This is something that happens all too often.

 

When I take a listing I try to explain as carefully as possible that strangers will be coming through the property. The seller should pack away any valuables and try to remove as many personal items as possible. Many people are amazed that they will be inconvenienced during the process of selling their home.

 

This one time I had called my client to let her know that I was showing the property the next day at a time she was not usually home. I also called the next morning to remind her. When I arrived, exactly on time,  I knocked at the door and then let myself in with the key she had provided.

 

The house was showing great, everything was neat and clean. The prospective buyers were loving the property. We proceded upstairs. I was buiding up the stunning master bedroom and ensuite. The buyers were eating it up. I flung open the the bedroom door in a grand display of showmanship to give the full impact of this fabulous room.

 

After all the shrieking stopped, I quietly closed the door. The owner had decided that 10 minutes before a showing was plenty of time to whip through the shower. She had not heard us enter. She had just emerged from the bathroom as I opened the door. She did have a towel on....... unfortunately it was on her head.

 

Red faces all around. Trauma councelling for everybody.

 

Moral of the story: Self explanitory

In many areas a good number of realtors feel that they dont need to show up at their listed homes to present them and commonly make use of a lockbox or ask the owner to let people in to have a look. This is a story of why that's not a great idea.

 

I was showing ten homes to my clients in one day. This may not sound like many but if you try to make ten appointments timed conviently and in some kind of geographical order with agents that don't answer the phone, only list their office number and do not return calls until I have texted, voicemailed, left message at the office and sent a smoke signal, you will understand that this is a time consuming task to begin with.

 

One home we stopped to view was on lockbox (as were 8 of the 10 we were seeing that day). As per the listing realtors instructions I knocked on the door, he said if the elderly owner was home she would let me in otherwise use the lockbox and enter. Nobody answered the door so I retrieved the key. As we entered the home I noticed that the kitchen counters were quite messy with a lot of personal papers lying around on them. I thought that was quite odd as I had made the appointment 2 days before, leaving plenty of time to straighten up.

 

I told my clients to look around as I went further into the house turning on the lights. I went into one of the bedrooms and I found an elderly lady lying on the floor unconscious. I checked her wrist for a pulse and calmly freeked out when I felt how cold her hands were. I warned my clients not to come in and called 911. The operator told me to see if i could tell if she was breathing and to move her on her back and try and open her airway. I was told to try and open her mouth which was clamped shut, when i pulled on her chin her eyes popped open. My socks rolled up and down by themselves. She let out a little gasp. At this point I am seriously reconsidering my carreer choice.

 

I was pretty sure things couldn't get worse but my clients called from the kitchen and said there was something I should see. I came out and found a suicide note and a bunch of empty pill bottles on the kitchen counter. I reported this to the 911 operator whom  I still had on the line. She informed me that this was now a crime scene and we shouldn't touch anything. We would be required to give statements to the police.

 

I next tried to contact the listing Realtor but as he was one of these top notch leaders in the field he does not make his direct number available to anyone so I left a message with the office which included the words "body, suicide, pills, police, fire trucks and crime scene" which I was reasonably sure conveyed the urgency of the call. A few hours later when the super agent returned my call he said "gee, sorry about that, I guess I better call the family". Which is the last I heard from him. I really don't know if the poor lady survived or not.

 

I asked my clients after we were finished our interviews with the police if they had had enough for one day or did they want to see the remaining 2 properties as I was sure they had ruled the current one out. They, much to my surprise said yes so we headed off to the next one.

 

The next home was yet another listing from a TOP agent that doesn't believe a salesman needs to be present to sell a home. As I was still extremely freeked out about my last stop, I rang the bell vigorously, enough to wake the dead so to speak. There was no answer so I went and got the key. We entered the home. I went around the corner and found someone lying on the sofa - not moving. Being a veteran at finding bodies in houses now, I told my clients to stay back while I investigated. I poked the guy. He didn't move. I thought I would check the help wanted ads later that day. I shook the guy a little bit. He popped up and screemed "what the hell are you doing in my house!". I calmly explained that we had an appointment and that I had gotten the key out of the lockbox as per his Agents instructions. He calmed down, told us that his Agent had not told him anyone was coming but we could look around now that we were there. I got a call the next day from the Agents secretary asking how we liked the house. I let her know.

 

The moral of this story is: when you are considering hiring a Realtor to sell your home, look past his fancy brochure or powerpoint presentation and ask a few simple questions.

 

Do you put your DIRECT number on your signs and advertising? Potential buyers are not patient and do not like to leave messages.

 

If you miss a call, how long does it take you to call back? This answer should be in number of minutes.

 

Do you ALWAYS attend the showings of your listings? Your Realtor should always make sure that the property is READY TO SHOW, besides why in the world wouldn't you want the proffessional salesman that you hired to be present when there is a potential buyer in your home.