![\"slotinwallhere1.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/slotinwallhere1.jpg\")
in the drywall, to allow those extra three inches of countertop to just simply slide into the wall.\u00a0 Then he patched up the slot, sealed the wall and caulked it.\u00a0 Done!<\/p>\nMarketeers and salespeople often use the phrase “think outside the box”.\u00a0 And when the phrase is used in that way, I usually think of clever, creative marketing and promotional stuff.<\/p>\n
People involved in the day to day operation of rental properties, tend to think in more practical and pragmatic terms.\u00a0 Heaters need to be fixed, sewer drains need to be unclogged.\u00a0 Drain augers exist in a world\u00a0that is somehow\u00a0outside of any box\/unbox metaphor.<\/p>\n
However, one of the finest real world examples of thinking outside the box I have ever experienced, came from a low budget contractor during a kitchen renovation.<\/p>\n
The tenants had left the property, a single family home, in sorrowful condition.\u00a0 The kitchen had to be gutted.<\/p>\n
Our low budget contractor had managed to salvage a rather nice granite countertop from somewhere else.\u00a0 No, I didn’t ask where.\u00a0 I’m not sure I wanted to know the details.<\/p>\n
One little problem though, the countertop was just about three inches too long to fit in our subject property’s kitchen.\u00a0 And the contractor did not have any tool that could be trusted to safely and cleanly make a straight cut in the granite to lob off those excess inches.<\/p>\n
The solution?\u00a0 The kitchen wall at the side, abutting the short side of the countertop — He cut a slot in the drywall, to allow those extra three inches of countertop to just simply slide into the wall.\u00a0 Then he patched up the slot, sealed the wall and caulked it.\u00a0 Done!<\/p>\n
My marketing friends will probably find a slogan here “Don’t Cut The Granite, When You Can Cut The Wall!”\u00a0 And that’s great, take from it what you will.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I personally learned a subtle little lesson about making things work.\u00a0 A true moment of epiphany, if you will.\u00a0 And if I could create a new topic category here on BHB, I would create one titled:\u00a0 “Epiphany”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marketeers and salespeople often use the phrase “think outside the box”.\u00a0 And when the phrase is used in that way, I usually think of clever, creative marketing and promotional stuff. People involved in the day to day operation of rental properties, tend to think in more practical and pragmatic terms.\u00a0 Heaters need to be fixed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-investment","7":"category-real-estate","9":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/735\/im-a-granite-counter-top\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":0},"title":"I’m a Granite Counter Top","author":"Kris Berg","date":"December 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Or rather, most mornings I greet the day with the eerie feeling that in one nanosecond I just may become one. If you can follow my stream of consciousness, I will explain. In 1989, Steve and I left our condo at the beach and bought our first \"grown-up\" house in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1805,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1805\/its-scary-outside-of-the-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":1},"title":"It’s Scary Outside of the Box…","author":"Lani Anglin","date":"August 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, Realtor Genius was called naive for suggesting that actual solutions be provided for the small portion of the market that we call \"sub prime.\" So, I've had my ears\/eyes perked for solutions to the sub prime mess that I could share with everyone here... Yesterday, I read on Mark\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15940,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/15940\/lets-talk-listings-better-yet-lets-talk-gettin-em-sold\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":2},"title":"Let’s Talk Listings – Better Yet? Let’s Talk Gettin’ ’em Sold","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"May 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Since the beginning of last year, how long has it taken to sell your listings? I'm not talkin' about those priced at half the median value in your market. I'm talkin' about a traditional seller who simply wants you to sell his real estate. Why do a few listings in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Enduring Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Enduring Interest","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/enduring-interest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/398\/blogoff-post-21-ask-the-broker-what-about-my-pets\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":3},"title":"Blogoff Post #21: Ask the Broker: What about my pets . . . ?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a question dear to Cathy's heart:I'm selling my house and have pets so I don't want to put my house on a lock box. All the realtors I've talked to say I have to put my house on a lock box, and the one who I wanted to give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Broker"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Broker","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/ask-the-broker\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":786,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/786\/inside-the-box-yes-no-and-maybe\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":4},"title":"Inside The Box – YES, NO and MAYBE","author":"Russell Shaw","date":"December 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford In an email, Adam wrote: Russell- I never got a chance to thank you for the Star Wars \"Duel in the Desert.\" I attended the event and very much appreciated your insight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Enduring Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Enduring Interest","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/enduring-interest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3949,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3949\/increase-your-value-by-decreasing-the-value-of-comps\/","url_meta":{"origin":2671,"position":5},"title":"It Takes More Than Comps to Beat the Competition","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As real estate agents we are always looking for ways to help our clients make sound decisions.\u00a0 If we find a way of doing so that also differentiates us from the market - all the better.\u00a0 In the next two posts I am going to share a new way to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}