Creating The Feel of Home
I wrote today about a lemonade stand in our neighborhood and about the nostalgia I felt when I saw it. Remember when you were a kid and it was okay to sit on the side of the road and peddle drinks your mom made? Remember when we played ball in the street until a car came and we all scattered while yelling “car! car! car!” There’s a certain homey feel that we recall when icons like a lemonade stand pop up around our home.
Can you imagine if you were looking at this subdivision for the first time ever and you drove in and were greeted by a lemonade stand? My thought would be “awwww, I LOVE it here!” Lame but true.
So what happens when the builder model the kids are in front of opens? Will the kids be allowed to squat on that spot? Most likely, the builder will ask them to remove their table from their property. But what if the only other builder in the subdivision actually bought a table for the neighborhood kids? What if they ASKED the kids to set up in front of THEIR model? Not in the driveway but on the corner?
What if this behavior was nurtured? My bet is that the homey feeling created would increase sales. In this rough sales environment, builders and home sellers need to think outside the box. And creating the feel of home is just what some people need when they’re plopping down their checkbook for their biggest investment ever.
What else besides a lemonade stand would make YOU think of home?
May 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
As the builder, and taking into account I’m Gen-C (Caveman), I’d do my best to morph the new area into what I remember of Beaver’s neighborhood.
The agents would be mom-like. Cookies and milk would abound. You get the picture.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Besides generational, it’s geographical, I think. I spent my first 10 years in Buda, TX a tiny little town south of Austin. I sold painted rocks in front of the country store and sometimes the antique store depending on the shade. Everyone in a restaurant was a friend, not a stranger, and we always waved when someone let you cut in while in “traffic.”
Creating a comfortable environment makes people comfortable. I love the cookies and milk- back in my on-site property management days, we made cookies every morning. They were always a hit.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
When I was ten my dad bought me a basketball court (ok, not the full court obviously but he stand, the backboard, the rim…you know what I mean)… Well I took it outside so that all the neighborhood kids and I could play. It was fun! We all played together and families conversed with one another. If someone was having a bbq, all the neighbors would gather and someone else would host the bbq the next time. How often does that happen? Neighbors sharing things without expecting anything in return…
May 14th, 2008 at 5:31 am
your neighborhood sounds wonderful…you should tell the kids to also try setting up a lemonade stand online. it teaches them the same life principles that we all learned from the original lemonade stand concept, and they can make some extra money. http://www.lemonade.com is especially good for kids as a winter activity.
best of luck with your lemonade stands.
TRZ
May 14th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Aww, I love the nostalgia. This post reminds me of the Cadillac commercial where the woman says that most women buy cars based on how many cupholders it has. It’s true. Women have different ideals of what’s important, I think. If I were the builder, I’d let the kids keep the lemonade stand. When I was showing my old house, I made sure to always have fresh flowers on the table and a fresh fruit bowl in the kitchen. My husband thought it was absurd to worry about such things, but I felt that if a woman was touring my house with her husband, she would feel more at home because of these touches. And that’s really all that matters in real estate anyway, isn’t it? You aren’t going to buy a house that you don’t feel at home in.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Ricardo, paying it forward is always a great concept!
Erin, great sentiments! It’s a lot of work to hit a subconscious nerve in buyers, right?
Glad to see you out and about, it’s been a while!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Excellent post. I’ve always wanted to have a bbq while doing an open house. Invite the neighbors - make it a block party where potential buyers were just kind of there as opposed to the center of attention.