I Like to Get a Feel For a House, But Not This Way...

I have to laugh at myself. I really do, because there's nothing else for me to do about it. I received a sign call this morning on my cell phone from an out of state buyer who drove in to Wilkes-Barre for the day and wanted to see one of my listings. I told the gentleman that I was going to be busy all day long with other clients, so he asked me to see if I could find someone else to let him see this listing. I told him I would see what I could do and I tried to call a few other agents from my office to see if anyone could let him in since the house was vacant. I couldn't get anyone on the phone to help, so I called him back to explain that I had nobody to let him in, but that I would be available after 7pm to show him the house if he wanted to wait for me. He agreed, so we made arrangements to meet when I finished with the clients I was with.

I finished with my other clients and was able to meet him and his mother at the house a few minutes after 7pm. It was starting to get dark, so we looked at the outside and the yard first, getting to know each other. We then went into the house and checked out the first floor and then the basement. Everything looked great and they liked the house. It's been recently remodeled, so I figured that they would like what they saw.

It wasn't until we got to the 2nd floor that I realized that I had a problem. There was no light bulb in the fixture at the top of the stairs. No problem, I turned the bathroom light on and we were in business. Note to self: get a light bulb for the hallway. I took them into the first bedroom and...no light bulb in that fixture either. It was getting pretty dark outside, so you couldn't see a heck of a lot in the room. Note to self: get 2   light bulbs for the hallway and the bedroom. We went to the next bedroom and...yes, no light bulb in that fixture either. Now, I'm getting very embarrassed. Note to self: kick self, choke seller and get 3    light bulbs. Then we went to the master bedroom.

This bedroom is on the front of the house and has an excellent view from the bay windows, especially at night where you can see the city lights (as far as Wilkes-Barre has city lights) and the surrounding mountains. It was quite nice to see the view, since we couldn't see the room because...once again, no light bulb in the fixture. I felt like I was stuck in one of those rooms you see on the MLS photos where the agent takes the picture pointing at the window so the exposure comes out really dark and you can't see anything. I was really beside myself. Well, not really, because if I was I would have been beating myself down for not seeing this before. I finally had to go out to my car and get a flashlight I keep in there for emergencies, and boy was I having an emergency!

The buyers were understanding and told me that they liked the house, but I imagine I'll have to get them back into the house for them to see what the house really looks like. We didn't even try the attic. I've never had this problem before because I've never had to show the house when it was dark out. As the days get shorter, it's going to be so much more important to make sure there are bulbs in all the fixtures so I can show this house.  am now wondering about my other listings and will have to check them out myself or call the sellers to be sure we're prepared. I'm so glad that I at least had that flashlight in the car. I can just imagine how I would have felt without it. "Here you are Mr and Mrs Customers, feel this new paint and new carpet. That's nice right? How about this fancy woodwork? Did you get a chance to feel that? If you walk around the room, hugging the walls, you can get an idea how big it is and if your furniture will fit."

I do like to get a feel for a house, but this isn't what I had in mind. Yes, I'll have those light bulbs in tomorrow before the sun goes down. You can count on that.

Until next time...