Catchy title, eh? As a relative newbie, I am still perusing the groups and checking out the ones that seem interesting. Today I came across War Stories and was reminded of, you guessed it, naked sellers.
I was working with a buyer on a tight budget and a short deadline. Being new to the area and not happy about the prices compared to where he had come from, we were looking at a lot of properties. I learned about neighborhoods I never knew existed and tiptoed carefully around some of his innocent comments, wondering if he was a tester trying to snare me in a discrimination suit.
One sunny July afternoon we arrived at a property for a showing. I was a little nervous since there was an alarm system and it required actually allowing the alarm to go off and then racing through the house to the back door to silence it. Things went to plan but in the darkness I saw a bag of tied garbage in the middle of the kitchen; I thought that was odd for someone expecting a realtor showing their property. When the alarm silenced, I heard a woman scream, "There's someone in the house!!!" In the half darkness of the red-flocked wallpaper room, I could see the silhouette of a woman. I apologized profusely, my buyer at my side, and asked if they knew their agent had arranged a showing for today at this time. "No." I said we would excuse ourselves, view the yard first, give them some time to make the house ready for showing. "But we're naked!!!" It was then I realized the woman was clothed in a sheet, just covering the front of her. The "we" part of the equation was not evident.
Out we went to the yard, awkward silence between my buyer and me, when a man appeared clothed only in unzipped shorts and asked if we could return later. "Sure!" I lightheartedly responded, "Would you like me to call first and when would be convenient?" He gave me a cell phone number and a time frame of two hours. As we made our way back to the car, my buyer said there was no need to return, he had seen quite enough already. I later learned we had been looking at homes in "Hookerville"!
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"Helping you find your way home." Ann Arbor area real estate consultant. Never stop learning, never stop listening; it's easy to travel the road that leads home.
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That is funny. I too have been in very similar situations especially since we are a college town.
That is hysterical! LOL However, I'm sure it was very awkward at the time.
That is SOooooo funny Susan, it's amazing the situations we get ourselves into!
What a funny story, Susan! I guess it wasn't funny at the time.
I saw the humor in it at the time but had to remain professional. It still ranks highly as one of my best real estate adventures ever.
That is hilarious. Oh, the things we get to witness...
That kinda makes this job so challenging and fun. I had a similar situation Susan. Afterwards I could only laugh.
You know, Trey, I was reminded of being in a similar situation myself once as a college student. My husband and I lived in the midst of heavy student apartments in Philadelphia after he finished his four year stint in the Air Force. I was a full-time student and he was a part-time student, working full-time. We had no phone and cell phones were not invented yet, to my knowledge. Yeah, I'm that old.... Our apartment was being shown one Saturday morning since we were not renewing the lease. They couldn't contact us - no phone. As we slept in late the realtor just pretended we weren't there, curled up in our bed together, and pointed out the features of the room. We kept our eyes shut and pretended they weren't there too. We had a great laugh about it afterwards. At least we weren't naked!
You know Mark, in a town named Kissimmee you almost have to expect it....
Susan, this is hysterical :-) Who says our job is boring?
Sometimes you wonder why they didn't know there was a showing ! It has happened to me too, not quite as dramatic but sellers in the bed, sellers in the shower, sellers eating dinner.
Yikes, what an experience! If there were sheets are you sure your buyer saw enough??? :)
Some of these stories - "almost" wants me to consider become a Realtor! ;-)
Susan - what a funny story. That will keep a chuckle in your world for a very long time to come. Thanks for sharing and giving me my chuckle for the day. That will be hard one to top!
That's hysterical. You know, I once caught a seller in the shower. I was showing a $1.2 million home in Wilhaggin. There were no cars in the drive and nobody answered the door, plus I had left a v/m earlier. We were in the home at least 20 minutes, sat in the back at the pool yakking, came back inside and heard the sound of running water. My first thought was a broken pipe. We hadn't yet looked at a wing, so I walk down the hall to find a bedroom door closed. It was evident somebody was in the shower. Of course, being me, I knocked on the bedroom door . . .
