Smart Mob

It's been a depressing 4 months. We've had our house on the market since December and, so far, no bites. We average about 1.2 people/week coming through it, which is just enough to get it nice and dirty until that fateful call. I was close to giving up, until 2 days ago.

I'd heard about it, but never seen it for myself. It's known as a Smart Mob -- a group of people that appear somewhere "spontaneously" (although it's coordinated through the interweb) for a pre-determined duration. In this case, they congregated at our neighbor's house. It was so subtle, and so obvious at the same time. These people began arriving one car at a time, each casting a glance my way as I mowed the lawn. They were unmistakable house-stalkers -- people who are too timid to make a call or set up a house tour, but who are VERY interested in buying. So they usually drive by the house dozens of times, getting the lay of the land and imagining what the inside looks like.

But this was coordinated. There were balloons on the mailbox; several people brought boxes wrapped in gift-wrap -- probably telescopes and binoculars. One guy didn't even bother wrapping his box -- a cake memorializing the occasion. I wanted so badly to invite them over, but realized that this would be intrusive and would likely scare them off. All I can do now is sit by the phone and wait for the offers to start pouring in.

Brilliant. It would probably also be appropriate to turn down prospective visitors to your house. Incidentally, I'll be smart-mobbing it this weekend at a silent disco -- I'll be the guy without headphones.

posted by Lawrence A. Fing @ 12:00 PM 1 comments