I LOVE WD-40
Yesterday I had an open house at one of my condo listings at 7420 Westlake Terrace. I have been there several times and never had a problem with the key. No one else has had a problem with the key when showing the condo, but of course I couldn't get the door open yesterday. There I stood with my flyers, my sign in book, my purse, my iced tea and a door that resisted any and all efforts to open it! It was one of those moments when you start to panic. The idea of three hours of people coming to the open house - only to find a closed door! UGH!
I went out to my car to find my can of WD-40 which I always keep there - and double UGH! It wasn't there. I confess that I found a few other things I didn't know were missing like a favorite baseball cap and a cookbook that I had bought and never brought inside - but no WD-40. Then I remembered I had used it to lubricate the sliding glass door tracks in our basement. It must be downstairs at home still!
I went to the front desk of the condo to ask if they had a spare key or some WD-40. No to both! The front desk offered me lubricant for a shredder. In desperation I tried that but it didn't work.
After trying the lock several more times, I gave up and went downstairs again to the front desk. I told her to tell anyone who came to the open house that I would be back in 15 minutes while I was running to the nearest Home Depot which was fortunately only four blocks away.
To be safe, I bought two cans. When I came back to the lobby, there were two families waiting patiently for me. We went upstairs. I sprayed the lock with the WD, tried the lock, and it opened easily!
LESSON LEARNED
I had been intending to put together an open house box to keep in my car, but hadn't done it yet. I went to Staples after the open house because I need those stand up plastic sign holders to display the notification required by Maryland that the agent holding the open house does not represent the buyer. I priced the three packs and decided they were really expensive, so I checked them out on Amazon. Sure enough - Amazon is selling six for the price of three at Staples. I ordered them from Staples, along with a document box to keep in my car.
I am going to fill it with flyers advertising my monthly first time home buyer seminars, bottled water, a sign in book, toilet paper, Febreeze, a battery or two, hand wipes, and of course, WD-40.
What's in your trunk?
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