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Scared the BEE-GEEEZEZ out of me!

Every once in a while on an inspection there is something that startles me. Sometimes it is finding someone where you didn't expect to find them----like the teenager under a pile of debris in the bedroom. One time the agent opened up for me only to find eight people sacked out in the living room----made a quiet exit from that one and came back later. Turns out the listing agent needed a place for a bunch of people to crash for the night and had "forgotten" about the inspection. Another time I walking into the garage and had the "feeling" that someone was watching---that turned out to be Marilyn. Today's startle was perhaps the most heart stopping in a while. I opened a storage shed to find this poor guy. Sometimes I wonder if sellers just like to mess with my head:)

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

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Posted by Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector on 01/24/2008 01:02 AM

Comments (55)

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Originally posted at: Seattle Home Inspector's Blog: Scared the BEE-GEEEZEZ out of me!

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55 Comments on Scared the BEE-GEEEZEZ out of me!

JAN

2008

Uncle Feser, yea that would throw me for a fright. Keep that guy locked up.

Take care!

RJH

LOL, I'm more startled by the listing agent who used someone else's house for sleepover guests! You've got to be KIDDING ME?!

Did you put this photo in the inspection report, LOL :-)

Thanks for sharing.

Vickie Nagy http://www.besttrivalleyhomes.com/

Hi Charles: I am sure almost every Realtor has their own story, too. Mine is pretty boring. I walk into the living room after using the key, and some poor guy runs out of the bedroom with a towel wrapped around him... whispering... "now is not a good time... ." LOL

Ok Charles, be honest, is was this more frightening or opening a crawlspace access door to find a pair of furry ringed eyes staring back at you?
LOL!

Colleen

OK, that is a little creepy! I am surprised that they didn't have a sheet over it to keep it clean but that may have looked even more strange!

Hi Charles! - That is scary!!! But I bet the occasional raccoon under the house is worse?

ARDELL, I know what you mean, I have wondered what the agent,s relationship was to the seller that they could pull that one off.

Vicki, I often put humor into my report---this time Uncle Fester stayed in the closet:)

Karen, that reminds me of a story from my construction days. I have the house all to myself (client left for two weeks so I could work uninterrupted), open the door and go running upstairs to find the lady of the house in her underwear----"whoops, didn't we tell you we changed are plans":) Wasn't the first or last time I thoroughly embarrassed myself on the job!

Colleen & Courtney, do you both have something going on about the cute little raccoons? They are for real scary---sometimes the "pretend" scary is worse:) When I go into a crawl space I am "expecting" that sort of thing I guess.

Libby, he looks a little "four sheets to the wind":)

I have to admit that I might have actually screamed in fear for a second if I encountered that dude in a shed.

I'm with Jason. I may have needed some recovery time if I had walked in on him. LOL

Ohhhhhhhh... so THAT's where I put him! Yes... I've been there too!

Charles, I was actually thinking more along the RAT lines. YUK YUK YUK!

Wow, that would have got my attention real quick! Yikes.

Wow! I think that I would have been startled if I had seen him lurking in a corner of a closet and I wasn't expecting to see that. Kinda weird. 8-}

Hee hee hee, That is great! I walked in on a gentleman sitting on the potty one day. All doors open, All lights on. My buyer and I chatting, OY!!!!!! But my guy wasn't green!

What is even more frightening, is the situation I came across when I first started doing appraisals. I went to do the inspection of the home and the person there to let me in, is a 12 year old girl!! and she was the only one home. Needless to say I had to reschedule the appraisal(the mother of the girl was pissed off), and the broker was mad because he didn't get his report fast enough. Since then, when I schedule an appraisal, the first thing I tell the client is that there must be an adult present.

That thing would have scared me too!

Wow that would take your breath away. I've walked in a a naked guy and a few sleeping people but no scary Halloween guys.

That would scare me too. I'm sure that you were caught off guard.

Jason, I kept my cool----but barely:)

Chuck, except for his color I would say you at least keep him well fed:)

Coleen, if you haven't seen them, you might enjoy a couple of my earlier blogs about rats.

Michael, I didn't seem to scare him all that much:)

Virginia, nice mental picture:)

Michael Z, amazing---what do people think?

Cindy, may just be me, but I think a "naked guy" would scare me more than Uncle Fester (except perhaps Uncle Fester naked!:)

Well its certainly wasn't the norm but strange things do happen, don't they

Oh I would have died. I once went to a home and posters of Charles Manson were hanging everywhere along with pics of daggers and blood dripping off of them. Now that was scary

Phyllis Pafumi

I had a cat jump out of an attic access door once. Man, did we scream I a bunch of girls. Of course, we are a bunch of girls.

Charles. I almost screamed seeing the picture! Holy crap! I was showing a "vacant" house and there was a body shaped lump in the bed. I never left a house so fast in my lifeQ!

Funny stuff. You never know what to expect. That picture is really good.

Ha! Reminds me of a time when I previewed a home by myself and found a life size cutout of Mike Myers as Austin Powers behind a bedroom door. I literally screamed and then laughed at myself. Times like these make you want to say "I love this business!"

I think we could write a book, and maybe should...on the many suprises waiting for all of us when opening the door to a listing!!! Great post

This is my first visit to the "featured" area----coooool. Glad I finally have a day off so I can answer everyone:)

Phyllis, Charlie Manson I can do without:)

Mary, I am totally capable of "screaming like a girl:)

Chris, hopefully just the "sleeping teenager"

Kim, "love this business" somehow doesn't come close----doesn't even feel like a job most of the time:) Very important to like what you do!

