Hilarious Real Stories From Real Estate Agents

Home shopping is actually a pretty funny thing. You see, as a Realtor I spend a LOT of time going in and out of people’s homes, coordinating odd schedules, and working with all walks of life. When thrown into the middle of peoples personal lives, you can bet that some pretty crazy things will happen every once in a while.  Buckle up for these laugh out loud moments straight from the trenches of Real Estate (including myself)

The Perfect Storm

A few years back I was looking at townhomes with a buyer here in Phoenix.  It was my first time into this particular townhome complex.  I gave driving instructions to my client, and we met outside the property on time, so far so good.  On this particular showing, the listing agent had advised me they had not put a lockbox on the property yet.  Instead, they had the seller step out before we arrived and would leave the front door open for us.

Not a huge deal, even though it’s certainly not the safest way to do things for the seller.  The front door is unlocked as expected, so we head in and start looking around.  The family room looks good, the kitchen was nice, and even the yellow lab was friendly.

As we finished up the first floor we started to head up stairs.  It was at that point I realized something looked a bit different than the pictures online.  Something wasn’t right.  I quickly pulled up the listing on my phone, opened the pictures and confirmed… we were in the completely wrong unit.

Needless to say we hightailed out of there.  I’m not sure if whoever’s house this was left home with the front door unlocked, or if they were hiding under their bed scared to death someone was breaking in.

Am I still completely embarrassed? Absolutely.  In my defense, I’ve since learned the numbering system in the complex is notoriously terrible. There are multiple Unit 7’s in the complex, and the buildings are not marked.  It was the perfect storm. I also learned I was not the only agent to have a problem finding the right unit, although I may have been the only one to show a property that wasn’t actually for sale.

The Museum Masterpiece

Now that I’ve confessed my personal favorite snafu, I’ll share a story from a fellow Realtor Paul G out of Plymouth Minnesota.

“I was new in the business and was asked to show a house to some buyers. I was warned that the seller was a bit eccentric and made a request for us to not touch anything while looking.  Easy enough.  We head over to the house and when you open the door you realize he wasn’t kidding.  It was like walking into a museum filled with fine art and collectibles. Everything was pristine. The walls and carpets were pure white without a single trace of dirt.

The buyers were a family.  As we made our way through the home, the youngest son has a sudden look of terror as he pulled his hand up to his mouth.  Before we knew it, his lunch (and kool-aid) decided it was going to come back up.  It was an absolute disaster all over the white carpet.

We panicked, went to the neighbor’s house and grabbed carpet cleaner, paper towels and did everything we could to clean it up. After it was said and done, the buyers bought the home.”

As much as you can laugh after the fact, that is complete terror!

I can completely relate to this one.  I once was selling the property of a self-proclaimed neat freak.  I was there showing some buyers the home during an open house.  They took their shoes off, and carefully looked through the property. It was truly pristine. On the way out, right by the front door, the buyer accidentally dropped her nearly full Starbucks Venti Chai Latte on the floor which subsequently exploded onto the walls and sofa.  I started cleaning frantically while the buyer went out to her car to “get some towels”.  She never came back and needless to say I never heard from her.

Naked Ned

The last one comes from a Realtor named Carlos at Coldwell Banker all the way in New Jersey.

“One time when I was showing a house, the listing agent said to head right in. “I ring the bell and knock on the door and no one answers so I proceed to use my lockbox and walk in with my buyer.

We go through the entire first floor and then proceed to the basement. As we are going to the second floor to see the bedrooms, a completely naked man walks by the hallway. I tell him that we are showing the house. He starts making his way down the stairs to tell us nobody told him we were coming to see the house today, but take your time. Note that he was still naked the entire conversation”

A little, awkward?

In all seriousness, Realtors are professionals and take a real sense of responsibility for what happens during showings, even if it’s completely out of their control.  These are certainly not normal occurrences, and chances of something like this happening to you are very slim!