My story happened several years ago...it seems like all my crazy stories happened when I was a newer agent. Now most of the unusual issues that pop up are related to inspections, or multiple offer situations, or other incidents that I won't mention here!
Anyway, I was working with a couple who had a pretty low price point, in an area I wasn't that familiar with. Being a hungry new agent, I was willing to drive just about anywhere for a sale! And that's how you get to know an area--by showing homes for sale. We pulled up to the house and noticed several beer cans tossed about in the yard. I then remembered the interior photos of this home on MLS were pretty poor--but I see bad photos on much higher priced homes as well. Upon opening the door, someone from the inside started yelling incoherantly. I told my buyers to step back, and announced myself. Someone came to the door, in her pajamas (it was late afternoon) and said we could 'come on in, I didn't expect anyone'. Walking through, there was a kid about ten years old making pancakes in the kitchen. The entire home had an odd odor. Dogs were barking loudly in the backyard. As we passed one bedroom, two people were propped up on the bed watching a huge big screen TV, with PJs on under the covers, the blankets covered in old food boxes--like they hadn't left the room in days.. We approached the second bedroom, with the door ajar and a strange light coming from inside. Pushing the door open all the way, we found several tables of marijuana plants under grow lights--and that unmistakable pot smell. Just then the woman rushed up and said "You can't go in there!". Well it was too late. We saw what was going on. We quickly exited the house and moved on.
Now this story may not seem unusual to those readers where pot can be legally grown for personal use on the homeowner's property. But that wasn't the case in Missouri. I just could not believe this house was listed in MLS. It must have been a rental property, but there was no indication from the agent that it was. Besides the pot growing, it was just such a sad scene inside. After we got back to our cars, we moved on to the next home and then called it a day. We all felt very uneasy about what we had just seen.
I did mention what we saw to the listing agent about the plants, but that was it. I don't know what ever happened with the house. And regarding that particular area of the metro, which is noted for suspicious drug activity--I haven't been back there since. Not my area of expertise!
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