Magnolia House Finished (Sorta)

The Magnolia House is Officially Done.

We know this is true as today is The Signing of the Lease Day (with the new tenants who seemed thrilled with everything that *is* finished.)Unofficially, closet poles still reside on the floor and the bathroom is missing a toilet paper holder and towel hooks. Oh, and a dryer vent might be nice at some point.

The mister and child-units spent yesterday afternoon sealing grout with Aquamix Grout Colorant (Cinnamon for the terracotta tile, Smoke for the bathroom) whilest Mrs. Brz supplied labor with candy bars and coffee (and forgot the camera, drat it all…)

Marketing:

 We tried two simultaneous approaches to marketing: Sign in the yard with info tube and ad in the local paper’s classified section. We began advertising on 1/16/08 and signed the lease this morning.  In twelve days, we received 39 phone calls, about half from the yard sign and half  saw the ad in the paper.

Before

After: Taken from a slightly different angle, but shows off the covered porch. Still needs some yard work, but that’ll wait for better weather.

Comparison:

Sign:                                                                 

Cost: $20/frame (reusable as long as it doesn’t get swiped like the last one)     

Serious calls: (10%– mostly curious neighbors)

General Impressions: Mostly callers from this category thought the rent too high and/or wanted to tell us about their Great Aunt Sally that once slept on the porch during hurricane season.

Ad:

Cost: $70/14 days

Serious calls: (95%)

General Impressions: Most thought the rent was below market rate. Several drove by and didn’t like the neighborhood. More than half wanted to bring along their pit-bull Sally who’s such a sweetie little doll-baby that we should surely make an exception.

Conclusion:

The sign brought more nuisance calls, but ultimately brought a well-qualified tenant with family close-by that saw the sign. They already know and love the neighborhood and seem excited about the huge yard and rural atmosphere.

Next time we’ll stick to the sign in the yard for this house.

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