Cherimie, ---would make a pretty cool book----maybe even a TV show:)

Can you imagine a Real Estate Reality show.......is that an oxy moron:)

Hey, I want that guy! Does he come with the house?

I entered a house once a took 2 steps in and saw somebody standing behind the door. I spun around into my best kung-fu stance and it was a full size cardboard cutout of a basketball player!

Charlie,

Is that a mannequin, or is that just a big mirror looking back at you. I know that, on inspections, you wear a similar outfit. It keeps the rodents away.

Charles, I found one of those fake armours in a pantry one time.....almost peed in my pants!

Great story!

Here's my heart stopper:

I once showed a home that was being rented at the time. There was a TON of furniture in all of the rooms...so much that you could barely walk through the hallways. Well, we go in the basement...I'm leading the way. It's the same thing down there. It was like a furniture warehouse. We couldn't find the light switch, so we're fumbling around the basement. I go to a doorway of a room and it's pitch black. I turn the light switch on and get FREAKED OUT. There's a man sitting on a bed in total darkness with his eyes wide open. I jumped backwards about 3 feet and almost knocked my clients over. My heart was ready to jump out of my skin. The man didn't say anything at all...just stared at us. We finally got out of the house in a hurry.

Wayne, prowling around in other people's houses can be pretty un-nerving.

Steve, your spoiling all my fun----you didn't have to tell did you?:)

Katie, it would make a lot of noise to Karate chop that thing:)

Dan, that would do it for me---what is it they say----life is about "adrenalin"----any way you can get it is good?

lmao! did you scream? i hope you screamed...i would've screamed,lol

Sure that's not the listing agent?!?!? -- With longer market times, some of them actually look like that by the time the house sells!

I don't think I would have screamed, but I know I would have jumped and my heart would have been racing! I've never thought about how traumatic an inspector's line of work can be!

I think my kids would really get a kick out of me coming across this guy in a dark shed...I jump 10 feet when they just walk up behind me and say, "hey mom."

I had a neighbor in one of my condo listings leave out a life size costumed figure with a knife in the hall for halloween, it scared the agent showing it pretty bad!

In this day and age that would have definitely freaked me out. I probably would have screamed out loud. I wonder if there were any cameras around. You might see yourself on America's Funniest Home Videos one of these days :-)

Charles, That would be a scary one. I have had some people come downstairs after no one answered when I went inside. AND I have found dog food in an attic... dog? I have to wonder if Tamara might be right. I will have to tune in to AFV

Dee, I let out a hell of a scream (in my head:)----always the professional you know?

Lori, now you've got me laughing:)

Jim & Maria, if life wasn't stressful would we know what life was:)

Tamara, pretty good idea to live ones whole life as if the cameras are rolling, but especially as a home inspector. An inspector friend of mine found a hidden camera from the attic into the daughters bedroom---kinda creepy. I have had houses wired with cameras----gotta keep smiling:)

LOL Charles...

That would've scared the "BEE-GEEZEZ" out of me too.

More than likely I would have pulled out my gun and tried to reciprocate that scare :)

TLW...ROAR!

Oh that is really creepy. Always interesting to walk in and think the place is empty and someone is there. Exit.

JAN

2008

I'm with Ardell. That is just wrong. Can you imagine the lawsuit if something had gone wrong? On another note, I do remember the house with the mounted and stuffed pet dog. That was freaky too! I cannot imagine all the things you must run across that startle you. My best one was the sleeping younger guy who'd "forgotten" about the showing. Let's just say the room was a little warm!

Yikes, I would have embarssed myself screaming, but people staying over is beyond belief.

was that a picture of the agent, the seller, or the buyer?

Knowing that the agent said that a particular house will be vacated doesn't matter. I ring the bell, nock on the door, no answer? I open the door and gently say "inspector here", and then a little louder and then I generally holler pretty loud. If they did not hear me the first time then they are hard of hearing and did not know I was yelling anyway and if no one is there I just got to exersize my lungs. No harm no foul!

WELLL, After all that I enterd a home (nobody home) and as I usually do passed from room to room getting a feel for the layout and sure enough the last bedroom on the left was a woman passed-out (fully clorthed) sprawled all over the bed with bottles of beer everywhere. I backpeddled all the way to the door and re-locked it THEN called the REALTOR. After a few calls and a couple of days I went back to the home to do the inspection. This time I took the bull-horn (not really) just wanted to. Seems her divorce was final the afternoon prior to theinspection. She decided before leaving town she waould just use the key she had kept and have one lst fling.

That guy in the shed would have had me more than backpeddling.

Blessings

Mike Reel Williamstown WV

Charlie,

You are getting way too many comments, and points on this one, in light of the fact that it is a self-portrait. I am jealous.

That is too funny. I think they were messing with you. LOL. They must love to decorate for Halloween!

Broker Byrant, me thinks gus scare me more:)

Kirk, good question. Answer: my friend Steve :)

Mike, good advice.

Steve, you gotta "put yourselve out there" ---if you want to get the points:)

I would have pepper sprayed Uncle Fester to the death! I know that made your heart stop. LOL

JAN

2008

Now Donna, do you carry your pepper spray in your hand when you open storage sheds.

By the time you got it out of wherever you keep it, you would have realized what it really was. Wouldn't you?

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Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

Seattle, WA

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