Knock On The Wall
It's not a line from a 1970s hit song;
It is the punch line from a 1950s advertising campaign.
Back in the post-war (WWII) boom of the 1950s contractors were putting up tracts of starter homes all over Southern California.
The contractors wanted to move fast and save money.
They started using plaster-board instead of genuine lath and plaster.
The labor unions were up in arms. Carpenters (who installed the lath), plasters (who plastered the walls), and hod carriers (who brought the plaster to the plasterers) were all losing jobs to a few guys who could slap up wall-board at a much faster rate than the time-and-material intensive process of installing genuine lath and plaster.
Of course, plaster-board wasn't as good as lath and plaster, but it was cheaper.
The unions mounted a very expensive ad campaign on radio, TV, billboards advising home buyers to "knock on the wall" to determine if they were getting high quality lath and plaster or the cheaper substitute.
Well, guess what? The campaign failed. All those plasterers and hod carriers had to find new employment. Some of the plasterers went to work for swimming pool builders, but most had to learn a new trade.
It is hard to find a house made with lath and plaster, unless it was built prior to WWII.
So, Who Loses?
So, who lost? Maybe everybody lost. The quality of new construction isn't what it once was.
Plasterers and hod carriers are almost impossible to find.
So what does this mean?
It simply means that things change.
People get used to lower quality.
Price Is Everything.
So what does this have to do with Real Estate?
It simply means that things change.
People get used to lower quality.
Price Is Everything
Are you asking people "to knock on the wall"? Is your service so valuable that people will want to pay more for it?
Are you selling just a few houses, but you expect to earn a good living providing this service?
The Internet is allowing high volume service providers to take over this business at a lower cost.
Maybe the quality isn't as good as you provide, but it is cheaper.
Price Is Everything......
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