye biker jacket for kids, I was hooked, I went inside. It’s either the outside presentation, or, as we saw in the 80/20 rule discussion, some particular feature that brings in the customers. For most window shoppers, it is the way the place 20
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