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Top Ten Most Embarrassing Moments as a Realtor

August 24, 2007

Okay, to date, I can only think of five, so feel free to add your own.  I think every real estate agent has a couple of these stories, and they always fall into two general categories: nudity and keys/locks.  If you don’t have these stories, and you’re an agent, you just haven’t been in the business long enough.

1. I had just listed a home in a remote subdivision and was previewing a new listing in the area.  Trying to lock up and leave, the front door key become stuck in the lock, and for the life of me, I couldn’t get it out.  I couldn’t leave the key in the lock as you could just turn it and enter the house, but the stupid thing wouldn’t pull out of the lock.  The owner was an hour away, and the listing agent was out of town.  I gave myself a blister on my finger trying to get that stupid key out for 20 minutes before I called my client in despair.  Who of course got it out in about 10 seconds.

2. Walking in on someone in the shower while showing a house.  In all fairness, I had made a courtesy call as instructed, and had rang the doorbell, knocked on the door, and yelled hello when we entered.  We were on the first floor of the house maybe 5 minutes before we went upstairs, had an awkward person-in-the-shower-incident, and made a hasty retreat.  In retrospect, the pants and shirt lying on the stairs to the second floor should probably have tipped us off.

3. Thinking I dropped a house key in a wash by a house I was looking at with some buyers, searching with them for it for 15 minutes, and eventually finding it in the bottom of my purse.  Hey, they really ought to make women’s clothing with pockets.  The small-handed population has trouble holding onto a key, a key container, the keysafe opener, and a listing printout all at the same time while opening a door, answering questions, and trying to keep the owner’s cat from escaping.  Especially when said key and key container are about 473 degrees Fahrenheit.  Or if it’s a big cat.

4. Realizing an hour into my first open house that the seam on the back of my pants had split open from waist to <ahem>, and not knowing how long the pants had been that way with all the open house visitors not telling me.

5. I noticed a somewhat “personal” piece of photography artwork in a bedroom as I was showing a house, and hey, I’m only human.  It made me giggle.  My somewhat conservative buyer hadn’t noticed the (huge 3 foot by 5 foot) picture, thought I was laughing at him for unknown reasons, and demanded I tell him what was so funny.  In front of his young family, and still in front of the picture.  I managed to at least get them out of the room before I let him on to what was on the wall.  We all had a little laugh, but the kids were quickly ushered outside.

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