Every day, I walk past a beautiful house which is for sale. The owners have no idea why it hasn't sold - but I think I do...
The house is stunning. It is one of two identical houses built by a local developer.
The first was sold, sight unseen. Before the house was built, someone bought it just from looking at the blueprints and the renderings.
For the second house, there have been frequent open houses and lots of advertising but it still hasn't sold. It has been for sale for a long,long time.
I attended an open house and the place is truly magnificent. On three floors, the layout and the attention to detail is wonderful. The house has its own pool, an elevator, it's in the best location in the area ... so why hasn't it sold? Other less spectacular houses have sold for more money in the same area.
I'll tell you my theory.
Outside the house, the owners have erected a large, custom made sign giving details about the house. The design of the sign is shocking; you wouldn't believe the number of fonts used in one simple sign.
But that's not all. Whoever has made the sign hasn't made sure that the text is properly centered. It's off - by several inches.
Now I know that you might be thinking that only someone like me would notice that - and you might be right. But we all know about how subliminal messages can affect buyers. And this sign is positively screaming "There is no attention to detail in this house. It might look great from the outside but everything inside is off-kilter. This house might even fall down. It's sloppy and it's shoddily built".
A far-fetched theory? I don't think so. Large corporations spend millions on studies to discover how we are all affected by subtle subliminal messages. We are.
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Posted by: subliminal | February 10, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Interesting site. Thank you for your comments.
Posted by: JJ | February 10, 2008 at 10:35 PM