ASK MG: Strange and Unusual
Mike and I were having lunch with a business acquaintance last week who asked us "what is the strangest thing you have run into in your real estate career?" Here were a few of our experiences:
Our brokerage has an acreage for sale that the surrounding community firmly believes is haunted by a female ghost. The story goes that the spirit came with the house when it was moved on to the property, and will make itself known to residents by a number of events - every drawer in the kitchen open in the morning, a cool drafty presence in the middle of the night in the master bedroom as if someone was passing through, dogs that cower and whine in the corner of the porch for no reason, etc. We always disclose the rumors to potential buyers, for if we didn't and they purchased it, then found out we had been hiding something, our integrity would be in question. It's actually a really good property, and I hope the right buyer will come along who will embrace the mystery!
A buyer is normally granted possession of their new house shortly before noon on the agreed upon date of possession. Typically, the buyer and their Realtor arrive at the house together to ‘hand over the keys'. This way, they can ensure the house is clean, and that the contracted appliances and fixtures are still there. You can imagine the face of a startled buyer when we arrived at her property at 5:00 pm, close to 5 hours after the seller's lawyer granted possession, only to find the male seller relaxing in the bathtub in full view from the kitchen!
I got a call from Calgary one day asking me to conduct an opinion of value on his acreage about 20 miles from the closest rural community. The owner said the tenants had recently vacated, and he was considering putting the property on the market. As soon as I arrived I got the distinct impression from the disarray in the yard that they had indeed moved in a hurry for there were a number of items left behind that most families would take with them - children's toys, tools, and such like. The next clue was the two 1,000 gallon propane tanks, quite of bit of heating fuel for one small shop and house. Inside the Quonset there were garden hoses and plastic sheeting strung everywhere over a dozen or so banquet tables. Every upstairs room in the house had a 12" circle cut in the floor, obviously to aid ventilation. The undisclosed fact that it had been used as a grow-up by the now absent tenant was confirmed later that afternoon by the RCMP!
In another case of the absentee landlord tired of complaining tenants, I arrived at a rural property only to discover that the sewage discharge was located less than 10' from the well. No wonder their water was brown and smelled! To make matters worse, the owner refused to see it as a problem. I didn't take the listing.
We have seen a lot of things over the years - puppy mills with several dozen pens of sickly dogs, houses so full of cats the urine smell would never be overcome, owners fleeing town in the night to avoid the outcome of unpaid drug debts, separated couples that maintain distinct living quarters on each floor just so that the other will not gain full use of the property; the list goes on.
One thing about it, real estate is never dull!
Vern McClelland and Michael Dewing are Realtors and partners in The Midwest Group with RE/MAX of Lloydminster. If you have questions or comments on this article or other real estate matters, they can be reached at 780.808.2700 or through the website www.wesellmidwest.ca
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