Showings in December... An Excerpt from a Michigan Realtors Diary...

I get a call on a December afternoon.  "Hi Michael.  I am in town today only, and get off work at 5:00pm.  I would like to see this house we talked about over the weekend at 5:30.  Is that possible?  This is the only time this week I can see it, I know it is short notice..."

"Well if that is the only time you have, of course.  I will call and make the arrangements" I say. 

Meanwhile, my mind is spinning with thoughts of 'No! Not today! I have floor duty at the office until 5:00'  But my mental GPS kicks into over-ride and is saying, don't worry you can get there in 25 minutes from the office...  I know that song and dance too well. 

That inner struggle of not wanting to disappoint a client you have been working with, and the conflict with time, scheduling and the desire to be superman all at once.  Plus, there is that nasty fact: December = it is dim at 5:00pm, mostly dark at 5:30, and pitch black at 6:00.  Thank you daylight saving time. 

However, within a matter of seconds on the phone I convince myself I can make the appointment and simply respond "Of course.  See you then..."

I call the office to get the combo.  It is a foreclosure listed by a colleage.  The receptionist is at lunch, another agent is covering. He reads me the combo.  I repeat it twice.  I do not know until later he read it to me wrong, or I grossly misunderstood him. 

My last appointment is at 5:00pm.  It runs late.  I do not leave until 5:10 at best.  I punch the address into the GPS as I back out of the parking lot.  35 minutes to destination... God did I get that wrong!  I will arrive at 5:45pm, not 5:30.  Somewhere between dim and dark...

I call ahead, "Carol, I wanted to let you know I am running late, I should be there at 5:45pm."  "Oh, no problem, I am running late too.  Oh, by the way I have some friends who want to look at it too." "No problem, see you soon."

I arrive and the final road is dirt, and wash boarding.  I have not shown this property before.  As with many foreclosures, it was just listed recently.  It is dark, and it has started to snow.  I look for the Realty sign in the head beams, and the mail box address numbers are inconsistent. I finally find the house.  Carol is already here, her friends have yet to arrive.  It is pitch black.  There is a huge puddle in the middle of the dirt driveway.  She navigated around it, and her car is covered with mud. 

I decide to park at the front of the driveway, and hoof it through the overgrown and semi-frozen neglected yard.  Grabbing my flashlight from the back seat, I make my way to the house.  I hear a voice "Michael?  Is that you?" "Yes, it is me.  Hello Carol"  Her dog bounds out of the car, a very large poodle mix. He looks at me curiously.  "My friends will be here in a minute." 

"Okay, I will get the house unlocked."

I walk to the front door and balance my flashlight on the brick ledge as I dial rotary the combination.  My hands are already feeling the cold.  It is 25 degrees and falling.  The combination does not work.  I try again.  No joy.  'I hate rotary combos' I am thinking.  I try again, no success at all.  Carol offers to hold the flashlight, and I try again.  The combo is wrong.  I call the office.  Carol walks back to her car, and greets her friends telling them the lockbox is not opening...  My hands are freezing...

The office phone is ringing, it is after 5:00pm.  No one answers.  I try the listing agent at home and on her cell: no answer.  I am reminded how cold it is as my hands hold the cell phone looking back at me.  Like a revelation, I remember that Gail and Jason at my office were working late in their spaces.  I try Gail on her cell.  She does not answer.  I am freezing.  'Why did I not wear my long johns?' I am thinking...  I try Jason on his cell: Thankfully he answers.  He is at the office.  He looks up the combo.  I get the correct one.  I try it, and it works.  Eureka!  I am inside!

I open the door, and call back to Carol through the doorway into the night "I have the door open".  She calls to her friends "Oh, he has the door open."  "I am standing inside the house, looking around with my flashlight.  Typical foreclosure.  I see my breath.  I it warmer than outside, but just a little bit better.

 After what seems like an eternity, Carol and her friends arrive into the house.  We tour all the rooms with flashlights.  Discover some of the lights in the basement work, but the remainder of the house does not.  There are no light bulbs in any fixture upstairs. 

After we are done looking inside, they decide to tour the grounds outside.  I lock up the house, and join them at the barn.  I am now really regretting I did not wear my long johns.  The chill is biting through my legs, and I cannot feel my toes.  All the time the thoughts in my head are 'I want to go get in my van and turn on the heat', 'How much is there really to see in a barn anyway?' and 'What the hell am I doing here?  I mean , it is dark, cold, windy and snowing, and, and, and...'

Finally they have seen enough.  We make our way to the cars.  She wants to call me tomorrow.  I am fine with that.  'Let me go, I am cold' I am thinking.  'We can talk tomorrow'.

Then she says the damnest thing that stuns me and rocks my world: "Can I meet you here tomorrow during the day?  I really do not need to leave town tomorrow until 4:00pm... I would like to see it in the daylight..." 

Welcome to my world...