I have been in the business since 2004, but my ex-wife had been in a few years before that and I had tagged along on some showings to show support or if she wanted company if she didn't feel right about meeting someone.
I remember one of the first showings she had the door was off a deck, with slatted wood, not butted against each other. Well, you know what happened, she dropped the key and of course it went right through the slat and landed below the deck. I think we managed to get it out, but that was my first chance to see that things can be pretty crazy.
Yes, I have seen the naked bodies at showings when the house was supposed to be vacant, but a teenage son had decided to come home to entertain his girlfriend. But, the craziest thing that happened to me was as follows.
Once in the business, I was showing a home in a gated community. All keys had to be left at the security gate, not on the home for sale. Well, I checked in, and was handed the key. Off we went to the unit and as hard as I tried, the key would not work. I went back to the gate and asked the security guard if he had given me the right key.
"Let me check," he says, but giving me that look that he thought I was just some stupid Realtor who did not know how to operate a lock. Well, it turned out he had given me the wrong key. Assuring me this was the correct key, I returned to the unit. I placed the key in the lock, and turned, well the end of the key turned, but not the lock. I now had a key in two pieces, one in the lock and one in my hand, no open door and a client who was getting frustrated. I called the agent who had the listing and told him what had happened.
I will not repeat what they said. My client decided to leave as he was no longer interested in the property and had another appointment elsewhere. The listing agent called a locksmith who got the key out, only to pronounce that the key was the wrong key for the unit.
I could not believe that the guard had given me not one wrong key, but two. Not only do we have to do our jobs, but often we end up doing others jobs for them as well, whilst making sure we have the right implements.
Since then I make sure I have thin nosed pliers in my car, a hammer, and a screwdriver, just in case I might need them at a listing.
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