Over the years, like any other agent who has been in this business for a while, I've seen my share of "interesting" relationships, living arrangements and an entire sliding scale of cleanliness and neatness.
It's life and it's not always pretty. Our clients don't always live in Hallmark moments or even as we ourselves would choose to live.
But that's just part of this career we've chosen; we're invited into homes, into situations, into lives.
Sometimes those lives throw curveballs that cause issues for agents; I've been screamed at, argued with, been hung up on because I refused to divulge confidences about my clients which would make a seemingly bizarre situation make sense.
I've had agents practically come unhinged because their client was only getting one key to the house.
"One key? How is it possible they only had one key? That is unbelievable, truly unbelievable. What are we supposed to do?"
(Trust me, it's entirely believable. The wife did not want to move and threw all of her keys into a dumpster somewhere the day before settlement. And, uh, locksmith.)
"What do you mean they don't have a key to the mailbox? How is that even possible? What are my clients supposed to do?"
(Trust me, it's possible. The ex boyfriend took his girlfriend's key ring on his way out the door with most of her personal belongings. And, uh, go to the post office.)
"How do you expect us to get into the storage shed if there is no key?"
(Uh, hello, bolt cutters? Welcome to home ownership.)
"It's not even feasible they don't have keys to all the doors. How can you possibly expect me to believe that in five years, they only went in and out of the front door? What do you expect my clients to do?"
(Paranoid husband changed the locks every six months and would not share the keys with any other family members, other than for the front door. And the day before settlement, he threw all his keys away. What can I say, really? Just this: locksmith.)
As long as the contract is adhered to, I really don't care to have a 10 minute (or longer!) conversation about how many keys there are to a house. Our contract refers to the transfer of keys at settlement and includes the phrase, "if any," clearly a signal that keys are not a conveyance and hey, if you get keys, consider yourself lucky.
As a buyer's agent, I always advise any buyers to change the locks as soon as possible, because it's not possible to know how many keys to your new house may be floating around out there. And, believe me, you don't really want to find out the answer to that question at 2 am when someone comes stumbling into your bedroom.
Sometimes life doesn't work out the way we plan. And sometimes we are plagued with agents whose clients come unglued at the smallest things. In an ideal world, yes, all parties would behave responsibly and do the right thing, of course, but since when do we live in an ideal world?
Rather than transfer that drama directly to the agent on the other side of the transaction, how about taking a deep breath, analyzing the situation, figuring out a solution and dealing with it...oh, and while you are at it, how about taking a close look at the contract so you actually know where you stand?
A big part of our jobs is to help our clients calmly navigate what can be a stressful time, depending on what else is going on in their lives. Keeping our cool and working toward solutions is the only way to best serve them.
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