There is no such thing as love at first sight. Certainly there are those butterflies that get your stomach queasy and make you think irrationally. Just five more minutes on the phone, you tell yourself, I want to share just one more thing with this person who fascinates me in ways I cannot explain to anyone outside of me. Real love, though, must be built using layers.

I can tell you when I wanted my girlfriend to become my wife. It wasn’t a moment that caused a light to shine down from the heavens or a choir of angels to show up and begin to sing their harmonious song. It was much more subtle than that.

My wife laughs. Loudly. Cackles and snorts, too. Its uniqueness is beautiful. I’d heard her laugh many times before my moment of awakening but this particular day, in a room full of people we hardly knew, she let one of her really really loud and snort filled ones go. People stared. The room grew quieter. Several chuckled; not at the joke but at her. I looked around the room at their mocking tones and smiled, deeply, for it dawned on me then what I now know to be completely true. I love her with my everything.

If you’re selling someone a package of golf balls, people won’t have that kind of epiphany when they realize they really want them. Golf balls get hit, normally hook into the woods, and go missing.

Apartments carry much more weight. If you’ve set the stage correctly, imagine what it must be like for your prospects. They pull their gray sedan into the beautiful gated entrance and the brightly colored plantings catch their eye. They park in one of the freshly lined spaces in front of the leasing office and see a neighbor walking their adorable Black Lab puppy up the sidewalk. The office is cozy and the leasing manager’s greeting is warm. The Manager asks about the prospect in a non evasive way. She’s genuine and caring. Within a few minutes, the maintenance man comes up from the shop, says hello to the prospect, asks how they are doing today, and then works his way outside to tackle his maintenance tickets. Later, the prospect willingly signs their lease.

When was the prospect’s moment, their epiphany, when they knew they wanted to commit? Were you watching for it? Was it the pleasant leasing manager? The beautiful, freshly cut plantings? The smiling neighbor? The jolly maintenance man? Do all of these things continue to pile up until the prospect is ready to burst?

Remember, the stakes are higher, you’re not selling golf balls, you’re selling a lifestyle, a platform to build memories on. Don’t be afraid to let someone hear you cackle and snort.

Here’s a renting secret. Hire someone to walk this dog up and down your sidewalk all day. My how the rentals will come rolling in.

Happy renting everyone.