Wiggle it ... just a little bit
Allow me to take a little break from my traditional real estate blog. Rest assured, it's about real estate but with a bit of a twist. My mother always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" Well, too bad mom. I can't bite my tongue any longer.
There are so many things that I love about my job. I feel fortunate to have had some pretty amazing
clients over the years. Many of those clients have become life-long friends. And there's nothing more rewarding than helping a first time home buyer. So yeah, I love real estate all around.
But then .....
Of course, real estate does have some challenges. Many challenges! But today, it's the little things that have gotten under my skin. Today I'll share my immense hatred for
LOCKS and KEYS
Really Shane ? Locks and Keys? Is that your biggest complaint?
Depending on the day, I can open between 5 and 10 locked doors on homes. Sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong! It's never as simple as insert key, turn key and open door. There's always a 
twist, wiggle, jiggle or is it a shimmy ? Sometimes you have to pull up some ... but then there are times it requires a big shove. Seems like they never want to work for me. What's a REALTOR® to do? There have been times when I've just given up and asked my clients to try to open the door themselves. You know, it's practice for when you open the door to your new home. Not the best first impression of a home.
So we are finally we are in the home and have completed our tour. Now the battle starts over when it's time to lock up.
A few of my pet peeves, when it comes to LOCKS and KEYS:
♦ You open the lock box and there's 5 keys and none of them are labeled. Sure, I'd love to fight with all these keys, as my client is looking over my shoulder waiting to get in the home. We've got nothing else to do.
♦ Complicated instructions on how to use the lock. Yes, I love instructions. But if you need 3 paragraphs to explain it, maybe it's time for new locks?
♦ Locks that are over my head. I'm 5'6'' ... so I'd say that's average height. But I occasionally find locks at the very top of the door. I don't carry a ladder in my car, so I have to hope my client(s) is tall enough.
♦ More than 2 locks on a front door. I'm all about home security, but this is getting ridiculous.
♦ And the absolute worst is when I can't lock back up a home. There was one occasion where the door just wouldn't lock. I tried, my clients tried. We wiggled. We pulled. We jiggled. We tried it all. Thankfully the listing agent was able to meet us at the home quickly to lock it back up. What a waste of everyone's time. Ironically, I drove by that listing a week later and saw the front door wide open (it was a vacant home). Guess I wasn't the only one who had the same issue.
FULL DISCLOSURE
In full disclosure, I list and sell primarily with older homes in Richmond, Virginia. I love all the charm and character that typically comes with older homes ... until we get to the locks. But ironically, I still seem to have the same issues with newer homes too. Maybe it's just me?
WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY
Know what make this REALTOR® really happy .... key pad locks. I don't think they look great, but boy are they easy to lock and unlock. No wiggling, no jiggling and no shoving. And once the home is sold, you can change the locks without a locksmith.
So the next time you see me wiggling the key back and forth, please be patient with me. Eventually, we'll get you inside of your dream home!
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