Broker Joseph Armano plans to dress up as the Hulk for an open house
To
inject some humor into an ever-depressing market, real estate broker
Joseph Armano has the Incredible Hulk showing off one of his apartment
listings.
Armano, a principal of
Joseph Armano Real Estate, said he was inspired by the new film “I Love
You Man,” where the main character is a real estate agent who is trying
to sell Lou Ferrigno’s house. Ferrigno, who had a role in the comedy
starring Paul Rudd, played the Hulk on TV’s “The Incredible Hulk” and
in films.
At a recent open house for apartment 4B at 45 East 30th Street,
Armano advertised that the Hulk was going to make an appearance,
although the green giant wasn’t going to show up. Four more people attended
the open house than the previous one, which had no Hulk hype.
Armano put Hulk dolls around the unit with signs saying that if a
buyer presents a lowball offer, the Hulk will get angry, or could
become a green monster in negotiations.
At the moment, the
apartment at 45 East 30th Street is Armano’s only listing, but he said
he plans to use the Hulk gimmick in upcoming listings.
At the next open house, which is this Sunday, Armano said he will
be dressed as the Hulk, and is working on getting Ferrigno to show up,
although he doesn’t know him.
“I did it as a joke,” Armano said. “Honestly, the market is so hard right now, we need the humor.”
Armano said he’s been talking about the Hulk on his blog and
Twitter, and he predicts more people will show up to the upcoming open
house than the last one on April 5. The unit for sale is a
1,460-square-foot apartment with a balcony, and is listed for $1.43
million. It went on the market in February.