Nobody responded. So we quickly left.
Tell me, what do you say when you walk into the house? I was taught, way back when, to yell out the name of my brokerage. I know other agents who simply holler "real estate." Some only say "Hello." I'd imagine the hello-ers are the ones who are more apt to find naked people. :)
Thanks for all your comments! Like many of you, this was not a one time occurence in terms of arriving at a seller's property and finding them clueless to the showing - this was just the most memorable one! Elizabeth, I tend to be a "hello-er" but I think I'll switch that to one of your other suggestions. In this case, you'd think the alarm would have been significant warning! Perhaps they were just preoccupied....
Hi Susan, that is funny!! Thanks for the smile.
Luckily thats never happened to me! I know its only a matter of time though.
I have had a close call with an undressed seller but nothing like this. That certainly gives you something to talk about with your buyer.
Steve, The buyer and I never talked about it again - WAY too awkward! I have shared the story with others many times though and it always brings a laugh.
Very funny!!! At least you learned more about your area.
I have had 2 instances of people being in the house and one of them, we had to take our shoes off. My buyers were a couple with a 3 year old. It was not fun trying to make her understand the importance of putting her shoes back on so that we could get out before they knew we were there!
great story... :) I probably, couldn't stop laughing :)
This is hysterical! I didn't know that Ann Arbor even had a Hookerville!
Oh yes, we all need those stories to pass along. Group Wisdom as they say.
So... question...
Did you ever speak to the listing agent about that showing? Did they ask for feedback?
Patricia, As much as Ann Arbor fancies itself to be European, and we are an international city in many regards, we are not Amsterdam. The Hookerville in question was in a neighboring community that has really desirable sections abutting to some watch-your-back areas - they're not Amsterdam either!
Sarah, I did speak to the listing agent afterwards but don't remember if I called him or he called me. He seemed surprised about the entire scenario and was certain he had alerted the sellers to a showing, but maybe only by leaving a voicemail. I'm willing to bet my response on feedback was along the lines of: bordello decor and atmosphere, a solid brick ranch, but those bars on the doors not suggesting warm and cozy. We only saw the living room and kitchen in a blur of alarms, half light, and panic, and that was all we needed for the rest of what was on display....
Susan,
I've heard versions of that story over and over. I guess it'll get repeated with many different Realtors as long as we are able to set up showings on occupied houses. Too bad the buyer didn't want to go back. I hope he bought elsewhere.
Andrew, The buyer did buy eventually (it was only about a 6 week showing period) but only after I gave him an ultimatim since he had a deadline. He was living with his brother temporarily and a wedding was looming - he needed to be out when the honeymoon was over. We had seen at least 30 properties and had considered many more. I finally said, "You are to look at nothing more on the internet and I am shutting down my auto-search for you. Pick one." It was the meanest I have ever been with a buyer. He picked three, we went over the pros and cons of each and he decided on the one I actually thought was the best deal (unobstructed view of lake though not lakefront). I visited him after a few months in the place when I was showing in the area and he was completely happy with his purchase. Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind....
Susan, I have always worried about that happening but so far I have just disturbed sleeping people. Going in to homes with alarms is intimidating enough but then to have someone yell down you must have jumped out of your skin. I'm glad you found something for your buyer.
Marchel, Fear was not a concern at the time, just emabarrassment for all concerned. In retrospect and considering the neighorhood I found out I was showing in, I felt really fortunate something worse did not happen. I know someone, not a friend (!) who knows he is legally allowed to shoot someone who steps onto his property if he feels they are threatening to him. I was inside the house!!! I am just happy that my naked people were not prone to violence.
Susan,
This is a very hilarious story! I can't believe it. Never had that happened before.
I haven't had another incident like it since, almost 18 months now.
Great story. Real estate agents should start writing a book when they first start in the business. When they are ready to retire they sell their memoirs.
Not a bad idea Kenny, my daughter is majoring in English Lit with the intention of going into publishing - hmmmmmm, maybe I have an in.....