What I’ve Learned from Canadian Real Estate Buyers in Phoenix
Posted on November 19th, 2007 by Jonathan Dalton
Culture often is derived from function. Such seems to be the case with much of what I’ve learned from my Canadian buyers over the past couple of weeks.
The first hint came a couple of weeks back when meeting one of my buyers’ folks at a property. There was a sign by the door asking everyone to remove their shoes. Jim pointed at the sign and said, “You Americans never have learned to take your shoes off.”
Growing up we had friends from our synagogue who wouldn’t allow shoes inside. They also tended to keep all the plastic wrap on their furniture, as did my grandmother. But the “no shoe” rule is due more to one fact of life in Canada unknown in the desert - precipitation, as well as it’s direct result, mud.
(One terrific side effect of the “no shoe” rule - seeing my buyer disappear into a bedroom and return wearing Lamb Chop slippers. That, my dear readers, was a first.)
Tracking mud through your neighbor’s home is a faux pas. Again, not something I’d think about here except maybe Thursday when it was raining on us every time we left the car.
Mud also leads to different views on floor plans. Most homes have some sort of small entry, usually tile but sometimes linoleum, just inside the front door. Maybe we’ll place a welcome mat on it but that’s as far as it goes. Not so for our northerly neighbors, where the entry becomes the eventual location of visitors’ shoes.
Coat closets also seem to have added importance for the exact same reason.
It also appears a beer fridge comes in handy for the Coors Light (not Labatt’s?), though given my personal ownership of said fridge (primarily for soda for the kids … really!) that may be a bit more universal.
If you happen to be one of the local agents who read this, feel free to disregard everything I’ve said here as the fanciful musings of a tired mind. In the interim, I’ve got to go find a good pair of sandals before my next two appointments this week.
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You must have showed my house in Gilbert, I did have a showing from a Century 21 realtor in that time frame for a client from out of town. I do have a sign a the entry for visitors to remove their shows. My wife insisted that I should keep it after we put the house for sale.
Anyhow, if it was you, keep those clients comming.
I’ll certainly try, Frank …
I’m getting used to the no-shoe thing. It would drive my wife nuts because she goes to the flip-flops indoors though it’s a small leap to slippers from there.
[…] in Phoenix, then talk to an agent actually located here. If you can find one who has learned to take off his shoes when walking into a house, all the […]
Bounced over here from your lead grabber post. We have the same home design- no place for shoes and no coat closets, but we get precipitation and mud. The northern folks have “mud rooms” and basements, too!
I am looking for those Dr. Scholl’s dress shoes with Velcro closures for house touring. I’ve got enough grey hair and wrinkles to qualify to wear them, although the arthritis hasn’t set in yet. Some resales make you want to put on knee high rubber boots to enter, however.