A few more words about Belgium. Although I typically post only about property management, as I traveled through Belgium I saw many for rent and for sale signs, I thought they would make an OK blog post - when in Belgium, you might say...
Real estate signs in Belgium always seem to be attached to the building itself, and almost always perpendicular to the building, jutting out usually at 2nd floor level. That in itself was interesting to me as an American. In suburban Texas we take for granted the excess of space we have to plant signs. In Belgium, especially in urban areas, that space simply does not exist in most cities. So they must be installed on the building, above the street level so as not to conflict with the signs of the business itself, up and out of pedestrian traffic also.
Then there's the language on the signs. Throughout the country, the signs were Te Koop, which means for sale, or Te Huur, which means for rent. I think the meaning of Te Huur is probably "To Hire." The language for both is Dutch, which is spoken by a lot of people in Belgium. The thing is, French is spoken by a lot of other people in Belgium.
For a country as small as Belgium, it was surprising to me how many people spoke Dutch and not French, or French and not Dutch, depending on where they live. By some secret handshake, however, sometime in the past, the decision got made that even in French speaking areas, real estate signs would speak Dutch.
So I am going along, seeing real estate signs, and finding them interesting (yes, I know how sad that sounds), until one day I saw a JLL sign. Then it became: "Well if JLL is here, where are the Coldwell Banker Commercial signs?" Competition reigns supreme, and hard as I looked, I hate to admit that I did not see one of my own company's signs. I know CBC is in Europe, but what about Belgium? Do I need to go there and do some business development, take one for the team? pick up some listings? If I must...
So I am going along, seeing real estate signs, and finding them interesting (yes, I know how sad that sounds), until one day I saw a JLL sign. Then it became: "Well if JLL is here, where are the Coldwell Banker Commercial signs?" Competition reigns supreme, and hard as I looked, I hate to admit that I did not see one of my own company's signs. I know CBC is in Europe, but what about Belgium? Do I need to go there and do some business development, take one for the team? pick up some listings? If I must...
